^^'^^ 


m 


BS  2410  .N4213  1844 
Neander,  August,  1789-1850. 
History  of  the  planting  and 
training  of  the  Christian 


HISTORY 


PLANTINa  AND  TRAINING 


THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH 


APOSTLES. 


BY  DE.  AUGUSTUS  NEANDER, 

OEDINARY    PROFESSOR    OP    THEOLOGY    IN    THE    UNIVERSITY    OP    BERLIN, 
CONSISTORIAL   COUNSELLOR,    ETC. 


STranslviteb  from  t\)z  CTJjftlr  IHtiftfon  of  tlje  ©rfginal  (Eerman, 

BY  J.  E.  RYLAND. 

COMPLETE    IN    ONE    VOLUME, 


PHILADELPHIA: 
JAMES  M.  CAMPBELL  &  CO.,  98  CHESTNUT  STREET. 

SAXTON  &  MILES,  205  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK. 
1844. 


Philosophia  quserit,  religio  possidet  veritatem. 

J.  PiCUS  A  MiRANDOLA. 

Kein  andrer  Gott  als  der  Gott  der  Bible,  der  Herz  zu  Herz  ist. 

NiEBDHR. 


C.  SHERMAN,  PRINTER. 


TO    THE    RIGHT    REVEREND 

DR.  F.  EHRENBERG, 

ROYAL    CHAPLAIN,    MEMBER    OF    THE    SUPREME    CONSISTORY,    ETC.,    ETC. 


My    DEEPLY    REVERED    AND    VERY    DEAR    FrIEND, 

I  trust  you  will  receive  this  work  with  all  its  defects  as  the  offering  of  a  sincere 
heart;  as  a  small  token  of  my  cordial  veneration  and  love,  and  of  that  sincere 
gratitude  which  I  have  long  felt  impelled  to  express,  for  the  edification  I  have 
derived  from  your  discourses.  May  a  gracious  God  long  allow  you  to  labour  and 
shine  among  us  for  the  welfare  of  his  church,  with  that  holy  energy  which  he  has 
bestowed  upon  you,  with  the  spirit  o^  Christian  wisdom  and  freedom,  the  spirit  of  true 
freedom  exalted  above  all  the  strife  of  human  parties, — which  the  Son  of  God  alone 
bestows,  and  which  is  especially  requisite  for  the  guidance  of  the  church  in  our 
times,  agitated  and  distracted  as  they  are  by  so  many  conflicts  !  This  is  the  warmest 
wish  of  one  who  with  all  his  heart  calls  himself  yours. 

Thus  I  wrote  on  the  22d  of  May,  1832,  and  after  six  years  I  again  repeat  with 
all  my  heart,  the  words  expressive  of  dedication,  of  gratitude,  and  of  devout  wishes 
to  the  Giver  of  all  perfect  gifts.  Since  that  portion  of  time  (not  unimportant  in  our 
agitated  age)  has  passed  away,  I  have  to  thank  you,  dear  and  inmostly  revered  man, 
for  many  important  words  of  edification  and  instruction,  which  I  have  received  from 
your  lips  in  public,  as  well  as  for  the  precious  gift*  which  has  often  administered 
refreshment  to  myself  and  others.  Yes,  with  all '  my  heart  I  agree  with  those 
beautiful  sentiments  which  form  the  soul  of  your  discourses,  and  bind  me  with  such 
force  to  your  person.  God  grant  that  we  may  ever  humbly  and  faithfully  hold  fast 
the  truth  which  does  not  seek"  for  reconciliation  amidst  contrarieties,  but  is  itself 
unsought  the  right  mean.  God  grant  (what  is  far  above  all  theological  disputations,) 
that  the  highest  aim  of  our  labours  may  be  to  produce  the  image  of  Christ  in  the  souls 
of  men, — that  to  our  latest  breath  we  may  keep  this  object  in  view  without  wavering, 
fast  bound  to  it  in  true  love,  each  one  in  his  own  sphere,  unmoved  by  the  vicissitudes 
of  opinion  and  the  collisions  of  party  ! 

Let  me  add  as  a  subordinate  wish,  that  you  would  soon  favour  us  with  a  volume  of 
discourses,  to  testify  of  this  "one  thing  that  is  needful." 

A.  Neander. 

Berlin,  30th  May,  1838. 

From  the  fulness  of  my  heart  I  once  more  repeat  the  wishes  and  thanks  before 
expressed,  and  rejoice  that  it  is  in  my  power  to  dedicate  the  third  edition  of  this  work 
to  you,  my  inmostly  dear  and  revered  friend. 

A.  Neander. 

Berlin,  2d  August,  1841. 

*  Alluding  probably  to  a  volume  of  Sermons  already  published. — Tr. 


TRANSLATOIl^S    PE^FACE. 


Onlv  a  few  woi'ds  seem  necessary  by 
way  of  preface  to  the  following  transla- 
tion. It  was  begun  tow&rds  the  close  of 
1840  ;  but  early  in  the  present  year  the 
Translator  having  requested  Dr.  Neander 
to  favour  him  with  any  corrections  or  ad- 
ditions which  he  might  have  made  to  the 
second  edition  (published  in  1838),  was 
informed,  in  reply,  that  a  third  edition  was 
passing  through  the  press  :  at  the  same 
time,  an  offer  was  most  kindly  made  of 
forwarding  the  proof-sheets,  by  which 
means  the  translation  will  appear  within 
a  few  weeks  after  the  original,  in  its 
most  approved  form. 

It  may  be  proper  to  state,  that  there 
were  circumstances  which  rendered  it  de- 
sirable that  as  little  delay  as  possible  should 
occur  in  the  pi-eparation  of  the  English 
work.  This  demand  for  expedition  may 
have  perhaps  occasioned  more  inadver- 
tencies than  the  modicum  of  negative  re- 
putation allotted  to  litei'ary  workmanship 
of  this  kind  can  well  afford.  The  Trans- 
lator trusts,  however,  that  he  has,  on  the 
whole,  succeeded  in  giving  a  tolerably  cor- 
rect representation  of  the  original,  though, 
had  time  been  allowed  for  a  more  careful 
revision,  several  minor  blemishes  might 
have  been  removed,  and  the  meaning  of 
some  passages  have  been  more  distinctly 
brought  out. 

The  Author's  great  and  long-established 
.  reputation  as  an  Ecclesiastical  Historian, 
would  render  it  unnecessary,  even  if  not 
somewhat  unseemly,  to  usher  in  this  work 
with  a  lengthened  descant  on  its  merits. 
The  impartial  and  earnest  inquirer  after 
truth,  will  not  fail  to  be  delighted  with  the 
marks  it  everywhere  presents  of  unwearied 
research,   extended   views,    and   profound 


piety.  No  one  would  regret  more  than 
the  excellent  author,  if  the  freedom  of  his 
inquiries  should  give  pain  to  any  of  his 
Christian  brethren  ;  still  his  motto  must 
be  "  Amicus  Socroles,  magis  arnica  Veri- 
tas.'''' He  is  completely  at  issue  with  the 
advocates  of  certain  views  which  have 
lately  been  gaining  a  disastrous  preva- 
lence in  this  country.  The  decided  tern^ 
in  which  he  asserts  the  noble  equality  and 
brotherhood  of  Christian  men,  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  antichristian  tenet  of  a  priest- 
hood in  the  sense  not  of  religious  instruc- 
tors, but  of  exclusive  conveyors  of  super- 
natural influence,*  will  be  little  relished  by 
those  who  would  attempt  to  share  the  in- 
communicable prerogatives  of  the  "  one 
Mediator."  But,  as  Dr.  N.  justly  remarks 
in  one  of  his  earlier  communications  (for 
all  of  which  the  Translator  is  glad  of  an 
opportunity  to  express  his  heartfelt  grati- 
tude), "  the  gospel  itself  rests  on  an  im- 
movable rock,  while  human  systems  of 
theology  are  every  where  undergoing  a  pu- 
rifying process,  1  Cor.  iii.  12,  13.     We 

LIVE  IN  THE  TIME  OF  A  GREAT  CRISIS  !" 

This  translation  has  been  prepared  at  a 
distance  from  those  helps  which  would  have 
been  within  my  reach  at  an  eai'lier  period, 


*  By  no  writers  has  this  error  been  more  ably 
exposed  than  by  Archbishop  Wliately  and  Dr. 
Arnold;  by  the  former,  in  "  the  Errors  of  Roman, 
ism  traced  to  their  origin  in  human  nature,"  and 
by  the  latter,  in  the  iiitroduction  to  a  volume  of 
discourses,  lately  published  on  "the  Christian 
Life." — "  To  revive  Christ's  church  is  to  expel  the 
antichrist  of  priesthood,  which,  as  it  was  foretold 
of  him,  'as  God  siltetk  in  the  temple  of  God,  show- 
ing himself  that  he  is  God;'  and  to  restore  its 
disfranchised  members,  the  laity,  to  the  discharge 
of  their  proper  duties  in  it,  and  to  the  conscious- 
ness of  their  paramount  importance."  p.  52. 


TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE. 


and  soon  after  a  change  of  residence  had 
separated  me  from  three  friends  especially, 
with  whom  most  of  the  important  topics  in 
this  work  had  been  submitted  to  frequent 
and  earnest  discussion.  Without  the  for- 
maJity  of  a  dedication,  my  sense  of  the 
value  of  their  friendship  prompts  me  to 
make  this  allusion,  which  is  connected  with 
some  of  my  most  pleasing  recollections. 
I  wish  also  to  express  my  obligations  to 
Dr.  Edward  Michelson  of  the  University 
of  Leipzig,  who  not  only  gave  up  his  in- 
tention of  publishing  a  translation  of  this 
work,  on  being  informed  that  I  was  en- 
gaged in  a  similar  undertaking,  but  most 
readily  favoured  me  with  his  opinion  on 


various  passages  during  the  preparation  of 
the  manuscript.  I  have  received,  too,  from 
a  friend  of  Dr.  Neander,  with  whose  name 
I  am  not  acquainted,  the  results  of  a  very 
careful  examination  of  the  first  six  proof- 
sheets,  which  I  gratefully  acknowledge, 
and  only  regret  that  the  whole  work  could 
not  be  submitted  to  his  review  previous  to 
publication. 

A  brief  biographical  notice  of  Dr.  Ne- 
ander, extracted  from  the  "  Conversations- 
Lexicon,"  will  probably  not  be  unaccept- 
able to  the  readers  of  this  work. 

J.  E.  Ryland. 

Northampton,  November  2d,  1841. 


I 


BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE. 


John  Augustus  William  Neander, 
Ordinary  Professor  of  Theology  at  Berlin, 
Consistorial  Counsellor  in  the  Royal  Con- 
sistorium  of  the  Province  of  Brandenburg, 
was  born  at  Gottingen,  January  16,  1789, 
and  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  youth  at 
Hamburg.  In  that  city  he  received  his 
education  at  the  Gymnasium  and  Johan- 
neum,  which  then  flourished  under  Grulitt's 
superintendence.  He  began  his  academi- 
cal studies  at  Halle  in  1806,  shortly  after 
having  renounced  the  Jewish  faith  and  em- 
braced Christianity,  and  ended  them  in 
Gottingen  under  the  venerable  Planck. 
After  a  short  residence  in  Hamburg,  he 
removed  in  1811  to  Heidelburg,  and  there 
commenced  as  a  theological  teacher,  by 
defending  his  essay,  "  De  fidei  gnoseosque 
ideee  qua  ad  se  invicem  atque  ad  philo- 
sophiam  referatur,  ratione,  secundum  men- 
tem  Clementis  Alexandri."  In  the  follow- 
ing year  he  became  extraordinary  professor 
of  Theology  in  Heidelburg.  He  then  pub- 
lished a  work  replete  with  a  living  fresh- 
ness of  delineation  and  spirited  discussion, 
"  Uber  den  Kaiser  Jidianus  %md  sein 
Zeitalter^''  which  showed  the  hand  of  a 
master  in  this  department  of  Church  his- 
tory, and  marked  an  extraordinary  pro- 
gress in  his  power  of  thought  and  reflection. 
In  the  following  year  he  received  a  call  to 
the  university  of  Berlin.  His  second  mo- 
nograph, "  Der  heilige  Bernard  und  sein 
Zeitalter,"  (1813),  was  enlarged  in  the 
last  edition  by  an  introduction  on  the  first 
period  of  the  scholastic  philosophy.  Ne- 
ander then  turned  his  attention  to  the  early 
period  of  the  church,  and  produced  a  work 
on  Gnosticism,  "  Genetische  Entwickelung 
der  vornehmsten  gnostischen  Systems," 
(1818).     He  delineated,  with  a  special  re- 


ference to  life  and  practice,  the  character 
of  a  bishop  who  was  distinguished  as  a 
preacher,  pastor,  and  theological  writer, 
in  a  work  entitled,  "  Der  heilige  Chrysos- 
tomus  und  die  Kirche,  besonders  des  Ori- 
ents, in  dessen  Zeitalter."  The  third  vo- 
lume of  this  work  is  designed  to  embrace 
the  peculiar  theological  views  of  Chrysos- 
tom.  Neander  intended  to  leave  the  bio- 
graphy of  Augustin  to  a  friend,  but  we 
would  rather  hope,  that  we  may  receive 
it  from  himself,  the  creator  and  master  of 
the  new  Patristic  monographs,  as  he  has 
opened  the  way  to  it  by  his  work  on  Ter- 
tuUian,  "  Antignostikus  Geist  der  Tertul- 
lianus,"  (1825).  In  his  "Denkwirdigkeit- 
en  aus  der  Geschichte  des  Christenthums 
und  des  christlichen  lebens,"  3  vols,,  Ber- 
lin, 1822,  2d  edit.  1825,  (since  translated 
into  French),  he  has  attempted  the  difficult 
task  of  imparting  to  general  readers  the 
substance  of  what  is  most  important  and 
interesting  to  that  class  in  his  Church  His- 
tory. This  work  unfortunately  reaches 
only  to  the  times  of  Anschar.*  All  the 
works  we  have  hitherto  mentioned  were 
only  preparative  to  his  "  General  History 
of  the  Christian  Religion  and  Church,"  of 
which  the  design  may  be  expressed  most 
simply  and  clearly  in  the  Author's  own 
words.  He  states,  that  it  had  been  from 
early  life  the  object  of  his  studies  to  exhibit 
Church  History  as  a  speaking  evidence  of 
the  divine  power  of  Christianity — as  a 
school  of  Christian  experience — a  voice 
of  edification,    instruction,   and    warning, 


*  Anschar  or  Ansgar,  a  French  monk  born  at 
Corbie,  in  the  diocess  of  Amiens,  in  tiic  year  801. 
An  interesting  account  of  his  labours  in  the  North 
of  Europe,  is  given  by  Dr.  Neander  in  the  4th  vol. 
of  his  "  Allgemeine  Geschichte,"  pp.  3-33.  Tr. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICE. 


sounding  through  all  ages  for  all  who  are 
willing  to  listen  to  it.  The  first  volume, 
in  three  parts,  contains  the  history  of  the 
church  from  the  end  of  the  Apostolic  age 
to  the  year  31 1  ;*  the  second  volume,  also 
in '  thi-ee  parts,  reaches  to  Gregory  I. ; 
the  third  volume,  appeared  in  1831,  the 
fourth  appeared  in  1836,  and  the  fifth-has 
been  published  during  the  present  year 
1841,  bringing  down  the  history  to  the 
year  1294. 

The  work  of  which  a  translation  is  now 
given  first  appeared  in  1832.  A  collection 
of  his  smaller  writings,  including  an  ad- 


*  Of  this  an  English  translation  has  lately  ap- 
peared,  in  2  vols.  8vo.,  by  the  Rev.  H.  J.  Rose.— 
Tr. 


dress  at  the  formation  of  the  Berlin  Bible 
Society,  was  published  in  1829. 

Dr.  Neander's  lectures  in  the  University 
extend  to  all  branches  of  historical  theo- 
logy, to  the  exegesis  of  most  of  the  New 
Testament  writings,  to  which  he  has  added 
lectures  on  Systematic  Theology.  His 
labours  in  the  Consistorium  relate  princi- 
pally to  theological  examinations.  With 
an  infirm  state  of  health,  he  devotes  all 
the  time  which  hi?  onerous  official  duties 
and  literary  avocations  leave  at  his  com- 
mand to  intercourse  with  the  students  of 
theology.  What  he  has  done  and  is  still 
doing  in  this  respect — his  devotion  to  the 
benefit  of  the  young,  cannot  and  need  not 
be  enlarged  upon  here.  There  are  living 
attestations  in  abundance. 


PREFACE 


VOLUME    I.   OF    THE    FIRST    EDITION. 


It  was  certainly  my  intention  to  have 
allowed  my  representation  of  the  Christian 
religion  and  church   in   the  apostolic  age, 
to  follow  the  completion  of  the  whole  of 
my  Church    History,   or   at    least   of  the 
greater    part    of  it ;    but    the   wishes   and 
entreaties  of  many  persons,  expressed  both 
in  writing  and    by  word  of  mouth,  have 
prevailed    upon     me    to    alter    my    plan. 
Those,  too,  who  took   an  interest  in  my 
mode  of  conceiving  the   developement  of 
Christianity,   were  justified  in   demanding 
an  account  of  the  manner  in  which  I  con- 
ceived the  origin  of  this  process,  on  which 
the  opinions  of  men   are  so  much  divided 
through    the  conflicting  influences   of  the 
various  theological  tendencies  in  this  criti- 
cal   period    of   our    German    Evangelical 
church  ;  and  perhaps,  if  it  please  God,  a 
thoroughly  matured  and  candidly  expressed 
conviction  on  the  subjects  here  discussed, 
may  furnish  many  a  one  who  is  engaged 
in  seeking,  with  a  connectin 
comprehension  of  his  own  views,  even  if 
this    representation,  though    the    result  of 
protracted    and    earnest    inquiry,    should 
contain  no  new  disclosures. 

As  for  my  relation  to  all  who  hold  the 
conviction,  that  faith  in  Jesus  the  Saviour 


by  an  excellent  English  theologian  of  the 
17th  century.t  But  I  cannot  agree  with 
the  conviction  of  those  among  them  who 
think  that  this  new  creation  will  be  only  a 
repetition  of  what  took  place  in  the  six- 
teenth or  seventeenth  century,  and  that 
the  whole  dogmatic  system,  and  the  entire 
mode  of  contemplating  divine  and  human 
things,:}:  must  return  as  it  then  existed. 

On  this  point,  I  assent  with  my  whole 
soul  to  what  my  deeply  revered   and  be- 


t  We  meet  with  a  beautiful  specimen  of  such  a 
spirit  in  what  has  been  admirably  said  by  a  re- 
spected theologian  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
Joseph  John  Gurney  :  "  It  can  scarcely  be  denied, 
that  in  that  variety  of  administration,  through 
which  the  saving  principles  of  religion  are  for 
the  present  permitted  to  pass,  there  is  much  of  a 
real  adaptation  to  a  corresponding  variety  of  men. 
tnl  coiidilion.  Well,  therefore,  may  we  bow  with 
thankfulness  before  that  infinite  and  unsearchable 


Being,  who  in  all  our  weakness  follows  us  with 
his  love,  and  through  the  diversified  mediums  of 
religion  to  which  the  several  classes  oHnie  Chris- 
link  for  the  !  tians  are  respectively  accustomed,  is  still  pleased 
to  reveal  to  them  all  the  same  crucified  Redeemer, 
and  to  direct  their  footsteps  into  one  path  of  obe- 
dience, holiness  and  peace."  See  Observations  on 
the  distinguishing  Views  and  Practices  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  by  Joseph  John  Gurney,  ed. 
vii.  London,  1834.  Words  fit  to  shame  theolo- 
gians who  are  burning  with  zeal  for  the  letter  and 
forms,  as  if  on  these  depended  the  essence  of  reli- 


of  sinful  humanity,  as  it-  has   shown  itself;  gjon,  whose  life  and  spirit  are  rooted  in  facts, 
since  the  first   founding   of  the  Christian}     t  Well  might  the  noble  words  of  Luther  be  ap- 
church   to   be   the    fountain   of  divine  ]ife,  I  pHed  to  those  who  cling  to  the  old  rotten  posts  of 
.,,  -^     tr  ^^  i      ^u  J      ria  scaffoldmg  raised  by  liuman  hands,  as  it  they 

Will  prove  Itself  the  same  to  the  end  of  I  ^^.^  ^^^^^^^^  the  divine  building.  "When  at  a 
time,  and  that  from  this  faith  a  new  crea-  i  window  I  have  gazed  on  the  stars  of  heaven,  and 
tion  will  arise  in  the  Christian  church  and  j  the  whole  beautiful  vault  of  heaven,  and  saw  no 
in  our  part  of  the  world,  which  has  been  i  piUarf  o"  which  the  builder  had  set  such  a  vault; 
.  '  •  1  .  .1        i  r  •  i      vet  the   heavens  fell  not  in ;  and   that  vault  stili 

preparmg  amidst  the  storms  of  spnng— to  ,  >^^^^^  ^^„^_    ^^^^  j,^^,.^  ^^^  ^i^^pl^  f^l,.  ^^^  j^^j, 

all  such  persons  I  hope  to  be  bound  by  the  i  about  for  such  pillars  and  would  fain  grasp  and 

bond  of  Christian    fellowship,  the   bond   of,  feel  them.     But  since  they  cannot  do  this,  they 

"  the  true  Catholic  spirit^'  as  it  is  termed  \  q^^^il^c  and  tremble,  as  if  the  heavens  would  cer- 

^  I  tainly  fall  in,  and  for  no  other  reason  than  because 

they  cannot  grasp  or  see  the  pillars;  if  they  could 

*  This  work  was  originally  published  in  two  ,  but  lay  hold  of  them,  then  the  heavens  (they  think) 

volumes.  |  would  stand  firm  enough." 

2 


PREFACE. 


loved  friend,  Steudel,  lately  expressed,  so 
deserving  of  consideration  in  our  times, 
and  especially  to  be  commended  to  the 
attention  of  our  young  theologians.*  He 
admirably  remarks,  "  But  exactly  this  and 
only  this,  is  the  pre-eminence  of  the  one 
truth,  that  it  maintains  its  triumphant  worth 
under  all  changes  of  form ;"  and  Niebuhr 
detected  in  the  eagerness  to  restore  the  old, 
an  eagerness  for  novelty  ;  "  When  the  no- 
velty of  a  thing  is  worn  away  by  use,  we 
are  prone  to  return  to  the  old,  which  then 
becomes  new  again,  and  thus  the  ball  is 
thrown  backwards  and  forwards."! 

In  t-ruth,  whatever  is  connected  with  the 
peculiarities  of  the  forms  of  human  culti- 
vation, as  these  change,  goes  the  way  of 
all  flesh  ;  but  the  Word  of  God,  which  is 
destined  by  a  perpetual  youthfulness  of 
power  to  make  all  things  new — abides  for 
ever.  Thus  the  difference  existing  be- 
tween these  persons  and  myself,  will  cer- 
tainly show  itself  in  our  conception  of 
many  important  points  in  this  department 
of  history,  but  in  my  judgment  these  dif- 
ferences are  only  scientific,  and  ought  not 
to  disturb  that  fellowship  which  is  above 
all  science.  But  I  can  also  transport  my- 
self to  the  standing-point  of  those  to  whom 
these  objects  must  appear  in  a  different 
light ;  for  the  rise  of  such  differences  is  in 
this  critical  period  unavoidable,  and  far 
better  than  the  previous  indifference  and 
lifeless  uniformity.  And  even  in  zeal  for 
a  definite  form,  I  know  how  to  esteem  and 
to  love  a  zeal  for  the  essence  which  lies  at 
the  bottom,!  and   I   can  never  have  any 


»  In  the  Tubingen  "  Zeitschrift  fur  Theologie,'" 
1832,  part  i.  p.  33.  Blessed  be  the  memory  of 
tliis  beloved  man,  who  left  this  world  a  few  months 
ago,  and  is  no  longer  to  be  seen  in  tlie  holy  band 
of  combatants  for  that  evangelical  truth  which  vyas 
the  aim,  the  centre,  and  the  soul  of  his  whole  life, 
and  the  firm  anchor  of  his  hope  in  death,  when  he 
proved  himself  to  be  one  of  those  faithful  teachers 
of  whom  it  may  be  said — "  whose  faith  follow, 
considering  the  end  of  their  conversation." 

t  One  of  the  many  golden  sentences  of  this 
great  man  in  his  letters,  of  which  we  would  re- 
commend the  second  volume  especially  to  all 
young  theologians. 

t  Provided  it  be  the  true  zeal  of  simplicity, 
which  accompanies  humility,  and  where  sagacity 
does  not  predominate  over  simplicity  ;  but  by  no 
means  that  zeal  which,  in  coupling  itself  with  the 
modern  coxcombry  of  a  super-refined  education, 
endeavours  to  season  subjects  with  it  to  which  it 
is  least  adapted,  in  order  to  render  them  palatable 
to  the  vitiated  taste  that  loathes  a  simple  diet; 


thing  in  common  with  those  who  will  not 
do  justice  to  such  zeal,  or,  instead  of  treat- 
ing it  with  the  respect  that  is  always  due 
to  zeal  and  afTection  for  what  is  holy,  with 
Jesuitical  craft  aim  at  rendering  others 
suspected,  by  imputing  to  them  sinister 
motives  and  designs. 

It  was  not  my  intention  to  give  a  com- 
plete history  of  the  Apostolic  age,  but  only 
what  the  title,  advisedly  selected,  indicates. 
I  have  prefixed  to  it  the  Introduction  from 
the  first  volume  of  my  Church  History, 
reserving  the  recasting  of  the  whole  work 
for  a  new  edition,  should  God  permit. 

In  reference  to  the  arrangement  of  the 
whole  plan  and  the  mutual  relation  of  the 
parts  of  the  representation,  I  must  beg  the 
reader  to  suspend  his  judgment  awhile,  till 
the  completion  of  the  whole  by  the  publi- 
cation of  the  second  part. 

It  will  be  my  constant  aim  to  carry  on 
to  its  conclusion  the  whole  of  the  work  I 
have  undertaken  on  the  history  of  the 
Church,  if  God  continue  to  grant  me 
strength  and  resolution  for  the  purpose. 
Meanwhile,  a  brief  compendium  of  Church 
History  on  the  principles  of  my  arrange- 
ment, but  enriched  with  literary  notices, 
will  be  published.  iVIy  dear  friend  Pro- 
fessor Rheinwald  of  Bonn  having  been 
prevented  by  his  new  duties  from  exe- 
cuting this  work,  it  has  been  undertaken 
at  my  request  by  another  of  my  friends, 
Mr.  Licentiate  Vogt,*  already  favourably 
known  to  the  theological  public  by  his 
share  in  editing  the  Homiliarium,  and  still 
more  commended  to  the  public  favour  by 
his  literary  labours  on  the  Pseudo-Diony- 
sius,  and  the  Life  and  Times  of  Gerson, 
Chancellor  of  Paris.  May  he  receive  from 
every  quarter  that  public  favour  and  en- 
couragement which  his  character,  acquire- 
ments, and  performances  deserve. f 

A.  Neanuer. 

Berlin,  29th  May,  1832. 


and  thus  proves  its  own  unsoundness.  A  carica- 
ture jumble  of  the  most  contradictory  elements  at 
which  every  sound  feeling  must  revolt ! 

»  Now  Dr.  Vogt,  ordinary  professor  of  Theo- 
logy, and  pastor  at  Greifswald. 

t  This  wish  for  so  peculiarly  dear  a  friend, 
whose  personal  intercourse,  so  beneficial  to  my 
heart,  I  no  longer  enjoy,  has  been  fulfilled.  But 
his  multiplied  labours  will  not  permit  him  to  ac- 
complish the  design  mentioned  above.  Yet  if  it 
please  God,  another  of  my  young  friends  will  be 
found  fitted  for  the  task. 


PREFACE 


VOLUME    n.    OF    THE    FIRST    EDITION.* 


I  HAVE  only  a  few  words  to  say  in  ad- 
dition to  the  Preface  of  the  first  volume. 
The  exposition  of  doctrines  which  occupies 
the  principal  part  of  the  second  half  of 
this  work,  I  was  obliged  to  regulate  as  to 
quantity  by  the  relation  in  which  this  work 
stands  to  the  general  history  of  the  Church, 
and  the  proportion  which  the  history  of 
doctrine  in  the  latter  bears  to  the  whole. 
Hence  I  have  been  obliged  to  leave  un- 
touched many  questions  which  would  occur 
to  the  Christian  theologian,  who  developes 
and  elaborates  the  contents  of  the  sacred 
records  for  the  use  of  his  own  times  ;  my 
endeavours  have  been  confined  to  repre- 
senting primitive  Christianity  according  to 
its  principal  models  of  doctrine  in  its  his- 
torical developement.  In  executing  such 
a  work,  every  man  must  be  influenced  by 
his  own  religious  and  doctrinal  standing- 
point,  by  his  views  of  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity,  its  origin,  and  its  relation  to 
the  general  developement  of  the  human 
race.  On  this  point  no  one  can  blame  an- 
other for  differing  from  himself;  for  a 
purely  objective  historical  work,  stripped 
of  all  subjectivity  in  its  representation,  un- 
tinctured  by  the  individual  notions  of  the 
writer,  is  an  absurdity.  The  only  ques- 
tion is,  what  point  of  view  in  the  contem- 
plation of  these  objects  most  nearly  cor- 
responds to  the  truth,  and  from  this  the 
clearest  conceptions  will  be  formed  of  the 
images  presented  in  history.  Without  re- 
nouncing our  subjectivity,  without  giving 


up  our  own  way  of  thinking  (a  thing  ut- 
terly impossible)  to  those  of  others,  or 
rendering  it  a  slave  to  the  dogmas  of  any 
school  which  the  petty  arrogance  of  man 
would  set  on  the  throne  of  the  living  God," 
(for  this  would  be  to  forfeit  the  divine  free- 
dom won  for  us  by  Christ,)  our  efforts 
must  be  directed  to  the  constant  purifica- 
tion and  elevation  of  our  thinking  (other- 
wise subject  to  sin  and  error)  by  the  spirit 
of  truth.  Free  inquiry  belongs  to  the 
goods  of  humanity,  but  it  presupposes  the 
true  freedom  of  the  whole  man,  which 
commences  in  the  disposition,  which  has 
its  seat  in  the  heart,  aad  we  know  where 
this  freedom  is  alone  to  be  found.  We 
know,  whence  that  freedom  came  which 
by  means  of  Luther  and  the  Reformation 
broke  the  fetters  of  the  human  mind.  We 
know  that  those  who  have  this  beautiful 
name  most  frequently  on  their  lips,  often 
mean  by  it  only  another  kind  of  slavery. 

It  will  now  be  my  most  earnest  care 
and  greatest  satisfaction,  to  devote  the  time 
and  strength  not  employed  in  my  official 
labours,  to  the  continuation  of  my  History 
of  the  church  to  its  termination,  for  which 
may-  God  grant  me  the  assistance  of  his 
Spirit ! 

A.  Neander. 

Berlin,  9th  August,  1832. 


*  This  alludes  to  the  Berlin  edition  of  this  work, 
which  was  published  in  two  volumes. 


GENERAL  PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


Having,  as  I  believe,  sufficiently  ex- 
plained in  my  former  prefaces,  the  object 
of  this  work  and  the  theological  position 
it  takes  in  relation  toother  standing-points, 
I  have  little  more  to  add.  What  I  have 
here  expressed  will  serve  to  rectify  several 
errors  which  have  since  been  discovered, 
and  to  pacify,  as  far  as  possible,  various 
complaints.  Many  things  indeed  find  their 
rectification  or  settlement  only  in  that  con- 
stant process  of  developement  and  purifi- 
cation which  is  going  on  in  a  critical  age. 
There  is  a  fire  kindled  which  must  sepa- 


rate in  the  building  that  is  founded  on  a 
rock,  the  wood,  hay  and  stubble,  from 
what  is  formed  of  the  precious  metals  and 
jewels.  There  are  imaginary  wants  which 
not  only  I  cannot  satisfy,  but  which  I  do 
not  wish  to  satisfy.  The  activity  shown 
of  late  years,  in  Biblical  inquiries  and  the 
kindred  branches  of  history,  has  enabled 
me  to  correct  and  amplify  many  parts, 
and  to  vindicate  others  from  objections. 
A.  Neander. 

Berlin,  30th  May,  1838. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  THIRD  EDITION. 


As  to  what  I  have  said  respecting  the  i 
position  I  have  taken  in  reference  to  the  ; 
controversies  which  are  every  day  waxing 
fiercer,  and  distract  an  age  that  longs  after 
a  new  creation,  I  can  only  reassert  that,  ., 
if  it  please  God,  I  hope  to  abide  faithful  to 
these  principles  to  my  latest  breath  !  the 
ground  beneath  our  feet  may  be  shaken, 
but  not  the  heavens  above  us.  We  will  j 
adhere  to  that  theologia  ji^ctoris,  which  is  j 
likewise  the  true  theology  of  the  spirit,  the 
German  theology  as  Luther  calls  it. 


The  demand  for  this  new  edition  was  a 
call  to  improve  the  work  to  the  utmost  of 
my  ability,  and  to  introduce  whatever  new 
views  appeared  to  me  to  be  correct. 

Sound  criticism  on  particular  points  will 
always  be  welcome  to  me  ;  the  cavils  of 
self-important  sciolists  I  shall  always  de- 
spise. 

A.   Neander. 

Berlin,  2d  August,  1841. 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK  I. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH  IN  PALESTINE,  PRE- 
VIOUS TO  ITS  SPREAD  AMONG  HEATHEN 
NATIONS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE   CHRISTIAN   CHURCH    ON    ITS    FIRST    APPEARANCE 
AS  A  DISTINCT  RELIGIOUS  COMMUNITY. 

Preparation  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  ....  17 

The  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost,  .  .  .  .  18 

The  gift  of  tongues,       .  .  .  20 

Peter's  discourse  and  its  effects — his  call  to 
repentance,  faith,  and  baptism, 


26 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  FIRST  FORM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMUNITY,  AND 
THE  FIRST  GERM  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE 
CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

The  formation  of  a  community — one  article 
of  faith — Baptism  into  Jesus  as  the  Messiah 
— probably  only  one  baptismal  formula — 
imperfect  knowledge  and  mixed  character 
of  the  first  converts,  ...  27 

The  first  form  of  the  Christian  commimity 

and  worship — the  Agapos,      .  .  28 

Community  of  goods— influence  of  Christi- 
anity on  social  relations — orders  of  monk- 
hood — the  St.  Simonians,       .  .  29 

The  case  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira,       .  30 

Adherence  to  the  Temple-worship,         .  31 

The  institution  of  Deacons,       .  .  32 

The  institution  of  Presbyters — originally  for 
the  purpose  of  government  rather  than  of 
instruction,    ....  35 

Means  of  instruction — Teachers :  <r<<P*a-;tatxw, 


Gradual  transition  from  Judaism  to  Christi. 


anity. 


37 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  OUTWARD  CONDITION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH; 
PERSECUTIONS  AND  THEIR  CONSEQUENCES. 

The  cure  of  the  impotent  man — Peter  and 
John  brought  before  the  Sanhedrim — the 
increase  of  believers — Peter's  address — 
Gamaliel,         ....  38 

Christianity  in  direct  conflict  with  Pharisaism 


— Stephen  the  forerunner  of  Paul — his 
views  of  Christianity  in  opposition  to  the 
permanence  of  the  Mosaic  ritual — his  dis- 
course before  the  Sanhedrim — Martyrdom, 
and  its  effects,  .  .  . 


BOOK  11. 

THE  FIRST  SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY  FROM  THE 
CHURCH  AT  JERUSALEM  TO  OTHER  PARTS, 
AND  ESPECIALLY  AMONG  HEATHEN  NATIONS. 

Samaria — its  religious  state — the  Goetse — 
Simon — Philip's  preaching  and  miracles — 
Simon's  baptism — Peter  and  John  sent  to 
Samaria — Philip's  labours  in  Ethiopia,  &c.    46 

Formation  of  Gentile  churches — enlarged 
views  of  the  apostles  produced  by  internal 
revelation  and  outward  events,  .  50 

Peter's  labours  at  Lydia  and  Joppa — Corne- 
lius the  Centurion — a  Proselyte  of  the  Gate 
— his  prayers  and  fasting — vision  of  an  An- 
gel— Peter's  vision — his  address  to  Corne- 
lius— the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  bestowed 
on  the  Gentile  converts,  .  .  51 


BOOK  III. 

THE  SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY  AND  POUNDING 
OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH  AMONG  THE  GEN- 
TILES BY  THE  INSTRUMENTALITY  OF  THE 
APOSTLE    PAUL. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Paul's  preparation  and  call  to  be  the  apostle 
OF  the  gentiles. 

Paul's  peculiar  position  in  the  developement 
of  the  kingdom  of  God — his  parentage  and 
education— his  strict  legal  piety — compared 
with  Luther,    ....  57 

Paul  a  zealous  persecutor  of  the  Christians — 
his  miraculous  conversion — unsatisfactory 
explanation  on  natural  principles — or  con- 
sidered as  merely  internal — a  real  appear- 
ance of  the  risen  Saviour — its  effects,  59 

Paul  preaches  the  Gospel  at  Damascus — goes 
into   Arabia — return    to    Damascus — and 


CONTENTS. 


flight — visit  to  Jerusalem — the  pecuhar 
developement  of  his  religious  views — re- 
turn to  Tarsus,  ...  64 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  CHURCH  AT  ANTIOCH  THE  GENTILE  MOTHER- 
CHURCH,  AND  ITS  RELATION  TO  THE  JEWISH 
MOTHER-CHURCH. 

Barnabas  at  Antioch — the  name  Christians 
first  given  to  beHevers — contributions  from 
the  church  at  Antioch  to  the  church  at  Je- 
rusalem— Persecution  by  Herod  Agrippa 
— Paul's  visit  to  Jerusalem — whether  the 
same  as  that  mentioned  in  Galat.  ii.  1 — 
Barnabas  and  Paul  sent  from  Antioch  to 
preach  among  the  Gentiles,     .  .  68 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY  BY  PAUL  AND 
BARNABAS. 

Their  visit  to  Cyprus — conversion  of  the  Pro- 
consul  Sergius  Paulus — the  Goes  Barjesus 
— Antioch  in  Pisidia — Iconium — Lystra — 
cure  of  the  lame  man — the  Apostles  sup- 
posed to  be  Zeus  and  Hermes — the  popular 
tumult — their  return  to  Antioch,         .  72 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  DIVISION  BETWEEN  THE  JEWISH  AND  GENTILE 
CHRISTIANS  AND  ITS  SETTLEMENT — THE  INDEPEN- 
DENT DEVELOPEMENT  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHURCH. 

Dispute  between  the  Jewish  and  Gentile 
Christians  respecting  circumcision — mis- 
sion of  Paul  and  Barnabas  to  Jerusalem — 
Paul's  private  conferences  with  the  apostles 
— his  apostleship  acknowledged — his  con- 
troversy with  the  Jewish  believers  and  op- 
position to  the  circumcision  of  Titus,  76 

The  Apostolic  Convention — Peter's  Address — 
Barnabas  and  Paul  give  an  account  of  their 
success  among  the  Gentiles — proposal  of 
James— the  moderation  and  conciliatory 
spirit  of  Paul  and  James — epistle  to  the 
Gentile  Christians  in  Syria  and  Cilicia — re- 
turn of  Paul  and  Barnabas  to  Antioch — the 
important  results  of  this  convention,  .  77 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  ECCLE- 
SIASTICAL USAGES  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHRISTIANS. 

The  peculiar  nature  of  the  Christian  commu- 
nity—all Christian  priests— equally  related 
to  Christ— and  in  a  relation  of  fraternal 
equality  to  one  another,  .  .  83 

The  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  varie- 
ties  of  mental  character  and  natural  endow- 
ments— the  idea  of  charisms — the  gifts  of 
Svva.fj.iU,  <nifAl7ci.,  li^etTct,  .  .  85 

1.  Charisms  or  gifts  for  the  ministry  of  the 
Word,  •  ...  86 

2.  Charisms  relating  to  the  government  of 
the  church,  Tr^ta-Bwre^ot,  tTritrKOTroi — elders  or 


presbyters  and  overseers  or  bishops  origi- 
nally  the  same — exclusion  of  females  from 
the  office  of  public  teaching,    .  .  90 

Originally  three  orders  of  teachers — apostles, 
evangelists,  teachers — relation  of  the  last 
to  elders  and  overseers,  .  .  94 

The  oifice  of  deaconesses,  .  .  97 

Ordination — election  to  offices,    .  .  97 

The  Christian  Worship— independence  of  the 
Mosaic  ritual — hence  no  distinction  of  days 
— no  Christian  feasts  mentioned  by  Paul,  98 
The  Christian  Sabbath — its  special  reference 
to  the  resurrection  of  Christ — no  yearly 
commemoration  of  the  resurrection     .  99 

Baptism — the  formula — symbolic  meaning  of 
the  act  of  submersion  and  emersion — in- 
fant-baptism  probably  not  of  ajjostolic  ori- 
gin— substitutionary  baptism  (note) — the 
influence  of  the  parental  relation  on  the 
offspring  of  Christians,  .  .  101 

The  Lord's  Supper,  .  .  .103 

Advantages  and  Disadvantages  of  the  Gentile 
Converts — preparation  of  mankind  for  a 
reception  of  the  Gospel — by  a  sense  of 
guilt  and  unhappiness — its  direct  contra- 
riety to  Heathenism — dangers  from  the 
corruption  of  morals — and  from  philosophi- 
cal speculations,  .  .  .  104 

CHAPTER  VI. 

SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY  OF  THE  APOSTLE  PAUL. 

The  separation  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  on 
account  of  Mark — Paul  and  Silas  visit 
Isauria  and  Pisidia — meet  with  Timothy 
— Phrygia — Galatia  —  Troas  —  Philippi — 
baptism  of  Lydia — persecution  —  conver- 
sion of  the  Philippian  jailor,    .  .  105 

Paul  at  Thessalonica — addresses  both  Jews 
and  Gentiles — gains  a  livelihood  by  tent- 
making^his  expectations  of  the  near  ap- 
proach of  the  second  coming  of  Christ — 
fanatical  opposition  of  the  Jews — proceeds 
to  Bera3a,  .  .  .  .110 

Paul  at  Athens — the  religious  character  of 
the  Athenians — Paul  disputes  with  the  phi- 
losophers— the  relation  of  the  Stoics  and 
Epicureans  to  Christianity,        .  .114 

Paul's  discourse — his  appeal  to  the  religious 
principle  implanted  in  human  nature — the 
altar  to  an  unknown  God — Polytheism — 
the  one  living  God — announcement  of  a 
Redeemer — the  efliect  of  his  discourse — 
Dionysius  the  Areopagite— Timothy  sent 
to  Thessalonica,  .  .  ,  115 

Paul  at  Corinth— two  chief  obstacles  to  the 
reception  of  the  Gospel— fondness  for  spe- 
culation— and  for  sensual  indulgences — 
meets  with  Aquila  and  Priscilla— the 
Church  formed  principally  of  Gentile  con- 
verts—the Proconsul  Gallic— Paul's  la- 
hours  in  Achaia,  .  .  .  119 

Thessalonica— information  of  the  state  of  the 
church  brought  by  Timothy— the  First 
Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians — enthusiastic 
tendencies— a  forged  Epistle— the  Second 
Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians — the  signs 
preceding  the  second  coming  of  Christ — 
marks  of  a  genuine  epistle,      .  .  122 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  APOSTLE  PAUL's  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH,  AND  HIS 
RENEVVED  MISSIONARY  LABOURS  AMONG  THE  HEA- 
THEN. 

Paul's  journey  to  Jerusalem — his  vow  and 
offering-  in  the  Temple,  .  .  124 

Paul  at  Antioch — his  meeting  with  Barnabas 
and  Peter — his  reprimand  of  Peter — revival 
of  the  controversy  between  the  Jewish  and 
Gentile  Christians,       .  .  .  126 

Paul  visits  Phrygia  and  Galatia,  .  128 

Paul  at  Ephesus — his  labours  first  in  the  sy- 
nagogue— tlien  among  the  Gentiles — the 
Jewish  GoetoB — the  disciples  of  John  the 
Baptist  rebaptized,       .  .,  .  129 

State  of  the  Galatian  churches — Paul's  Epis- 
tle to  the  Galatians  written  by  his  own 
hand — asserts  his  independent  apostleship 
— states  the  relation  of  Cliristianity  to 
Judaism  and  Heathenism — warns  them 
against  seeking  for  justification  by  the 
law — date  of  tliis  epistle,         .  .  131 

State  of  the  church  at  Corinth — causes  of  its 
disorders ;  superficial  conversion,  general 
immorality,  divisions  occasioned  by  false 
teachers,  ....  135 

Parties  in  the  Corinthian  church — the  Petrine 
— the  Pauline— that  of  ApoUos — that  of 
Christ,  ....  136 

Disputes  in  the  Corinthian  church-*-meat  of- 
fered in  sacrifice  to  idols — Marriage  and 
celibacy — litigation  in  heathen  courts  of 
justice — irregularities  at  the  celebration  of 
the  Agap8B — overvaluation  of  extraordinary 
gifts — opposition  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Re- 

^•'  surrection,        ....  143 

Paul's  second  visit  to  Corintli — his  last  Epis- 
tle to  the  Corinthians,  .  .  148 

The  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians — occa- 
sioned by  certain  questions  proposed  by  the 
church,  relative  to  the  epistle  not  now  ex- 
tant— its  contents — on  parties — on  meat 
offered  to  idols — on  marriage  and  celibacy 
— on  slavery — its  date,  .  .  150 

Paul's  plans  for  his  future  labours — mission 
of  Timothy  to  Macedonia  and  Achaia — 
return  of  Timothy — Tilus  sent  to  Corinth 
— popular  commotion  at  Ephesus  against 
Paul — Demetrius  —  Alexander  —  the  Asi- 
archs — Paul  leaves  Ephesus,   .  .  155 

Paul  in  Macedonia — Titus  brings  information 
respecting  the  church  at  Corinth — the  Se- 
cond Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  .  160 

Paul  in  Illyria — in  Achaia — his  intention  of 
visiting  Rome — his  epistle  to  the  Romans — 
sent  by  the  deaconess  Phoebe — state  of  the 
church  at  Rome — contents  of  the  e|)istle,       162 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  FIFTH  AND  LAST  JOURNEY  OF  PAUL  TO  JERUSALEM 
ITS  IMMEDIATE  CONSEaUENCES — HIS  IMPRISON- 
MENT IN  PALESTINE. 

Paul  at  Philippi — meets  the  overseers  of  the 
Ephesian  church  at  Miletus — liis  farewell 
address,  .  .     •        .  .  170 

Paul's  journey  to  Jerusalem — his  conference 
with  James  and  the  elders  of  the  church — 


his  Nazarite's  vow — the  rage  of  the  Jews — 
his  rescue  by  the  Roman  tribune — his  ap- 
pearance before  the  Sanhedrim,  .  174 
Paul's  imprisonment  at  Coesarea — his  appear- 
ance before  Felix — appeals  to  Caesar — ad- 
dress to  King  Agrippa — sent  to  Rome — 
duration  of  his  confinement,    .             .  177 

CHAPTER  IX. 

PAUL  DURING  HIS  FIRST  CONFINEMENT  AT  ROME,  AND 
THE  DEVELOPEMENT  DURING  THAT  PERIOD  OF  THE 
CHURCHES  FOUNDED  BY  HIM. 

Paul's  relation  to  the  Roman  state — to  the 
church  at  Rome — and  to  other  churches — 
his  care  of  the  Asiatic  churches — date  of 
the  Epistles  to  the  Colossians,  Ephesians, 
and  Philemon — Epaphras  his  fellow-pri- 
soner,  .....  180 

False  teachers  at  ColosstB — peculiarities  of 
the  party — the  germ  of  Judaizing  Gnosti- 
cism— allied  to  the  sect  of  Cerinthus — 
Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Colossians,  .  183 

Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians — sent  by  Ty- 
chicus — a  general  epistle  to  the  churches 
in  Lesser  Asia,  .  .  .  188 

Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Philippians,    .         .  189 

CHAPTER  X. 

Paul's  labours  after  his  release  from  his  first 
confinement  at  rome  to  his  martyrdom. 

Evidence  of  Paul's  release  from  his  first  con- 
finement at  Rome — testimony  of  Clemens 
of  Rome — the  Second  Epistle  to  Timothy 
— causes  of  the  Neronian  persecution,  189 

Paul's  labours  after  his  release — in  Ephesus 
—  in  Macedonia  —  the  First  Epistle  to 
Timothy — Paul  in  Crete — the  Epistle  to 
Titus — Paul  in  Nicopolis — in  Spain — his 
second  imprisonment — the  Second  Epistle 
to  Timothy — the  date  of  his  martyrdom  — 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  written  by  an 
apostolic  man  of  tlie  Pauline  school,  .  193 


BOOK  IV. 


A     REVIEW    OP    THE    LABOURS    OF    JAMES    AND 
PETER  DURING  THIS  PERIOD. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE  CHARACTER  OF  JAMES REMARKS  ON  HIS  EPISTLE. 

Whether  he  was  a  brother  or  only  a  near  re- 
lation of  the  Lord,  and  identical  with  the 
apostle  ?  Dr.  Schneckenburger's  hypothesis 
that  there  was  only  one  James,  examined,    199 

James  distinguished  by  the  strictness  of  his 
life  ;  hence  called  Tkc  Just — the  testimony 
of  Hegesippus,  .  .  .  201 

His  epistle  important  for  illustrating  the  state 
of  tlie  Jewish. Christian  churches,       .  203 

Reasons  for  believing  that  it  was  not  written 
with  a  reference  to  Paul's  doctrinal  views,    203 

The  epistle  addressed  to  churches  consisting 


CONTENTS. 


entirely  or  chiefly  of  Jewish  believers, 
mostly  poor,     ....  206 

The  Christian  doctrines  imperfectly  developed 
in  it — its  importance  in  connexion  with  the 
other  writings  of  the  New  Testament,  207 

The  martyrdom  of  James,  .  .  208 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  APOSTLE  PETER. 

His  parentage — natural  character — call  to  the 

apostleship,      ....  209 

His  labours  in  propagating  the  gospel,   .  21 1 

His  first  epistle,  .  .  .  .212 

Probable  spuriousness  of  the  second  epistle,     213 
Traditions  respecting  Peter's  martyrdom  at . 
Rome,  ....  213 


BOOK  V. 

THE  APOSTLE  JOHN  AND  HIS   MINISTRY  AS  THE 
CLOSING  POINT  OF  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE, 

His  education  —  maternal  influence  —  early 
piety  —  general  character  —  contemplative 
yet  ardent — his  piety  moulded  by  personal 
intercourse  with  the  Saviour,  .  .  217 

His  labours  among  the  churches  in  Lesser 
Asia, 219 

Errors  prevalent  in  these  churches,  practical 
and  theoretical — especially  the  Judaizing — 
the  Anlinomian,  the  anti-judaizing  Gnostic, 
and  the  Corinthian,      .  .  .220 

Tradition  of  John's  banishment  to  Patmos — 
authorship  of  the  Apocalypse,  .  223 

John's  writings — their  general  character — his 
gospel,  ....  225 

His  first  epistle,  ....  227 

His  second  epistle — injunctions  respecting  in- 
tercourse with  false  teachers,  .  .  230 

His  third  epistle— Diotrephes,     .  .  230 

Traditions  respecting  John's  labours  preserved 
by  Clemens  Alexandrinus  and  Jerome — the 
close  of  the  apostolic  age,        .  .  231 


BOOK  VI. 

THE  APOSTOLIC  DOCTRINE. 

The  living  unity  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ 
combined  with  a  vnriety  in  the  forms  of  its 
representation  —  three  leading  varieties — 
the  Pauline,  the  Jacobean  (with  the  inter- 
mediate  Petrine)  and  the  Johannean,  233 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE  PAULINE  DOCTRINE. 

1.  The  connexion  and  contrast  of  Paul's  ear- 
lier and  later  standing-point  are  contain- 
ed in  the  ideas  of  SiKuiocrvvx  and  vo^oc, 
which  form  the  central  point  of  his  doc 


234 


trine. 


The  Siicjicvuvn  of  his  earlier  standing-point 


234 


depended  on  the  observance  of  the  Mo- 
saic law  {vo/uiKii) — the  Christian  J;x«/c(ri/v)t 
and  ^an  correlative  ideas,     . 

The  fundamental  principle  of  his  late  stand- 
ing-point— No  righteousness  by  the  works 
of  the  law  available  before  God — no  es- 
sential distinction  between  the  ritual  and 
moral  t^y^  vcpLcv.  The  idea  of  the  law 
as  a  unity ;  an  outward  rule  of  action, 
requiring  not  effecting  obedience — appli- 
cable to  the  universal  law  of  conscience,  235 

Works  the  marks  of  the  state  of  the  dis- 
position; but  the  law  can  eflfect  no  change 
in  the  disposition — hence  ig^ytt  vo^cu  are 
set  in  contrast  to  sg^ct  a.ya.^a.  (Eph.  ii.  10), 

The  law  not  deficient  as  a  standard  of  duty, 
.  The  Central-point  of  the  Pauline  anthro- 
pology— human  nature  in  opposition  to 
the  law. 

a.  The  nature  of  sin. 

tragi — tragxwoc — The  disunion  in  hu- 
man nature  not  necessary — but  voluntary 
and  blameworthy,    . 

a-a^KiKoc  does  not  import  merely  the 
predominance  of  the  senses,  or  sensual 
appetite — sometimes  equivalent  to  4^;^'" 
(coc,  in  opposition  to  the  ^wv  Trviv/y-n. ;  but 
sometimes  the  body  as  the  organ  of  sin- 
ful tendencies, 

b.  Origin  of  sin  and  death. 

The  consciousness  of  sin  and  of  the 
need  of  redemption  presupposed  as  a 
universal  fact;  hence  the  origin  of  sin 
seldom  adverted  to,  but  .the  idea  of  an 
original  state  of  perfection,  and  the  vo- 
luntary fall  of  the  first  man,  lies  at  the 
basis  of  Paul's  doctrine. 

The  first  man  not  the  representative 
of  human  nature  generally — The  origin 
of  sinful  desire  from  apparent  guiltless- 
ness (Rom.  vii.  9)  not  referrible  to  Adam,  238 

According  to  Rom.  v.  12,  the  sinful 
direction  of  the  will  was  produced  by 
Adam's  voluntary  act,  from  original  sin- 
lessness,  and  continues  itself  in  the  whole 
developement  of  the  race,    . 

Through  sin,  death  conies  upon  all 
men,  not  by  an  essential  change  in  the 
physical  organization  of  man,  but  in 
man's  view  of  death — death  appears  not 
as  a  step  in  the  developement  of  life,  but 
as  a  consequence  of  the  withdrawment 
of  tile  divine  lifij  through  sin, 

c.  Suppression  by  sin  of  the  natural  revela- 

tion of  God. 

The  original  affinity  to  God  not  de- 
stroyed but  suppressed — The  use  of  the 
works  of  creation  in  awakening  the  reli- 
gious sentiment — Religious  susceptibility 
injured  by  sin — the  origin  of  idolatry — 
deterioration  of  man's  moral  nature,  yet 
the  power  of  convenience  not  destroyed,  240 

d.  The  state  of  disunion. 

Two  contending  principles  in  human 
nature — spirit  and  flesh — states  of  bon- 
dage— cither  unconscious,  living  without 
law,  or  conscious,  living  under  the  law 
— Rom.  vii.  a  delineation  of  both  these 
states,  taken  from  Paul's  own  experience, 
but  applicable  to  all  mankind,  .  242 


235 


236 


236 


237 


239 


240 

240 


CONTENTS. 


3.  Preparative  for  Redemption — Judaism  and 
Heathenism. 

a.  Judaism — preparative  in  two  ways — by 
awa-kening  an  anxiety  for  redemption, 
and  by  pointing:  to  the  means  by  which 
it  would  be  effeeted — Only  one  universal 
purpose  of  God,  who  reveals  his  redeem- 
ing grace  in  its  promise  and  its  fulfilment 
— faith,  one  universal  condition — the  fun- 
damental relation  between  God  and  man 
not  altered  by  the  law,  which  served 
partly  to  repress  the  outbreakings  of  sin 
— partly  to  excite  the  consciousness  of 
sin,  .  .  .  .  .243 

b.  Heathenism. 

Judaism  a  progressive  revelation,  but 
heathenism  only  a  dcvelopemtnt  of  nature  ■ 
— Though  idolatry  suppressed  the  origi- 
nal revelation  of  God  in  the  works  of 
Nature,  still  the  law  of  conscience  re- 
mained (of  which  the  Mosaic  law  was  a 
representative),  and  with  that  a  sense  of 
the  need  of  redemption — Partial  fulfil- 
ment of  the  law  by  heathens,  .  245 

c.  Hinderances  and  conditions  of  salvation 
in  both  Jews  and  Heathens. 

The  gross  security  of  heatlienism — 
The  legal  righteousness  of  Judaism — 
The  sign-seeking  of  the  Jews,  and  the 
wisdom-seeking  of  the  Gentiles  —  Re- 
demption the  object  of  the  whole  history 
of  mankind — Attestations  to  the  univer- 
sal need  of  redemption  in  Christ's  dis- 
courses, as  recorded  in  the  three  first 
Gospels,        ....  246 

4.  The  Work  of  Redemption. 

A.  Its  accomplishment  by  Christ,  both  ac- 
tively and  passively,  .  .  249 
a.  The  life  of  Christ  exhibits  the   destruc- 
tion of  sin,  and  the  realization  of  the  law 
in  human  nature,     .              .              .  250 
h.  The  sufferings  of  Clirist  (constantly  to  be 
viewed  in  connexion  with  his  own  life),     250 
B.  The  results  of  the  work  of  Christ. 
a.  Reconciliation  with  God. 

The  life  and  sufferings  of  Christ  a  re- 
velation of  the  eternal  love  of  God — Men, 
once  the  enemies  of  God,  become  through 
Christ  objects  of  divine  love,  .  252 

Possibility  of  a  reconciliation  as  merely 
subjective — a  change  in  the  disposition 
of  man  towards  God  eflfected  by  the  work 
of  Christ — but  even  on  this  supposition 
the  amendment  in  man  is  the  effect,  not 
the  cause  of  God's  love  ;  2  Cor.  v.  20,        252 

But  this  view  inadequate  and  untena- 
ble— the  sense  of  the  wrath  of  God  has 
an  objective  basis — a  revelation  of  the 
divine  holiness,         .  .  .  253 

The  distinction  between  Tragsj-K  and 
ap«9-/f,  ....  253 

The  divine  holiness  revealed  in  Christ 
in  a  twofold  manner,  .  .  254 

h,  dTroxuTpaia-tc  and  a-arif^iu,  freedom  from 
guilt  and  punislnnent;  in  a  wider  sense 
as  effected  objectively  by  Christ,  and 
realized  in  individuals  in  a  more  limited 
sense,  .  .  .  .  255 

c.  <f/K«/a)crK. 

The  Pauline  Sikmutk,  like  the  Jewish, 
2* 


inseparable  from  a  participation  in  all  the 
privileges  of  the  kingdom  of  God — but 
only  to  be  obtained  througli  fellowship 
with  Christ,  the  only  perfect  Sdcchii;, 

Hence  Stx-HMTH  the  induction  of  a  be- 
liever in  Christ  into  the  relation  of  a 
(S'lxdtcic;  J'/Ka/oo-uvH  the  appropriation  of 
Christ's  righteousness  as  the  objective 
ground  of  faith,  as  well  as  the  subjective 
principle  of  life  ;  hence  its  necessarily 
supposed  departure  from  a  life  of  sin,  and 
entrance  into  the  holy  life  of  Christ,  255 

5.  The  Appropriation  of  Salvation  by  Faith. 

a.  The  nature  of  Faith. 

The  i:eeeption  of  divine  revelation  by 
an  internal  determination  of  the  will — 
in  this  respect,  and  not  in  reference  to 
the  object,  Abraham  was  a  pattern  of  the 
righteousness  that  is  by  faith  ;  Rom.  iv. 
19,    .  .  .  .  .  256 

Cliristian  faith  modified  by  its  object — 
a  twofold  reference  to  Christ  as  crucified 
and  risen,     .  .  .  •  256 

b.  rriTTta  the  peculiarity  of  the  Christian 
standing.point,  in  distinction  from  the 
Jewish  legal. 

The  law  requires  every  thing  which 
faith  already  contains  ;  Rom.  x.  5,  .  257 

Tlie  law  is  in  itself  a  deadly  letter — 
the  gospel  a  life-giving  spirit — In  the 
believer,  the  law  is  not  an  object  merely 
of  knowledge  but  of  efHcient  love,    .  258 

The  law  is  so  far  abrogated  for  be- 
lievers, that  their  Sr^aiOTviyf  and  ^ooa  are 
independent  of  it  through  faith,  from 
which  j§^*  aya.ba.  spontaneously  pro- 
ceed, ....  258 

Paul's  appeals  to  the  yo/zoc  are  only  to 
the  outward  Mosaic  law  as  an  expression 
of  the  eternal  law  of  God,    .  .  259 

Hence  the  term  vo^oc  denotes  in  a  more 
general  sense  what  is  common  to  both 
Judaism  and  Christianity  ;  in  the  one  to 
an  outward,  in  the  other  to  an  inward 
law,  ....  259 

Under  the  Jewish  theocracy,  the  ser- 
vice was  external,  iv  irciAa/sTMT/  ye^rty.[xci- 
Toc — under  the  Gospel  internal,  sv  x-dnia- 
TMT/  TTvivfj'.a.Toi — its  J'ouKs/a  identical  with 
vic&ia-irt. ;  the  worship  of  the  former  <rct^. 
KiKit,  of  the  latter  Tviu/uctTUM;  in  the  one 
was  x.'j.Tu  oragKH,  in  the  other  sv  jtug/a,  260 
6.  The  New  Life  proceeding  from  Faith. 

a.  The  transformation  of  the  sinful  nature 
by  the  Divine  ;  accomplished  gradually  ; 
the  trte,^  opposed  not  merely  by  the 
higher  nature  of  man  but  by  the  Spirit 

'    of  Christ  {Ttn-jijL'i.  uyicv),        .  •  261 

All  the  mental  and  bodily  powers  be- 
come organs  of  grace — The  Spirit  of 
Christ  pervades  all  the  peculiar  talents 
of  individuals;  hence  charisms,        .  2G3 

Objective  justification  as  an  unchange- 
able ground  of  confidence,  distinguished 
from  subjective  sanctification,  which  is 
often  an  uncertain  ground,  .  .  262 

b.  The  principles  of  the  new  life— Faith, 
Love,  Hope. 

TTio-Tic  sometimes  denotes  the  whole 
extent   of  Christian   ability — Suvato;  Tit 


CONTENTS. 


via-Tii  relates  particularly  to  the  judg- 
ment formed  by  the  Christian  of  out- 
ward  things — hence  proceeds  Christian 
freedom,  wliich  is  shown  even  in  sub- 
mitting to  outward  restraints,  .  263 

Love  the  natural  effect  of  faith — By 
the  revelation  of  the  love  of  God  in  re- 
demption, love  to  him  is  continually 
kindled,        .  .  .  .265 

Faith  and  love  partly  relate  to  the 
kingdom  of  God  as  present,  but  they 
have  also  a  marked  relation  to  the  future, 
for  the  new  life  is  in  a  state  of  constant 
progression,  it  longs  after  the  perfect 
revelation  of  the  children  of  God,    .  266 

Hence  hope  necessarily  belongs  to 
faith  and  love  —  Perseverance  in  the 
work  of  faith  is  the  practical  side  of  hope,  267 

The  knowledge  of  divine  things  pro- 
ceeds from  faith — proceeds  from  the  spi- 
ritual life — depends  on  the  increase  of 
love — being  necessarily  defective  in  the 
present  state  is  connected  with  the  hope 
of  perfect  intuition,  .  .  268 

Love  the  greatest  of  the  three,  because 
it  alone  abides  for  ever ;  1  Cor.  xiii,  13,     268 
c.  Special  Christian  virtues  proceeding  from 
Faith,  Love,  and  Hope. 

et.  TstTjfvsipgoo-i/vM  distinguishes  the 
Christian  from  the  Heathen  view  of  the 
world ;  only  partial  even  on  the  Jewish 
standing-point;  though  its  direct  rela- 
tion is  to  God  alone,  yet  its  effects  are, 
opposition  to  all  self-exaltation,  and  mo- 
deration towards  the  others,  -  269 

/3.  (TO'peo<7vn  sober-mindedness  in  con- 
flict with  the  world,  2  Tim.  i,  7;  and  in 
self-estimation,  Rom.  xii.  3,  .  270 

y.  a-cipi'j. — The  understanding  under 
the  influence  of  faith — wisdom  and  pru- 
dence, ....  271 

Analogy  to  the  cardinal  virtues  of 
heathen  philosophers — Love  occupies  the 
place  of  (fwa/otruvi),     .  .  •  -^'1 

7.  The  Church  and  Sacraments. 

The  immediate  relation  of  each  indivi- 
dual to  Christ  of  primary  importance — 
hence  the  idea  of  a  community  founded  on 
the  unity  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  believers, 
which  counterbalances  all  other  differences, 
Gal.  iii.  26,       .  .  .  •  272 

The  'iKuhyiTia.  is  the  body  of  Christ— faith 
in  Christ  its  foundation — marks  of  its 
unity,  Eph.  iv.  4,  .  .  .  273 

The  Old  Testament  terms  applied  to 
Christians,  ayi^i  denotes  their  objective  con- 
secration joined  with  subjective  sanctifica- 
tion — kx»to;  tlie  outward  and  inward  call 
considered  as  one — The  idea  and  the  appear- 
ance in  general  not  separated  by  Paul,  273 

But  in  particular  instances,  the  spurious 
members  are  distinguished  from  the  genu- 
ine— where  the  difference  is  perceptible  the 
former  are  to  be  excluded,  in  other  cases 
the  separation  must  be  left  to  God,      .  274 

The  care  of  the  general  good  committed 
to  all  according  to  their  respective  abilities 
and  charisms,  ....  275 

8.  The  Sacraments— Baptism,  and  the  Sup. 

per. 


a.  Baptism — "  putting  on  Christ" — its  two- 
fold reference  to  the  death  and  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ;  includes  a  reference  to 
the  Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit— The 
outward  and  the  inward  are  supposed  to 

be  combined,  .  .  .  275 

b.  The  Supper. 

A  feast  of  commemoration,  1  Cor.  xi. 
24,  the  celebration  of  Christ's  sufferings 
and  a  pledge  of  constant  communion  with 
him ;  «s-t/v  =  it  represents,  involves  a  re- 
ference to  the  mutual  communion  of  be- 
lievers, ....  276 
,  The  Kingdom  of  God.             .             .  278 

A.  Its  idea  and  extent. 

a.  Its  extent  at  successive  periods. 

Preparation  by  means  of  the  Jewish 
theocracy — and  completed  by  Christi- 
anity ;  the  former  sensible  and  nation- 
al, the  latter  spiritual  and  universal,       278 

By  faith  in  Christ,  the  Messianic 
kingdom,  the  mm  /aiWuv  as  opposed 
to  the  aicev  cvToc  or  ttovh^cc  becomes  al- 
ready present — Hence  the  kingdom  of 
God  coincides  with  the  idea  of  the  in- 
visible church  on  earth,    .  .  278 

But  the  idea  is  still  imperfectly  real- 
ized, ....  279 

A  threefold  application  of  the  term, 
1.  The  present  internal  kingdom  of 
God,  1  Cor.  iv.  20,  Rom.  xiv.  17.  2.  The 
future  completion  of  it,  1  Cor.  vi.  10. 
3.  The  present  as  one  with  the  future, 
1  Thess.  ii.  12 ;  2  Thess.  i.  5,       .  279 

b.  The  heavenly  community  coexisting 
witli  the  invisible  church. 

The  kingdom  of  God  embraces  a 
higher  spiritual  world  in  which  the 
archetype  of  the  church  is  realized — 
mankind  are  united  to  this  higher 
world  by  the  knowledge  of  God,  Eph. 
iii.  15,  Col.  i,  20,  compared  with  Eph. 
ii.  14 280 

Christ  is  the  head  of  this  universal 
church,  as  uniting  the  divine  and  hu- 
man natures — The  idea  of  the  Logos 
— not  accidentally  connected  with  the 
person  of  Christ — enters  into  the  es- 
sence of  Christianity,       .  .  280 

B.  The  opposition  of  the  kingdom  of  God 

to  the  kingdom  of  evil. 

The  prevalence  of  sin  among  mankind 
connected  with  the  prevalence  of  evil  in 
the  higher  world — All  ungodliness  the 
power  of  a  spirit  whose  kingdom  is  aim 
ovrct — false  gods  not  evil  spirits,      .  283 

Clirist  tlie  destroyer  of  this  kingdom — 
His  death  apparently  a  defeat,  but  in 
reality  a  victory — charisms  the  tokens  of 
his  triumph,  .  .  .  284 

The  conflict  with  the  kingdom  of  evil 
carried  on  by  Christians,      .  .  285 

C.  Tlie  developement  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
till  its  final  conjunction. 

The  accomplishment  of  the  scheme  of 
redemption  a  work  of  free  grace,     .  285 

a.  As  opposed  to  pre-eminence  of  natural 

descent,    ....  285 

b.  As  opposed  to  legal  merits,  .  286 

Apparent  denial  of  free  self-determina- 


CONTENTS. 


tion  in  Rom.  ix.,  but  not  the  apostle's  in- 
tention to  give  a  complete  theory — but 
an  antithetical  reference  to  the  arrogance 
of  the  Jews,  .  .  .286 

Confidence  in  their  own  righteousness 
the  cause  of  the  rejection  of  the  Jews — 
The  Gentiles  warned  against  presump- 
tuous reliance  on  divine  grace,         .  288 

To  excite  Christian  confidence,  the 
apostle  refers  to  the  unalterable  counsel 
of  divine  love — allusions  to  the  consum- 
mation of  the  kingdom  of  God,  .  289 
10.  The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  and  the 
state  of  the  soul  after  death. 

a.  The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection. 

The  spiritual  awakening  by  faith  a 
preparation  for  the  future-— The  Palen- 
genesia  of  nature,  Rom.  viii.  19,       .  290 

b.  State  of  the  Soul  after  death  till  the  Re- 
surrection. 

Whether  Paul  considered  the  state  of 
the  soul  after  death  till  the  resurrection 
to  be  one  of  suspended  consciousness  like 
sleep? — apparent  ground  for  it  in  1  Thess.  291 

But  his  expectation  of  continued  com- 
munion  with  Christ,  as  signified  in  2 
Cor.  iv.  16,  opposed  to  this  supposition; 
also  Phil.  i.  21,  23  ;  2  Tim.  iv.  18,  .  291 

Possibility  of  an  alteration  in  his  views 
by  progressive  illumination — but  a  com- 
parison of  1  Cor.  15  with  2  Cor.  v.  1  is 
against  this,  .  .  .292 

Therefore  he  held  the  unbroken  con- 
sciousness of  the  soul  after  death,  even 
at  an  earlier  period  of  his  ministry, 
though  not  then  brought  forward,    .  29.3 

The  end  of  the  Mediatorial  kingdom 
and  the  consummation  of  all  things,  293 

CHAPTER  II. 

TIIK  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS. 

The  author  of  this  epistle  compared  with 
Paul, 295 

Points  of  agreement  in  their  views,         .  295 

Points  of  difference — Paul  contemplates  the 
Jewish  economy  as  abrogated  —  In  this 
Epistle  it  is  spoken  of  as  still  existing, 
though  only  typical,    .  .  .  296 

Treating  of  salvation  in  its  relation  solely  to 
the  descendants  of  Abraham,  though  un- 
pauline,  not  contrary  to  Paul's   sentiments,  296 

The  work  of  Christ — The  exaltation  of  Christ 
to  heaven  more  frequently  adverted  to  tlian 
his  resurrection — Allusions  to  the  High 
Priesthood,       ....  298 

The  sufferings  of  Christ,  .  .  299 

The  consequences  of  the  redemption  accom- 
plished by  Christ — Their  appropriation  by 
faith — Connexion  of  faith,  hope,  and  love — 
The  Alexandrian  Jewish  theology — Philo,  299 

CHAPTER  III. 

THF.  DOCTRINE  OF  JAMES. 

1.  Revelation  of  faith  and  works  in  connexion 
with  his  general  view  of  Christianity, 

Comparison  of  a  pretended  faith  with  a 
pretended  love — Works  not  the  soul  of  faith 
but  the  marks  of  its  vitality,   .  .  302 


A  twofold  sense  of  the  term  Faith — The 
faith  of  evil  spirits  forced  and  passive — that 
of  Abraham  spontaneous,  and  in  harmony 
with  the  other  principles  of  the  mind,  303 

The  youoQ  used  to  signify  the  doctrine  of 
Christ,  ....  303 

Unity  of  the  law — Love  its  fulfilment — 
Language  the  organ  of  the  disposition — 
the  Christian  life  a  work,         .  .  304 

Christianity  as  the  voy.oi  TiKHo;  not  mere- 
ly a  new  law,  but  a  new  internal  creation,  304 

The  difference  from  Paul  only  in  the  de- 
velopement,      ....  305 

2.  His  views  of  the  law  compared  with  the 
Pauline. 

His  object  was  to  lead  the  Jews  from 
Judaism  to  the  Gospel — hence  he  repre- 
sents Christ  as  the  fulfiller  of  the  law, 
Matt.  V.  17;  and  allows  its  observance  by 
the  believing  Jews,  Acts  xv.  21,  xxi.  21,        305 

Paul  acted  with  greater  latitude  among 
the  Gentiles — became  a  Gentile,  Gal.  ii.  14, 
which  was  not  required  of  James,  as  his 
ministry  was  confined  to  Jews,  .  306 

3.  The  duty  of  veracity. 

James  repeats  the  injunctions  of  Christ 
verbally  (Matt.  v.  12) — Paul  enforces  the 
duty  from  the  mutual  relation  of  Christians, 
Eph.  V.  12,  and  on  certain  occasions  used 
forms  of  asseveration  equivalent  to  an  oath,  306 

4.  The  free  self  determination  of  man  in  refer- 
ence to  sin — The  sentiments  of  James  on 
this  point  form  an  important  supplement  to 
Paul's  doctrinal  statements,    -  -  306 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  JOHN. 

In  John's  mind  the  intuitive  element  predomi- 
nates over  the  dialective — His  Christian 
course  emphatically  a  life  in  communion 
with  Christ,      ....  307 

1.  The  Central-point  of  his  doctrine — divine 
life  in  communion  with  Christ — death  in 
estrangement  from  him. 

The  theoretical  and  the  practical  are  in- 
timately  blended  in  his  view — His  leading 
ideas  are  light,  life,  and  truth,  in  commu- 
nion with  God  through  the  Logos — death, 
darkness,  falsehood  in  separation  from  him,  307 

Satan  the  representative  of  falsehood — "  a 
liar  and  the  father  of  it" — his  personality 
(note  308) — truth  and  goodness — sin  and 
falsehood  are  one — the  children  of  God  and 
the  children  of  the  world,        .  .  308 

2.  Original  Estrangement  of  Man  from  God 
— opposition  of  the  (ne^KHtov  and  7rytv/ut.a.Tix.ov 
' — the  consciousness  of  sin — a  condition  of 
the  new  life,     ....  309 

3.  Susceptibility  of  Redemption. 

Need  of  an  inward  sense  corresponding 
to  tlie  outward  revelation — Hence  faith  pre- 
supposes a  preparatory  operation  of  tlje 
Holy  Spirit — This  divine  impulse  not  com- 
pulsory ;  but  unsusceptibility  voluntary  and 
criminal,  ....  310 

Twofold  sense  of  the  phrases — "  Jva/  sjc 
S-jsS"  and  "  s/va;  in  t-«  jOd&swc."  .  310 

4.  The  Person  and  the  Work  of  Christ. 

The  life  of  Christ  the   manifestation  of 


CONTENTS. 


God  in  human  form — grace  and  truth  in 
Christ  correspond  to  love  and  holiness  in 
God 311 

The  whole  life  of  Christ  a  revelation  of 
God — hence  his  miracles  and  the  descent 
of  the  Spirit  only  mark  a  new  epoch  in  his 
ministry,  .  .  .  .312 

Christ's  miracles  intended  to  lead  men  to 
higher  views  of  his  S'o^^ ;  meanings  of  the 
term  Faith  in  John's  writings,  .  312 

Import  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ — the 
idea  of  reconciliation  at  the  basis— -the  com- 
munication of  divine  life  connected  with 
his  sacrifice — and  depending  on  his  exalta- 
tion to  glory — the  spiritual  maturity  of  his 
disciples  depending  negatively  on  this,  but 
positively  on  his  divine  influence  —  the 
wvsu^a  ayioi  the  result  of  his  glorification,'  313 
.  Fahh  as  the  Principle  of  a  New  Life. 

Faith  the  one  work  acceptable  to  God, 
John  vi.  29 — complete  surrender  to  Christ — 
one  commandment  of  the  Lord,  brotherly  love,  314 

Faith  the  victory  over  the  world — a  su- 
perstitious faith  in  the  Messiah  easily 
changed   to   absolute  unbelief,  .  315 

The  children  of  God  and  the  children  of 


the  devil,  .... 

Progressive  purification  of  believers. 

Christian  perfection — Christian  hope, 
Resurrection  and  Judgment. 

Peculiarity  of  John's  conceptions — the 
internal  and  present  predominate — mysti- 
cism,   ..... 

Judgment  something  taking  place  in  the 


318 


present  life — the  publication  of  the  gospel 
necessarily  involves  a  separation  of  the 
susceptible  from  tlie  unsusceptible — Judg- 
ment opposed  to  srajTug/a — The  unbeliever 
condemns  himself — the  believer  is  not  con- 
demned, ....  318 

But  this  judgment  and  the  spiritual 
awakening  are  preparatory  to  the  final 
judgment  and  resurrection,    .  .  318 

7.  The  Second  Coming  of  Christ. 

This  is  represented  by  John  as  internal 
— first  by  the  coming  of  the  Spirit,  xvi.  13, 
then  of  Clirist's  own  spiritual  coming,  16 
— yet  a  personal  visible  7ra.pov(nx  is  not  ex- 
cluded, .  .  .  .320 

8.  The  Idea  of  the  Church. 

Not  literally  expressed — yet  metaphori- 
cally by  "  one  fold  and  one  shepherd,"  also 
the  distinction  of  internal  and  external  com- 
munion, 1  Eph.  ii.  19,  .  .  320 

9.  The  Sacraments. 

The  institution  of  Christian  baptism  not 
mentioned — but  its  spiritual  element  noticed 
in  iii.  3 — in  the  same  manner  the  Supper,  vi.  321 

The  essence  of  Christianity  according  to 
Paul  and  John — worshipping  God  as  the 
Father  through  the  Son,  in  the  communion 
of  the  Holy  Spirit — this  the  basis  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  .  .  322 

Closing  remarks,      .  .  .  322 

Htstorical  Index,  .  .  .  323 

Index  of  Texts  quoted  or  explained,  .  327 

Index  of  Greek  Words  and  Phrases.    .  331 


ERRATUM. 

PaL'e  81,  line  20,  left  column,  for  Barnahas  read  Barsabas. 


HISTORY 


THE  CHRISTIAN' CHURCH 


BOOK  L 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH  IN  PALESTINE,  PREVIOUS  TO  ITS  SPREAD 
AMONG  HEATHEN  NATIONS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH  ON  ITS  FIRST  APPEARANCK  AS 
A  DISTINCT  RELIGIOUS  COMMUNITY. 

The  historical  developsment  of  the 
Christian  Church  as  a  body,  is  similar  to 
that  of  the  Christian  life  in  each  of  its 
members.  In  the  latter  case,  the  transition 
from  an  unchristian  to  a  Christian  state 
is  not  an  event  altogether  sudden,  and  with- 
out any  preparatory  steps.  Many  sepa- 
rate rays  of  divine  light,  at  different  times, 
enter  the  soul;  various  influences  of 
awakening  preparative  grace  are  felt,  be- 
fore the  birth  of  that  new  divine  life  by 
which  the  character  of  man  is  destined  to 
be  taken  possession  of,  pervaded  and  trans- 
formed. The  appearance  of  a  new  person- 
ality sanctified  by  the  divine  principle  of 
life,  necessarily  forms  a  great  era  in  life, 
but  the  commencement  of  this  era  is  not 
marked  with  perfect  precision  and  distinct- 
ness;  the  nev^  creation  manifests  itself 
more  or  less  gradually  by  its  effects.  "  The 
wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou 
hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  knowest  not 
whence  it  cometh,  nor  whither  it  goeth." 
The  same  may  be  affirmed  of  the  church 
collectively,  with  this  difierence  however, 
that  here  the  point  of  commencement  is 
more  visibly  and  decidedly  marked. 

It  is  true,  that  Christ,  during  his  ministry 
on  earth,  laid  the  foundation  of  the  outward 

3 


structure  of  the  church ;  he  then  formed 
that  community,  that  spiritual  theocracy, 
whose  members  were  held  together  by  faith 
in  him,  and  a  profession  of  allegiance  to 
him  as  their  King ;  and  which  was  the 
chosen  vessel  for  receiving  and  conveying 
to  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  that  divine  in- 
dwelling life,  which  he  came  to  impart  to 
the  whole  human  race.  The  fountain  of 
divine  life  was  still  shut  up  in  him,  and 
had  not  diffused  itself  abroad  with  that 
energy  and  peculiarity  of  direction,  which 
were  essential  to  the  formation  of  the  Chris- 
tian church.  The  Apostles  themselves  were 
as  yet  confined  to  the  bodily  presence  and 
outward  guidance  of  the  Redeemer:  though, 
by  the  operation  of  Christ,  the  seminal 
principal  of  a  divine  life  had  been  deposited 
in  their  hearts,  and  given  signs  of  germi- 
nation, still  it  had  not  attained  its  full  ex- 
pansion and  peculiar  character ;  hence  it 
might  be  affirmed,  that  what  constituted 
the  animating  spirit  and  the  essential  nature 
of  the  Christian  church,  as  an  association 
gradually  enlarging  itself — (the  unity  of  a 
divine  life  manifesting  itself  in  a  variety  of 
individual  peculiarities)  had  not  yet  ap- 
peared ;  this  event,  indeed,  Christ  had  inti- 
mated would  not  take  place  till  preparation 
had  been  made  for  it  by  his  sufferings  and 
return  to  his  heavenly  Father. 

At  his  last  interview  with  the  disciples, 
just  before  his  final  separation  from  them, 


18 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Chap.  I. 


in  answer  to  their  inquiry  respecting  the 
coming  of  his  kingdom,  he  referred  them 
to  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  would 
enable  fhem  rightly  to  understand  the  doc- 
trine of  his  kingdom,  and  furnish  them  with 
fit  instruments  for  spreading  it  through  the 
world.  All  the  promises  of  the  Saviour 
relate,  it  is  true,  not  merely  to  one  single 
event,  but  to  the  whole  of  the  influence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  Apostles,  and  in  a 
certain  sense,  on  the  Universal  Church 
founded  by  their  means;  yet  the  display 
of  that  influence  for  the  first  time,  forms  so 
distinguished  an  epoch  in  the  lives  of  the 
Apostles,  that  it  may  properly  be  considered 
as  an  especial  fulfilment  of  these  promises. 
Christ  pointed  out  to  the  Apostles  such  a 
palpable  epoch,  which  would  be  attended 
with  a  firm  conviction  of  a  great  internal 
operation  on  their  minds,  an  unwavering 
consciousness  of  the  illumination  imparted 
by  the  Divine  Spirit ;  for,  before  his  final 
departure,  he  enjoined  upon  them,  not  to 
leave  Jerusalem  till  that  promise  was  ful- 
filled, and  they  had  received  that  baptism 
of  the  Spirit  which  would  shortly  take  place. 
On  account  of  this  event,  the  Pentecost 
which  the  disciples  celebrated  soon  after 
the  Saviour's  departure,  is  of  such  great 
importance,  as  marking  the  commencement 
of  the  Apostolic  Church,  for  here  it  first 
publicly  displayed  its  essential  character. 
Next  to  the  appearance  of  the  Son  of  God 
himself  on  earth,  this*   was  the  greatest 


*  Whoever  looks  upon  Christ  only  as  the  highest 
being  developed  from  the  germs  originally  im- 
planted in  human  nature  (although  an  absolutely 
highest  being  cannot  logically  be  inferred  in  the 
developement  of  human  nature  from  this  standing- 
point),  must  take  an  essentially  different  view  from 
ourselves  of  the  transactions  of  which  we  are  speak. 
ing,  though  he  may  approximate  to  us  in  the  mode 
of  viewing  particular  points.  When  Hase,  in  his 
Essay  on  the  First  Christian  Pentecost,  in  the 
Second  Part  of  Winer's  Zeitschrift  fur  wissen- 
schaftliche  Theologie  (Journal  for  Scientific  Theo- 
logy),  says,  "  that  a  time  may  arrive  when  what  is 
the  result  of  freedom  in  man  shall  be  considered 
as  divine,  and  the  Holy  Spirit ;"  we  readily  grant 
that  such  a  time  is  coming,  or  rather  is  already 
come;  it  has  already  reached  its  highest  point, 
from  which  must  ensue  a  revolution  in  the  mode 
of  thinking.  Wc  cannot,  however,  hold  this  view 
to  be  the  Christian  one,  but  entirely  opposite  to 
real  Christianity.  How  irreconcileable  it  is  with 
the  apostolic  belief,  an  unprejudiced  thinker,  Bou- 
terweck,  acknowledges  in  his  Religion  der  Ver- 
nuvft  (Religion  of  Reason),  p.  137.  The  Holy 
Spirit,  in  the  Christian  sense,  is  never  the  divine  in 
the  nature  of  man,  but  a  communication  from  God 
to  the  nature  of  man  (incapable  of  itself  of  reaching 


event,  as  the  commencing  point  of  the  new 
divine  life,  proceeding  from  him  to  the 
human  race,  which  has  since  spread  and 
operated  through  successive  ages,  and  will 
continue  to  operate  until  its  final  object  is 
attained,  and  all  mankind  are  transformed 
into  the  image  of  Christ.  If  we  contem- 
plate this  great  transaction  from  this,  its 
only  proper  point  of  view,  we  shall  not  be 
tempted  to  explain  the  greater  by  the  less ; 
we  shall  not  consider  it  strange  that  the 
most  wonderful  event  in  the  inner  life  of 
mankind  should  be  accompanied  by  extra- 
ordinary outward  appearances,  as  sensible 
indications  of  its  existence.  Still  less  shall 
we  be  induced  to  look  upon  this  great  trans- 
action— in  which  we  recognise  the  neces- 
sary beginning  of  a  new  epoch,  an  essential 
intermediate  step  in  the  religious  develope- 
ment of  the  Apostles,  and  in  the  formation  of 
the  Church — as  something  purely  mythical. 
The  disciples  must  have  looked  forward 
with  intense  expectation  to  the  fulfilment 
of  that  promise,  which  the  Saviour  had  so 
emphatically  repeated*  Ten  days  had 
passed   since  their   final    separation  from 


its  moral  destination),  which  becomes  thereby  rais- 
ed to  a  higher  order  of  life.  But  this  supernatural 
communication  from  God,  by  no  means  contradicts 
an  acknowledgment  of  the  divine  and  of  freedom 
in  the  nature  of  man,  but  rather  presupposes  both. 
*  Professor  Hitzig,  in  his  Sendschreil/en  iiber 
Ostein  iind  PJingsten  (Letters  on  Easter  and  Pen- 
tecost), Heidelberg,  1837,  maintains  that  this  event 
occurred  not  at  the  Jewish  Pentecost,  but  some 
days  earlier,  and  that  the  day  of  the  giving  of  the 
Law  from  Sinai  is  also  to  be  fixed  some  days  ear- 
lier;  that  Acts  ii.  1,  is  to  be  understood,  "when 
the  day  of  Pentecost  drew  near,"  and  therefore  de- 
notes a  time  before  the  actual  occurrence  of  this 
feast.  As  evidence  for  this  assertion,  it  is  remarked 
that,  in  verse  5,  only  the  Jews  settled,  in  Jerusalem, 
those  who  out  of  all  the  countries  in  which  they 
were  scattered,  had  settled  in  Jerusalem  from  a 
strong  religious  feeling,  are  mentioned,  when,  if 
the  reference  had  been  to  one  of  the  principal 
feasts,  the  multitude  of  foreign  Jews,  who  came 
from  all  parts,  would  have  been  especially  noticed. 
Against  this  view  we  have  to  urge  the  following 
considerations.  The  words,  Acts  ii.  1,  "  When  the 
day  of  Pentecost  was  fully  come,"  would  be  most 
naturally  understood  of  the  actual  arrival  of  that 
day,  as  n-Kv^uuoi  to'v  y(_^ivou,  or  t^^^v  Ka/^^v,  Eph. 
i.  10,  and  Gal.  iv.  4,  denote  the  actual  arrival  of  the 
appointed  time ;  though  we  allow  that,  in  certain 
connexions,  they  may  denote  the  near  approach 
of  some  precise  point  of  time,  as  in  Luke  ix.  51, 
where  yet  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  it  is  not  said 
"the  day"  but  "/Ae  days;"  and  thus  the  time  of 
the  departure  of  Christ  from  the  earth,  which  was 
now  actually  approacliing,  is  marked  in  general 
terms.  But  as  to  the  connexion  of  this  passage  in 
the  Acts,  if  we  are  inclined  to  understand  these 


Chap.  I.] 


IN  PALESTINE. 


19 


their  Divine  Master,  when  that  feast  was 
celebrated,  whose  object  so  nearly  touched 
that  which  especially  occupied  their  minds 
at  the  time,  and  must  therefore  have  raised 
their  anxious  expectations  still  higher — the 
Jewish  Pentecost,  the  feast  which  was  held 
seven  weeks  after  the  Passover.  This  feast, 
according  to  the  original  Mosaic  institution, 
related  only  to  the  first  fruits  of  Harvest;  nor 
is  any  other  reason  for  its  celebration  ad- 
duced by  Josephus  and  Philo;  in  this  respect, 
only  a  distant  resemblance  could  be  traced 
between  the  first  fruits  of  the  natural  Crea- 
tion, and  those  of  the  new  Spiritual  Creation; 
this  analogy,  it  is  true,  is  often  adverted  to 
by  the  Ancient  Fathers  of  the  Church,  but 
before  the  fulfilment  of  the  Saviour's  pro- 
mise, must  have  been  very  far  from  the 
thoughts  of  the  disciples.  But  if  we  venture 
to  credit  the  Jewish  Traditions,*  this  feast 


words  only  of  the  near  approach  of  Pentecost,  we 
do  not  see  why  such  a  specification  of  the  time 
should  have  been  given.  Had  Luke  thought  that 
the  day  of  giving  the  Law  on  Sinai  was  different 
from  that  of  the  Pentecost,  it  might  be  expected 
that  he  would  have  marked  more  precisely  the 
main  subject.  Besides,  there  are  no  traces  to  be 
found,  that  a  day  in  commemoration  of  the  giving 
of  the  Law  was  observed  by  the  Jews.  But  if  we 
understand  the  words  as  referring  to  the  actual 
arrival  of  Pentecost,  the  importance  of  fixing  the 
time,  in  relation  to  the  words  immediately  follow- 
ing, and  the  whole  sequel  of  the  narrative  is  very 
apparent.  This  fciist  would  occasion  the  assem- 
bling of  believers  at  an  early  hour.  The  words  in 
verse  5,  we  must  certainly  understand  merely  of 
such  Jews  as  were  resident  in  Jerusalem,  not  of 
such  who  came  there  first  at  this  time.  But  from 
a  comparison  with  the  9th  verse,  it  is  evident  that 
K.-t.toiKih  is  not  to  be  understood  altogether  in  the 
same  sense  in  both  verses  ;  that,  in  the  latter,  those 
are  spoken  of  who  had  their  residence  elsewhere, 
and  were  only  sojourning  for  a  short  time  in  Jeru- 
salem. And  if  we  grant  that  the  persons  spoken 
of  belonged  to  the  number  of  the  Jews  who  for- 
merly dwelt  in  other  lands,  but  for  a  long  time 
past  had  settled  in  Jerusalem,  as  the  capital  of  the 
Theocracy,  then  it  is  clear  that,  by  the  sTfiTo/zcuvTs? 
''Pa>fA^~K>i,  we  must  understand  such  as  for  some 
special  cause  were  just  come  to  Jerusalem.  Fur- 
ther, there  were  also  those  called  Proselytes,  who 
were  found  in  great  numbers  at  Jerusalem,  for 
some  special  occasion,  and  this  could  be  no  other 
than  the  feast  of  Pentecost.  Doubtless,  by  "  all 
the  dwellers  at  Jerusalem,"  v.  14,  who  are  distin- 
guished from  the  Jews,  are  meant  all  who  were 
then  living  at  Jerusalem,  without  determining 
whether  they  had  resided  there  always,  or  only  for 
a  short  time.  The  whole  narrative,  too,  gives  the 
impression  that  a  greater  multitude  of  persons  than 
usual  were  then  assembled  at  Jerusalem. 

*  Which  may  be  found  collected  in  a  Disserta- 
tion by  J.  M.  Danz,  in  Meuschen's  Novum  Testa- 
mentura  e  Talmude  illustratum,  p.  740. 


had  also  a  reference  to  the  giving  of  the 
law  on  Mount  Sinai  ;*  hence,  by  way  of 
distinction,  it  has  been  called  the  feast  of 
the  Joy  of  the  Law.f  If  this  be  admitted, 
then  the  words  of  Christ  respecting  the  new 
revelation  of  God  by  him,  the  new  relation 
established  by  him  between  God  and  Man, 
which  he  himself  under  the  designation  of 
the  New  Covenant^  placed  in  opposition  to 
the  Old, — must  have  been  vividly  recalled 
to  the  minds  of  the  disciples  by  the  cele-, 
bration  of  this  feast,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
their  anxious  longing  would  be  more  strong- 
ly excited  for  that  event,  which  according 
to  his  promise,  would  confirm  and  glorify 
the  New  Dispensation.  As  all  who  pro- 
fessed to  be  the  Lord's  disciples,  (their 
number  then  amounted  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty, )§  were  wont  to  meet  daily  for 
mutual  edification,  so  on  this  solemn  day 


*  That  ihey  are  justified  in  making  such  a  re- 
ference, may  be  concluded  from  comparing  Exodus 
xii.  I,  and  xix.  L 

X  The  word  (f/5t6/iK«,   n*")3i   which   has  been 

used  to  denote  both  the  Old  and  the  New  Dispen- 
sation, is  taken  from  human  relations,  as  signify, 
ing  a  covenant  or  agreement ;  but  in  its  application 
to  the  relation  between  God  and  man,  the  funda- 
mental idea  must  never  be  lost  sight  of,  namely, 
that  of  a  relation  in  which  tliere  is  something  re- 
ciprocal and  conditional,  as,  in  this  case,  a  com- 
munication from  God  to  man  is  conditionated  by 
the  obedience  of  faith  on  the  part  of  the  latter. 

§  Without  doubt,  those  expositors  adopt  the  right 
view  who  suppose,  that  not  merely  the  apostles  but 
all  the  believers  were  at  that  time  assembled ;  for 
tliough,  in  Acts  i.  26,  the  apostles  are  primarily 
intended,  yet  the  ^«6>iTai'  collectively  form  the  chief 
subject  (i.  15),  to  which  the  -iTavTK  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  second  chapter  necessarily  refers.  It 
by  no  means  follows,  that  because,  in  ch.  ii.  14, 
the  apostles  alone  are  represented  as  speakers,  the 
assembly  was  confined  to  these  alone ;  but  here, 
as  elsewhere,  they  appear  the  leaders  and  repre- 
sentatives of  the  whole  church,  and  distinguish 
themselves  from  the  rest  of  the  persons  met  toge- 
ther ;  Acts  ii.  15.  The  great  importance  of  the 
fact.which  Peter  brings  forward  in  his  discourse, 
that  the  gifts  of  the  "Spirit,  which,  under  the  Old 
Covenant  were  imparted  only  to  a  select  class  of 
persons,  such  as  the  prophets,— under  the  New 
Covenant,  which  removes  every  wall  of  separation 
in  reference  to  the  higher  life,  are  communicated 
without  distinction  to  all  believers— this  great  fact 
would  be  altogether  lost  sight  of,  if  we  confined 
every  thing  here  mentioned  to  the  apostlrs. 
Throughout  the  Acts,  wherever  the  agency  of  the 
Spirit  is  manifested  by  similar  characteristics  in 
those  who  were  converted  to  a  living  faith,  we 
perceive  an  evident  homogeneity  with  this  first 
great  event. 


20 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Chap.  I. 


they  were  assembled  in  a  chamber,*  which 
according  to  Oriental  customs,  was  espe- 
cially  assigned  to  devotional  exercises.  It 
was  the  first  stated  hour  of  prayer,  about 
nine  in  the  morning,  and,  according  to 
what  wfe  must  suppose  was  then  the  tone 
of  the  disciples'  feelings,  we  may  presume 
that  their  prayers  turned  to  the  object  which 
filled  their  souls — that  on  the  day  when 
the  Old  Law  had  been  promulgated  with 
such  glory,  the  New  also  might  be  glorified 
by  the  communication  of  the  promised 
Spirit.  And  what  their  ardent  desires  and 
prayers  sought  for,  what  their  Lord  had 
promised,  was  granted.  They  felt  elevated 
to  a  new  state  of  mind,  pervaded  by  a 
spirit  of  joyfulness  and  power,  to  which 
they  had  hitherto  been  strangers,  and  seized 
by  an  inspiring  impulse  to  testify  of  the 
grace  of  redemption,  of  which  now  for  the 
first  time  they  had  right  perceptions.  Ex- 
traordinary appearances  of  nature,  (a  con- 
junction similar  to  what  has  happened  in 
other  important  epochs  of  the  history  of 
mankind),  accompanied  the  great  process 
then  going  on  in  the  spiritual  world,  and 
were  symbolic  of  that  which  filled  their  in- 
most souls.  An  earthquake  attended  by  a 
whirlwind  suddenly  shook  the  building  in 
which  they  were  assembled,  a  symbol  to 
them  of  that  Spirit  which  moved  their  inner 
man.  Flaming  lights  in  the  form  of  tongues 
streamed  through  the  chamber,  and  floating 
downwards  settled  on  their  heads,  a  symbol 
of  the  new  tongues  of  the  fire  of  inspired 


*  Such  a  chamber  was  built  in  the  eastern  style, 
with  a  flat  roof,  and  a  staircase  leading  to  the 

court-yard,  i/ts/jCov,  n^7V»      According   to  the 

narrative  in  the  Acts,  we  must  suppose  it  to  have 
been  a  chamber  in  a  private  house.  But,  in  itself, 
there  is  nothing  to  forbid  our  supposing  that  the 
disciples  met  together  in  the  Temple  at  the  first 
hour  of  prayer  during  the  feast;  their  proceedings 
would  thus  have  gained  much  in  notoriety,  though 
not  in  real  importance,  as  Olsliausen  m;iintains ; 
for  it  perfectly  accorded  with  the  genius  of  the 
Christian  Dispensation,  not  being  restricted  to  par- 
ticular times  and  places,  and  obliterating  the  dis- 
tinction of  profane  and  sacred,  that  the  first  effu- 
sion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  should  take  place,  not  in  a 
temple,  but  in  an  ordinary  dwelling.  It  is  related 
indeed,  in  Luke  xxiv.  .53,  that  the  disciples  met 
continually  in  the  temple,  and  hence  it  might  be 
inferred  that  such  was  the  case  on  the  morning  of 
this  high  feast ;  but  it  would  be  possible  that  Luke 
when  he  wrote  his  gospel,  had  not  such  exact 
knowledge  of  the  course  of  these  proceedings,  or 
only  gave  a  summary  account  of  them. 


emotion,   which  streamed  forth  from  the 
holy  filame  that  glowed  within  them.* 

The  account  of  what  took  place  on  this 
occasion,  leads  us  back  at  last  to  the  depo- 
sitions of  those  who  were  present,  the  only 
persons  who  could  give  direct  testimony 
concerning  it.  And  it  might  happen,  that 
the  glory  of  the  inner  life  then  imparted  to 
them,  might  so  reflect  its  splendour  on  sur- 
rounding objects,  that  by  virtue  of  the  in- 
ternal miracle  (the  elevation  of  their  inward 
life  and  consciousness,  through  the  power 
of  the  Divine  Spirit),  the  objects  of  outward 
perception  appeared  quite  changed.  And 
thus  it  is  not  impossible,  that  all  which  pre- 
sented itself  to  them  as  a  perception  of  the 
outward  senses,  might  be,  in  fact,  only  a 
perception  of  the  predominant  inward  men- 
tal state,  a  sensuous  objectiveness  of  what 
was  operating  inwardly  with  divine  power, 
similar  to  the  ecstatic  visions  which  are 
elsewhere  mentioned  in  Holy  Writ.  What- 
ever may  be  thought  of  this  explanation, 
what  was  divine  in  the  event  remains  the 
same,  for  this  was  an  inward  process  in  the 
souls  of  the  disciples,  in  relation  to  which 
every  thing  outward  was  only  of  subordi- 
nate significance.  Still,  there  is  nothing 
in  the  narrative  which  renders  such  a  sup- 
position necessary.  And  if  we  admit,  that 
there  was  really  an  earthquake  which  fright- 
ened the  inhabitants  out  of  their  houses,  it 
is  easily  explained  how,  though  it  happen- 
ed early  in  the  morning  of  the  feast,  a  great 
multitude  would  be  found  in  the  streets,  and 
the  attention  of  one  and  another  being  at- 
tracted to  the  extraordinary  meeting  of  the 
disciples,  by  degrees,  a  great  crowd  of  per- 
sons, curious  to  know  what  was  going  on, 
would   collect   around    the    house.f     The 


*  Gregory  the  Great  beautifully  remarks :  "  Hinc 
est  quod  super  pastores  primes  in  linguarum  specie 
Spiritus  Sanctns  insedit,  quia  nimirum  quos  reple- 
verit  de  se  protinus  loquentes  facit."  Lib.  i.  Ep. 
25.  As  this  account  does  not  proceed  immediately 
from  an  eye-witness,  in  some  particulars  that  vivid- 
ness is  wanting  which  we  should  otherwise  expect. 

t  The  question  is.  How  are  we  to  explain  the 
difficult  words  thc  ^aiviif  Ta^/Tnc,  in  Acts  ii.  6  ? 
The  pronoun  TctuTtti  leads  us  to  refer  the  words  to 
what  immediately  preceded,  the  loud  speaking  of 
the  persons  asscmliled.  But  then  the  use  of  the 
singular  is  remarkable.  And  since  verse  2  is  the 
principal  subject,  we  may  refer  the  pronoun  T-at/Tiit 
to  that;  the  ^evo/xswc  of  verse  6  seems  also  to  cor- 
respond to  the  iyimo  of  verse  2.  Not  only  is  it 
more  easy  to  refer  the  pronoun  tcivth;  to  what  im- 
mediately precedes  in  verse  4,  but  also  verses  3 
and  4  rather  than  verse  2,  contain  the  most  striking 


Chap.  I.] 


IN  PALESTINE. 


21 


question  may  be  asked,  By  what  was  the 
astonishment  of  the  bystanders  especially 
excited-?  At  the  first  sight,  the  words  in 
Acts  ii.  7-11  appear  susceptible  of  but  one 
interpretation,  that  the  passers-by  were  as- 
tonished at  hearing  Galileans  who  knew  no 
language  but  their  own,  speak  in  a  number 
of  foreign  languages  which  they  could  not 
have  learnt  in  a  natural  way* — that,  there- 
fore, we  must  conclude  that  the  faculty  was 
imparted  to  believers  by  an  extraordinary 
operation  of  Divine  power,  of  speaking  in 
foreign  languages  not  acquired  by  the  use 
of  their  natural  faculties.  Accordingly, 
since  the  third  centuryf  it  has  been  gene- 


facts  in  the  narrative;  it  also  entirely  favours  this 
construction,  that  <fm>f  must  be  understood  of  the 
noise  made  by  the  disciples  in  giving  vent  to  their 
feelings,  and  must  be  taken  as  a  collective  noun, 
ignifying  a  confused  din,  in  which  the  distinclion 


of  individual  voices  would  be  lost. 

*  The  words  give  us  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
the  bystanders  took  offence  at  hearing  the  disciples 
speak  of  divine  things  in  a  different  language  from 
the  sacred  one. 

t  By  many  of  the  ancients  it  has  been  supposed 
— what  a  literal  interpretation  of  the  words  ii.  8 
will  allow,  and  even  favours — that  the  miracle  con- 
sisted in  this,  that,  though  all  spoke  in  one  and  the 
same  language,  each  of  the  hearers  believed  that 
he  heard  them  speak  in  his  own;  ^/ay  fxiv  i^nxiti- 
6a/  (pav/iv,  voK\a.(  Si  anouir^-ui."  Gregory,  Naz.  orat. 
44,  f.  715,  who  yet  does  not  propound  this  view  as 
-peculiarly  his  own.  It  has  lately  been  brought 
forward  in  a  peculiar  manner  by  Schneckenburger, 
in  his  Beitragen  zur  Einleitung  in's  Neue  Testa- 
merit  (Contributions  towards  an  Introduction  to  the 
New  Testament),  p.  84.  The  speakers  by  the  power 
of  inspiration,  operated  so  powerfully  on  the  feel- 
ings of  their  susceptible  hearers,  that  they  in- 
voluntarily translated  what  went  to  their  hearts 
into  their  mother  tongue,  and  understood  it  as  if  it 
had  been  spoken  in  that.  By-  the  element  of  inspi- 
ration, the  inward  communion  of  feeling  was  so 
strongly  brought  forth,  tliat  the  lingual  wall  of 
separation  was  entirely  taken  away.  But  in  order 
to  determine  the  correctness  of  this  mode  of  expla- 
nation, it  may  be  of  use  to  inquire, — If  the  lan- 
guage in  which  the  hearers  were  addressed  was 
quite  foreign  to  them,  the  natural  medium  of  hu- 
man intercourse  would  be  wholly  wanting,  and 
would  be  thus  compensated  by  a  miracle  which 
produced  an  internal  understanding?  Or  was  the 
Aramaic  language  of  the  speakers  not  altogether 
foreign  to  the  hearers,  only  not  so  familiar  as  their 
mother-tongue  ?  But  it  was  an  effect  of  the  inward 
communion  produced  by  the  power  of  spiritual  in- 
fluence, that  they  more  easily  understood  those 
who  spoke  in  a  language  not  familiar  to  them,  the 
want  of  familiarity  was  not  felt.  What  was  ad- 
dressed to  them  was  as  intelligible  as  if  spoken  in 
their  mother-tongue.  In  this  way,  although  on 
the  supposition  of  a  powerful  spiritual  influence, 
by  which  the  essence  of  the  Pentecostal  miracle  is 
not  denied  but  presupposed,  it  would  be  an  expli- 
cable psychological  fact.    Men  speaking  with  the 


rally  admitted,  that  a  supernatural  gift  of 
tongues  was  imparted  on  this  occasion,  by 
which  the  more  rapid  promulgation  of  the 
gospel  among  the  heathen  was  facilitated 
and  proiTioted.  It  has  been  urged  that  as 
in  the  apostolic  age,  many  things  were  ef- 
fected immediately  by  the  predominating 
creative  agency  of  God's  Spirit,  which  in 
later  times,  have  been  effected  through 
human  means  appropriated  and  sanctified 
by  it ;  so,  in  this  instance,  immediate  inspi- 
ration stoo'd  in  the  place  of  those  natural 
lingual  acquirements,  which  in  later  times 
have  served  for  the  propagation  of  the 
gospel. 

But,  indeed,  the  utility  of  such  a  gift  of 
tongues  for  the  spread  of  divine  truth  in 
the  apostolic  times,  will  appear  not  so  great, 
if  we  consider  that  the  gospel  had  its  first 
and  chief  sphere  of  action  among  the  na- 
tions belonging  to  the  Roman  Empire, 
where  the  knowledge  of  the.  Greek  and 
Latin  languages  sufficed  for  this  purpose, 
and  that  the  one  or  the  other  of  these  Ian- 


ardour  of  inspiration,  made  an  impression  on  those 
who  were  not  capable  of  understanding  a  language 
foreign  to  them,  similar  to  what  we  are  told  of 
Bernard's  Sermons  on  the  Crusades  in  Germany : 
"  Quod  germanicis  etiam  populis  loquens  miro 
audiebatur  affectu  et  de  sermone  ejus,  quem  intelli- 
gere,  utpote  alterius  lingute  homines,  non  valebant, 
magis  quam  ex  peritissimi  cujuslibet  post  euni 
loquentis  interpretis  intellecta  loeutione,  sedificari 
illorum  devotio  videbatur,  cujus  rei  certa  probatio 
tunsio  pectorum  erat  et  effusio  lacrimarum."  Ma- 
billon,  ed.  Opp.  Bernard,  torn.  ii.  p.  1119.  And  this 
would  for  the  most  part  agree  with  the  interpreta- 
tion of  my  honourable  friend  Dr.  Steudel.  But  as 
to  the  first  mode  of  explanation,  we  do  not  see 
what  can  allow  or  justify  our  substituting  for  the 
common  interpretation  of  the  miracle  in  question 
another,  which  does  not  come  nearer  the  psycho, 
logical  analogy,  but,  on  the  contrary,  is  farther 
from  it,  and  does  not  so  naturally  connect  itself 
with  the  narrative  as  a  whole.  We  cannot  allow 
an  appeal  to  the  analogy  with  the  phenomena  of 
animal  magnetism,  although,  in  referring  to  such 
an  analogy,  we  find  nothing  objectionable,  any 
more  than  in  general  to  the  analogy  between  the 
supernatural  and  the  natural,  provided  the  diffc- 
rence  of  psychical  circumstances,  and  of  the  causes 
producing  them,  is  not  lost  sight  of.  But  still,  in 
matters  of  science,  where  every  thing  must  be 
well  grounded,  we  cannot  attach  a  value  to  such  a 
document  until  it  is  ascertained  what  is  really 
trustworthy  in  the  accounts  of  such  phenomena. 
As  to  the  second  mode  of  interpretation,  it  can  only 
be  maintained  by  our  adopting  the  supposition,  that 
we  have  not  here  a  tradition  from  the  first  source, 
but  only  a  representation,  wiiich  ultimately  depends 
on  the  report  of  eye-witnesses,  and  if  we  hence 
allow  ourselves  to  distinguish  what  the  author  pro- 
fesses  to  say,  from  the  facts  lying  at  the  basis  of 
his  narrative. 


22 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Chap. 


guages,  as  it  was  employed  in  the  inter- 
course of  daily  life,  could  not  be  altogether 
strange  to  the  Jews,  As  to  the  Greek  lan- 
guage, the  mode  in  which  the  apostles  ex- 
pressed themselves  in  it,  the  traces  of  their 
mother-tongue  which  appear  in  their  use  of 
it,  prove  that  they  had  obtained  a  knowledge 
of  it,  according  to  the  natural  laws  of  lin- 
gual acquirement.  In  the  history  of  the 
first  propagation  of  Christianity,  traces  are 
never  to  be  found  of  a  supernatural  gift  of 
tongues  for  this  object.  Ancient  tradition, 
which  names  certain  persons  as  interpreters 
of  the  apostles,  implies  the  contrary,*  Also, 
Acts  xiv.  11  shows  that  Paul  possessed  no 
supernatural  gift  of  tongues.  Yet  all  this 
does  not  authorize  us  to  deny  the  reference 
to  such  an  endowment  in  the  former  pas- 
sage of  the  Acts,  if  the  explanation  of  the 
whole  passage,  both  in  single  words  and  in 
its  connexion,  is  most  favourable  to  this 
interpretation.  Nor  do  we  venture  to  de- 
cide what  operations  not  to  be  calculated 
according  to  natural  laws  could  be  effected 
by  the  power  with  which  the  new  divine 
life  moved  the  very  depths  of  human  na- 
ture ;  what  especially  could  be  effected 
through  the  connexion  between  the  internal 
life  of  the  Spirit  (on  which  the  new  creation 
operated  with  a  power  before  unknown)  and 
the  faculty  of  speech.  A  phenomenon  of 
this  kind  might  have  taken  place  once,  with 
a  symbolic  prophetic  meaning,  indicating 
that  the  new  divine  life  would  reveal  itself 
in  all  the  languages  of  mankind,  as  Christi- 


*  Thus  Mark  is  called  the  i^/uxviv;,  or  sg.MnvsuTwc 
of  Peter,  (see  Papias  of  Hierapolis  in  Eusebius, 
Ecc.  Hist.  iii.  39,  compared  with  Irenseus,  iii.  1). 
Tiie  Basilidians  say  the  same  of  one  Glaucias, 
Clement's  Stromata,  vii.  765.  On  comparing  every 
thing,  I  must  decide  ag-ainst  the  possible  interpre- 
tation of  those  words  favoured  by  several  eminent 
modern  critics — that  they  mean  simply  an  expo- 
sitor, one  who  repeated  the  instructions  of  Peter 
in  his  Gospel,  with  explanatory  remarks; — for  this 
distinction  of  Mark  is  always  prefixed  to  accounts 
of  his  Gospel,  and  at  the  same  time  from  the  fact 
of  his  acting  in  this  capacity  with  Peter,  his  capa- 
bility is  inferred  to  note  down  the  report  made  by 
him  of  tlio  Evangelical  history.  Thus  certainly 
the  passage  in  Papias  must  be  understood;  "Ma'g- 

KOC    /u\v    Sg^UVSUTw'c    VliT^OV    yiVOfXiVOS,    oa-U    ifjiVII/UOViV- 

(Tiv  oK^i&Z;  iy^*-^iv."  The  second  fact  is  founded 
on  the  first,  tliat  he  accompanied  Peter  as  an  in- 
terpreter. Some  truth  may  lie  at  the  basis  of  this 
tradition  ;  it  might  be,  that  although  Peter  was  not 
ignorant  of  the  Greek  language,  and  could  express 
himself  in  it,  he  yet  took  with  him  a  disciple  who 
was  thoroughly  master  of  it,  that  he  might  be  as- 
sisted by  him  in  publishing  the  Gospel  among  those 
who  spoke  that  language. 


anity  is  destined  to  bring  under  its  sway 
all  the  various  national  peculiarities  !  A 
worthy  symbol  of  this  great  event ! 

But  we  meet  in  the  New  Testament  with 
other  intimations  of  such  a  gift  of  the  Spirit, 
which  are  very  similar  to  the  passages  in 
the  Acts  ;  and  the  explanation  of  these  pas- 
sages is  attended  with  fewer  difficulties  than 
that  of  the  latter.  If,  therefore,  we  do  not, 
contrary  to  the  natural  laws  of  exegesis, 
attempt  to  explain  the  clearer  passages  by 
the  more  obscure,  we  cannot  fail  to  per- 
ceive that,  in  the  section  on  spiritual  gifts 
in  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  some- 
thing altogether  different  from  such  a  super- 
natural gift  of  tongues  is  spoken  of.  Evi- 
dently, the  apostle  is  there  treating  of  such 
discourse  as  would  not  be  generally  intel- 
ligible, proceeding  from  an  ecstatic  state  of 
mind  which  rose  to  an  elevation  far  above 
the  language  of  ordinary  communication. 
We  may  here  adduce  two  passages  in  the 
Acts,  which  cannot  possibly  be  understood 
of  speaking  in  a  foreign  language ;  x.  46, 
and  xix,  6.  How  can  we  imagine  that 
men,  in  the  first  glow  of  conversion,  when 
first  seized  by  the  inspiring  influence  of 
Christian  faith,  instead  of  pouring  forth  the 
feelings  of  which  their  hearts  were  full, 
through  a  medium  so  dear  and  easy  to 
them  as  their  mother-tongue,  could  find 
pleasure  in  what  at  such  a  time  would  be 
a  mere  epideiktic  miracle,  unless  the  effect 
of  being  filled  with  the  Spirit  was  to  hurry 
them  along,  as  bUnd  instruments  of  a  magi- 
cal power,  against  their  wills,  and  to  con- 
strain them  to  make  use  of  a  different  lan- 
guage from  that  which  at  such  a  time  must 
have  been  best  fitted  for  the  expression  of 
their  feelings  ?* 


*  I  cannot  comprehend  what  Professor  Baum- 
lein  maintains  in  his  Essay  on  this  subject,  in  the 
^'' Sludien  der  Evangelischen  Geistlichkeit  Wiirtem- 
bergs"  (Studies  of  the  Evangelical  Clergy  of  Wur- 
temberg)  vi.  2.  p.  119,  "that  in  certiiin  religious 
mental  states,  the  speaking  in  foreign  languages 
is  by  no  means  unnatural."  It  is  plain  that  a  man 
may  easily  feel  himself  impelled,  when  actuated 
by  new  feelings  and  ideas,  to  form  new  words  ;  as 
from  a  new  spiritual  life,  a  new  religious  dialect 
forms  itself.  But  how,  under  such  circumstances, 
it  can  be  natural  to  speak  a  language  altogether 
foreign,  I  cannot  perceive,  nor  can  I  find  any 
analogy  for  it  in  other  psychical  phenomena.  Still 
less  can  I  admit  the  comparison  with  the  manifes- 
tations among  the  followers  of  Mr.  Irving  in  Lon- 
don, since,  as  far  as  my  knowledge  extends,  I  can 
see  nothing  in  these  manifestations  but  the  work- 
ings of  an  entimsiastic  spirit,  which  sought  to  copy 
the  apostolic  gifl  of  tongues  according  to  the  com- 


Chap.  I.] 


IN  PALESTINE. 


23 


Both  these  suppositions  are  at  variance 
with  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  nor  does  any 
thing  similar  appear  in  the  first  history  of 
Christianity.  Such  exhibitions  would  be 
peculiarly  suited  to  draw  away  the  mind 
from  that  which  is  the  essence  of  conver- 
sion, and  only  to  furnish  aliment  for  an 
unchristian  vanity.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  seems  a  propriety  in  referring  these 
passages  to  the  utterance  of  the  new  things 
with  which  the  mind  would  be  filled,  in  the 
new  language  of  a  heart  glowing  with 
Christian  sentiment.*  Thus  it  may  be  ex- 
plained how,  in  the  first  pas'sage  (Acts  x. 
46),  the  yXLiddaig  \aXs7v  is  connected  with 
"  praising  God,"  "  praising  God  with  the 
whole  heart,"  when  conscious  of  having 
through  his  grace  received  salvation  ;  and 
in  the  second  passage.  Acts  xix.  6,  with 
*go<p»iT£;;£iv.  But  as,  in  both  these  passages, 
it  is  plainly  shown  that  the  communication 
of  the  Divine  Spirit  was  indicated  by  cha- 
racteristics similar  to  those  of  its  original 
effusion  at  Pentecost,  we  are  furnished  with 
a  valuable  clue  to  the  right  understanding 
of  that  event. 

If,  then,  we  examine  more  closely  the 
description  of  what  transpired  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost,  we  shall  find  several  things 
which  favour  a  different  interpretation  from 
the  ancient  one.  How  could  a  number  of 
carnally-minded  men  be  led  to  explain  the 
speaking  of  the  disciples  in  foreign  lan- 
guages, as  the  effect  of  intoxication  1  Acts 
ii.  13,f  How  did  it  happen,  that  Peter  in 
his  apologetic  discourse  did  not  appeal  to 
the  undeniably   miraculous   nature   of  an 


mon  interpretation,  and  therefore  assumed  the 
reality  of  that  gift. 

*  See  the  Dissertation  of  Dr.  David  Schulz  on 
the  Spiritual  Gifts  of  the  first  Christians.  Breslau, 
1836. 

t  Although  this  may  not  be  considered  as  abso- 
lutely necessary,  for  it  would  certainly  be  possible, 
that  frivolous,  carnally-minded  men  who  were  dis- 
posed to  ridicule  what  they  did  not  understand, 
might  not  observe  the  phenomenon  (not  explicable 
from  common  causes)  of  speaking  in  a  foreign 
language ;  it  is  possible  that  Peter,  after  he  had 
shown  the  contrariety  of  the  inspiration  of  the 
apostle  to  a  state  of  intoxication,  which  could 
hardly  have  taken  place  at  that  hour  of  the  day, 
instead  of  adducing  other  marks  which  testified 
against  it,  passed  on  to  compare  the  phenomena 
with  the  prophetic  promise  which  was  here  ful- 
filled. Yet  it  is  not  at  all  probable  that  Peter, 
since  he  refers  to  the  hour  of  the  day,  in  order  to 
refute  the  charge  of  intoxication,  should  not  also 
refer  to  that  other  fact  (supposing  it  to  exist)  which 
would  have  completed  his  proof 


event  by  which  the  objections  of  men  un- 
susceptible of  what  was  divine,  might  most 
easily  be  refuted?  Why  did  he  satisfy 
himself  with  referring  to  the  prophetic  de- 
clarations respecting  an  extraordinary  re- 
vival, and  an  effusion  of  the  Spirit,  which 
was  to  take  place  in  the  times  of  the  Mes- 
siah, without  even  adverting  to  this  peculiar 
manifestation  ?  In  the  construction  of  the 
whole  narrative,  we  find  nothing  that  obliges 
us  to  adopt  the  notion  of  a  supernatural  gift 
of  tongues  ip  the  usual  sense.  The  flames 
that  settled  on  their  heads  appear  as  the 
natural  symbols  of  the  new  tongues,  or  new 
language  of  that  holy  fire  which  was  kindled 
in  the  hearts  of  the  disciples,  by  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  accordingly  it  is 
said,  "  They  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  began  to  speak  with  other 
tongues*  as  the  Spirit  gave  them  utter- 
ance ;"  therefore,  the  tongues  of  the  Spirit 
were  the  new  form  for  the  new  spirit  which 
animated  them. 

It  appears  indeed,  to  militate  against  this 
interpretation,  and  to  establish  the  common 
one,  that  the  spectators  are  described  as 
expressing  their  astonishment  at  hearing, 
each  one  in  his  own  tongue,  these  Galileans 
who  knew  no  foreign  language,  speaking  the 
wonderful  works  of  God  (Acts  ii.  8) ;  and 
more  than  this,  we  have  the  various  nations 
distinctly  named  in  whose  languages  the 
apostles  spoke.  "  It  is  also  easy  to  perceive 
that  we  have  not  literally  that  form  of  ex- 
pression of  which  these  persons  made  use." 
But  we  cannot  possibly  think  that  all  these 
nations  spoke  different  languages,  for  it  is 
certain  that,  in  the  cities  of  Cappadocia, 
Pontus,  Lesser  Asia,  Phrygia,  Pamphylia, 
Cyrene,  and  in  the  parts  of  Lybia  and 
Egypt  inhabited  by  Grecian  and  Jewish 
Colonies,  the  Greek  would  at  that  time  be 
in  general  better  understood  than  the  ancient 
language  of  the  country,  and  as  this  must 
have  been  known  to  the  writer  of  the  Acts, 
he  could  not  have  intended  to  specify  so 
many  different  languages.  There  will  re- 
main out  of  the  whole  catalogue  of  lan- 
guages, only  the  Persian,  Syriac,  Arabic, 
Greek,  and  Latin.  It  also  deserves  notice, 
that  the  inhabitants  of  Judea  are  mentioned, 
who  spoke  the  same  language  as  the  Gali- 
leans, only  with  a  slight  difference  of  pro- 

*  The  word  y\Zcr(TA,  like  the  German  Zuncre 
[and  the  English  ionfrue]  is  used  both  for  the 
bodily  organ  of  speech,  and  for  a  language  or 
dialect. 


24 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Chap.  I. 


luinciation.  Since  then,  to  retain  the  ancient 
view  of  the  gift  of  tongues,  creates  difficul- 
ties in  tliis  passage,  which  is  the  only  one 
that  can  serve  to  support  it ;  while  several 
parts  of  the  narrative  oppose  it,  and  every- 
thing that  is  said  elsewhere  of  this  gift 
(X«p»C|Uia)  leads  to  a  very  difTercnt  interpre- 
tation, the  more  ancient  view  becomes  very 
uncertain,  though  we  cannot  arrive  at  a 
perfectly  clear  and  certain  conclusion  re- 
specting the  facts  which  form  the  ground- 
work of  the  narrative.  Perhaps  the  diffi- 
culty in  the  passage  may  be  obviated  in  this 
way.  It  was  not  unusual  to  designate  all 
the  disciples  of  the  Lord,  Galileans,  and  it 
might  be  inferred  from  this  common  appel- 
lation that  they  were  all  Galileans,,  by 
birth;  but  it  by  no  means  follows  that  this 
was  actually  the  case.  Among  the  so-called 
Galileans,  some  might  be  found  whose 
mother-tongue  was  not  the  Galilean  dialect, 
and  who  now  felt  themselves  impelled  to 
express  the  fulness  of  their  hearts  in  their 
own  provincial  dialect,  which  through  Chris- 
tianity had  become  a  sacred  language  to 
them,  though  hitherto  they  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  consider  the  Hebrew  only  in  that 
light  ;*  and  it  might  also  happen  that  some 
who  lived  on  the  confines  of  Galilee,  had 
learned  the  language  of  the  adjacent  tribes, 
which  they  now  made  use  of,  in  order  to 
be  better  understood  by  foreigners.  Thus 
the  speaking  in  foreign  languages  would  be 
only  something  accidental,  and  not  the  es- 
■  sential  of  the  new  language  of  the  Spirit. f 
This  new  language  of  the  Spirit  is  that 
w'hich  Christ  promised  to  his  disciples,  as 
one  of  the  essential  marks  of  the  operation 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  their  hearts.  Indeed, 
the  promise  that  they  should  speak  with 
new  tongues,:}:  appears  only  in  the  critically 
suspected  addition  to  the  Gospel  of  Mark, 
but  it  does  not  follow  that  a  true  tradition 


does  not  lie  at  the  basis  of  it ;  and  if  Christ 
in  the  other  Gospels  has  not  literally  made 
use  of  this  expression,  still  we  find  what  is 
allied  to  it  in  meaning,  when  he  speaks  of 
the  new  powers  of  utterance  which  would 
be  imparted  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  dis- 
ciples, "  I  will  give  you  a  mouth  and  wis- 
dom," Luke  xxi.  15.  Thus  this  expression, 
"  to  speak  with  new  tongues,"  would  mean, 
to  speak  with  such  tongues  as  the  Spirit  gave 
them  ;  other  tongues  than  those  hitherto 
used,  originally  intended  to  mark  the  great 
revolution  efTected  by  Christianity  in  the 
dispositions  of  men  wherever  it  found  en- 
trance, among  the  rude  as  well,  as  the  civil- 
ised.* Yet  we  do  not  venture  to  assume 
that  the  meaning  of  the  expression  remained 
invariably  the  same,  for  this  would  be  in- 
consistent with  its  use  in  the  First  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians,  of  which  we  shall  speak 
hereafter.  As  the  original,  form  of  the  ex- 
pression in  the  Christian  phraseology  gra- 
dually was  shortened  in  many  ways,f  so 


*  See  Acts  xxii.  2.  Wetstein  on  Acts  vi.  1.  On 
this  point  the  views  of  the  Palestinian  theologians 
would  difTer,  according  as  their  general  mode  of 
liiinking  was  more  or  less  contracted. 

+  Whatever  interpretation  be  adopted  of  this 
passage,  it  will  be  no  more  than  a  conjecture  for 
the  solution  of  that  difficulty,  nor  can  any  be  given 
with  the  degree  of  certainty  equal  to  what  may  be 
attained  respecting  the  gift  of  tongues  in  a  general 
point  of  view. 

t  This  evidently  denoted  such  tongues  or  Ian- 
guages  as  were  not  yet  in  the  world.  Had  the 
person  who  commiUcd  this  tradition  to  writing  in- 
tended foreign  languages  not  acquired  by  study, 
lie  would  certainly  have  made  use  of  a  different 
expression. 


*  Gregory  the  Great  beautifully  remarks,  in  his 
Homil.  in  Evang.  1.  ii.  H.  29  :  "  Fideles  quique, 
qui  jam  vitae  veteris  secularia  verba  derelinquunt, 
sancta  aulem  mysteria  insonant,  conditoris  sui 
laudes  et  potentiam  quantum  prsevalent,  narrant, 
quid  aliud  faeiunt,  nisi  novis  linguis  loquuntur  ?" 
The  view  I  have  here  taken  is  nearly  the  same  as 
that  of  Herder  in  his  Treatise  on  tlie  Pentecostal 
Gift  of  I'ongues; — of  Hase,  and  particularly  of 
Bauer,  in  his  valuable  essay  on  the  subject  in  the 
"  Tubinger  Zeitschrift  fur  Theologie,'"  1830.  Part, 
ii.  to  which  I  am  indebted  for  some  modifications 
of  my  owir  view.  My  honoured  friend  Steudel,  in 
the  same  •periodical,  adopts  a  view  essentially  the 
same.  It  has  also  found  an  advocate  in  Dr.  Schulz. 
With  Bleek  (see  his  learned  and  acute  disserta- 
tions in  the  Sludien  unci  Kritiken),  I  agree  in  the 
general  view  of  the  subject,  but  not  in  the  expla- 
nation  of  the  word  yxZa-ira.  Other  grounds  apart, 
adduced  by  Bauer,  it  appears  to  me  fiir  more  natu- 
ral  to  deduce  the  designation  for  the  new  form  of 
Christian  inspiration,  in  reference  to  the  Hebrew 

*1Ci^ /i  ^^  ^^^'^  ''•s  the  Greek  yhZrtra.,  from  the 

language  of  common  life  rather  than  from  the 
schools  of  grammarians.  But  the  question,  whether, 
in  this  connexion,  the  word  must  originally  be 
understood,  of  the  organ  of  language  (according  to 
Bauer,)  or  of  the  kind  of  language,  docs  not  appear 
to  mc  so  very  important,  for  in  this  instance  both 
meanings  of  the  word  are  closely  allied. 

t  Winer  justly  remarks,  in  the  last  edition  of 
his  Granmiar,  p.  5.34,  {Grammalik  ties  Neutesta- 
mentlichen  Spraclddioms,  Ath  Ed.  Leipzig,  1836,) 
that,  in  the  phrase  yhZ^a-a-nii  heiKiiv,  a  word  like  ■ 
Knivalt  cannot  legitimately  be  supplied  ;  but  it  may 
be  assumed  that,  irom  the  original  complete  phrase, 
after  it  had  once  acquired  a  fixed  meaning,  a 
shorter  elliptical  phrase  was  formed,  as  there  was 
occasion  to  employ  it  frequently. 


Chap.  I.] 


IN  PALESTINE. 


25 


likewise  there  was  a  gradual  alteration  in 
the  meaning ;  that  alteration,  namely,  of 
which  many  examples  are  elsewhere  found 
in  the  history  of  language,  that  a  word 
which  at  first  was  altogether  the  general 
sign  of  a  certain  idea,  became  in  later  times, 
as  various  shades  of  meaning  were  attached 
to  this  idea,  limited  to  one  particular  appli- 
cation of  it.  Thus  it  came  to  pass,  that  an 
expression  which  originally  denoted  the 
new  language  of  Christians  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Spirit  generally,  afterwards, 
when  various  modifications  of  such  lan- 
guage had  been  formed,  became  limited  to 
that  kind  in  which  the  immediate  influences 
of  the  Spirit  predominated,  and  presented 
itself  in  the  higher  self-consciousness  as  the 
specially  ecstatic  form,*  while  the  discur- 
sive activity  of  the  understanding  with  the 
lower  self-consciousness  for  the  time  lay 
dormant. 


*  This  continued  to  be  the  general  use  of  the 
term  for  the  first  two  centuries,  until  the  historical 
connexion  with  the  youtiiful  age  of  the  church 
being  broken,  the  notion  of  a  supernatural  gift  of 
tongues  was  formed.  On  this  point,  it  is  worth 
while  to  compare  some  passages  of  Irenajus  and 
Tertullian.  Irenaeus  (lib.  v.  c.  9)  cites  what  Paul 
says  of  the  wisdom  of  the  perfect,  and  then  adds, 
Paul  calls  those  perfect,  "  Qui  perceperunt  Spiritum 
Dei  et  omnibus  linguis  loquuntur  per  Spiritum 
Dei,  quemadmodum  et  ipse  loquebatur,  kclBC^s  nai 
TroxxZv  cMivc/Uiv  ^JiK^Zv  h  rv  iUKKxa-U  ■7rgop>iTix.ci 
^ttgia-fAdLTdL    i^'.vTm    icu.)  Tra.vTcJ'nTrx'ic     xa-Kouvruy 

TO.  fAva-Ttipii  Toubiov  fniinyovuivm,  quosetspiritales 
apostolus  vocat."  Though  some  persons  think  the 
term  TravrcJ'ctTraK  undoubtedly  refers  to  the  lan- 
guages of  various  nations,  I  do  not  see  how  that 
can  be,  according  to  its  use  at  that  time,  though 
the  original  meaning  of  the  word  might  be  so  un- 
derstood. It  is  particularly  worthy  of  notice,  that 
IrensEus  represents  this  gitlt  as  one  of  the  essential 
marks  of  Christian  perlection,  as  a  characteristic 
of  the  spirilales.  We  cannot  well  comprehend  how 
he  could  suppose  any  thing  so  detached  and  acci- 
dental as  speaking  in  many  foreign  languages,  to 
stand  in  so  close  and  necessary  a  connexion  with 
the  essence  of  Christian  inspiration.  Besides,  he 
speaks  of  it  as  one  of  those  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  which 
continued  to  exist  in  the  church  even  in  his  own 
times.  He  evidently  considers  the  y>.Z(rcrai;  xnKih 
as  something  allied  to  TrfioipHTiviv.  To  the  latter, 
he  attributes  the  faculty  of  bringing  to  light  the  i 
hidden  thoughts  of  men,  and  to  the  former  that  of 
publishing  divine  mysteries.  He  sees  nothing  but 
this  in  the  gift  of  tongues  at  the  effusion  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and,  in  reference  to  that  event,  places 
together  "  prophetari  et  loqui  linguis,"  1.  iii.  c.  12. 
Tertullian  demands  of  Marcinn  to  point  out  among 
his  followers  proofs  of  ecstatic  inspiration  :  "  Edat  i 
aliquem  psalmum,  aliquam  visionem,  aliquam  ora-  1 
tionem  duntaxat  spiritualem  in  ecstasi.  i.  c.  amentia,  I 


After  having  attempted  to  clear  up  these 
difl^erent  points,  we  shall  be  better  able  to 
give  a  sketch  of  the  whole  scene  on  that 
memorable  day. 

The  shock  of  the  earthquake  occasions 
the  concourse  of  many  persons  in  the 
streets  from  various  quarters,  as  the  fes- 
tival had  brought  Jews  and  Proselytes  from 
all  parts  of  the  world  to  Jerusalem.  The 
assembling  of  the  disciples  attracts  their 
notice  ;  by  degrees  a  crowd  of  curious  in- 
quirers is  collected,  many  of  whom  pro- 
bably enter  the  assembly  in  order  to  in- 
form themselves  accurately  of  the  affair. 
The  disciples  now  turn  to  these  strangers, 
and,  constrained  by  the  impulse  of  the 
Spirit,  announce  to  them  what  filled  their 
hearts.  The  impression  made  by  their 
words  varies  with  the  dispositions  of  their 
hearers.  Some  feel  themselves  affected  by 
the  energy  of  inspiration  with  which  the 
disciples  spoke,  but  can  give  no  clear  ac- 
count of  the  impressions  made  by  the  whole 
affair.  Instead  of  asking  themselves, 
"  whence  proceeds  that  power  with  which 
we  hear  these  men  speak  who  were  not 
educated   in  the  schools   of  the  scribes?" 


si  qua  linguae  interpretatio  accesserit."  Evidently 
in  this  cohriexion,  the  term  lingua,  expressing 
speaking  in  an  ecstacy,  which,  since  what  is  spoken 
in  this  state  cannot  be  generally  intelligible,  an  in- 
terpretation must  accompany.  Tertullian  also,  in 
the  same  passage  {adv.  Marcion,  1.  v.  c.  8),  apply- 
ing the  words  in  Isaiah  xi.  2,  to  the  Christian 
church,  joins  prophetari  with  linguis  loqui,  and 
attributes  both  to  the  Spiritus  agnitionis,  the 
TTViZfAt  yvcuo-iuc.  It  further  appears  from  what 
has  been  said,  that  the  gift  of  tongues  was  con- 
sidered as  still  existing  in  tlie  church  ;  and  it  is 
strange  that  the  Fathers  never  refer  to  it  apolo- 
getically, as  an  undeniable  evidence  to  the  heathen 
of  the  divine  power  operating  among  Christians, 
in  the  same  manner  as  they  appeal  to  the  gift  of 
healing  the  sick,  or  of  casting  out  demons,  although 
the  ability  to  speak  in  a  variety  of  languages 
which  could  not  be  acquired  in  a  natural  way, 
must  have  been  very  astonishing  to  the  heathen. 
In  Origen,  in  whose  times  the  Charismata  of  the 
apostolic  church  began  to  be  considered  as  some- 
thing belonging  to  the  past,  we  find  the  first  trace 
of  the  opinion  that  has  since  been  prevalent,  yet 
even  in  him  the  two  views  are  mingled,  as  might  be 
done  by  the  distinction  of  the  twofold  mode  of  in- 
terpretation, the  literal  and  the  spiritual.  Compare 
Ep.  ad  Roman,  ed.  de  la  Rue,  I.  iv.  f  470.  1.  vii.  f. 
602,  de  oratione  §  2,  tom.  i.  f  199.  The  opposition 
to  Montanism,  which  had  subjected  the  ykteo-inttc 
Ki\ih  to  abuse,  as  in  the  Corinthian  Church, 
might  contribute  to  sink  into  oblivion  the  more 
ancient  interpretation.  The  ^ivocpmtuv,  the  xaxe/v 
sa^gcvac  K*i  axxt.7g/i7go7raic  came  to  be  considered  aa 
a  mark  of  the  spurious  Montanist  Inspiration, 
Euseb.  Hist.  Eccl.  v.  16. 


26 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Chap.  I. 


their  wonder  is  directed  only  to  what  was 
most  external.  How  comes  it  to  pass  that 
these  Galileans  speak  in  foreign  tongues  1 
Others  who  have  been  impressed  without 
any  precise  consciousness,  give  vent  to 
their  astonishment  in  general  expressions, 
What  can  all  this  mean  ?  But  those  who 
were  utterly  unsusceptible  and  light-minded, 
ridicule  and  reject  what  they  are  unable  to 
comprehend. 

The  apostles  held  it  to  be  their  duty,  to 
defend  the  Christian  community  against 
the  reproaches  cast  upon  it  by  superficial 
judges,  and  to  avail  themselves  of  the  im- 
pression which  this  spectacle  had  made  on 
so  many,  to  lead  them  to  faith  in  Him 
whose  divine  power  was  here  manifested. 
Peter  came  forward  with  the  rest  of  the 
eleven,  and  as  the  apostles  spoke  in  the 
name  of  the  whole  church,  so  Peter  spoke 
in  the  name  of  the  apostles.  The  promp- 
titude and  energy  which  made  him  take  the 
lead  in  expressing  the  sentiments  with 
which  all  were  animated,  were  special  en- 
dowments, founded  on  his  natural  cha- 
racter ;  hence  the  distinguished  place  which 
he  had  already  taken  among  the  disciples, 
and  which  he  long  after  held  in  the  first 
church  at  Jerusalem.  "  Think  not,"  said 
Peter,*  "  that  in  these  unwonted  appear- 
ances, you  see  the  effects  of  ineliriety. 
These  are  the  signs  of  the  Messianic  era, 
predicted  by  the  prophet  Joel ;  the  mani- 
festations of  an  extraordinary  effusion  of 
the  Spirit,  which  is  not  limited  to  an  indi- 
vidual here  and  there,  the  chosen  organs 
of  the  Most  High,  but  in  which  all  share 
who  have  entered  into  a  new  relation  to 
God  by  faith  in  the  Messiah,  This  Mes- 
sianic era  will  be  distinguished,  as  the  pro- 
phet foretold,  by  various  extraordinary  ap- 
pearances, as  precursors  of  the  last  deci- 
sive epoch  of  the  general  judgment.  But 
whoever  believes  in  the  Messiah  has  no 
cause  to  fear  that  judgment,  but  may  be 
certain  of  salvation.     That  Jesus  of  Naza- 


•  Blcek  has  correctly  perceived  traces  of  a  He- 
brew  original  in  Acts  ii.  24,  where  the  connexion 
of  the  metaphor   niake^  itv/ucut  toi  d*vaTov  = 

n^tD  ^^Dll  ""•  '7iN*P*,  Psalm  xviii.  5  and  6, 
which  the  Alexandrian  renders  by  iiftva,  accord- 
ing to  the  meaning   of  the   word    72jn.     ^^ 

nieok's  review  of  Mayerhoff's  "  Hist.  Kritischer 
Emleilung  in  die.  Iiehrncurhen  Schriflen,"  in  the 
Sludien  und  Kritiken.     1«3G,  iv.  1021. 


reth,  whose  divine  mission  was  verified  to 
you  by  the  miracles  that  attended  his 
earthly  course,  is  the  very  Messiah  pro- 
mised in  the  Old  Testament.  Let  not  his 
ignominious  death  be  urged  as  invalidating 
his  claims.  It  was  necessary  for  the  ful- 
filment of  his  work  as  the  Messiah,  and 
determined  by  the  counsel  of  God.  The 
events  that  followed  his  death  are  a  proof 
of  this,  for  he  rose  from  the  dead,  of  which 
we  are  all  witnesses,  and  has  been  exalted 
to  heaven  by  the  divine  power.  From  the 
extraordinary  appearances  which  have 
filled  you  with  astonishment,  you  perceive, 
that  in  his  glorified  state  he  is  now  opera- 
ting with  divine  energy  among  those  who 
believe  on  him.  The  heavenly  Father  has 
promised  that  the  Messiah  shall  fill  all  who 
believe  on  him  with  the  power  of  the  divine 
spirit,  and  this  promise  is  now  being  ful- 
filled. Learn,  then,  from  these  events,  in 
which  you  behold  the  pi-ophecies  of  the 
Old  Testament  fulfilled,  the  nothingness  of 
all  that  you  have  attempted  against  him, 
and  know  that  God  has  exalted  him  whom 
you  crucified  to  be  Messiah,  the  ruler  of 
God's  kingdom,  and  that  through  divine 
power,  he  will  overcome  all  his  enemies." 

The  words  of  Peter  deeply  impressed 
many,  who  anxiously  asked,  What  must 
we  do  ?  Peter  called  upon  them  to  repent 
of  their  sins,  to  believe  in  Jesus  as  the 
Messiah  who  could  impart  to  them  forgive- 
ness of  sins  and  freedom  from  sin — in  this  i 
faith  to  be  baptized,  and  thus  outwardly  to 
join  the  communion  of  the  Messiah ;  then 
would  the  divine  power  of  faith  be  mani- 
fested in  them,  as  it  had  already  been  in 
the  community  of  believers  ;  they  would 
receive  the  same  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  bestowment  of.  which  was  simultaneous 
with  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  freedom 
from  sin  ;  for  the  promise  related  to  all  be- 
lievers without  distinction,  even  to  all  in 
distant  parts  of  the  world,  whom  God  by 
his  grace  should  lead  to  believe  in  Jesus  as 
the  Messiah. 

A  question  may  be  raised.  Whether  by 
these  last  words  Peter  intended  only  t!ie 
Jews  scattered  among  distant  nations,  or 
whether  he  included  those  among  the  hea- 
then themselves  who  might  be  brought  to 
the  faith  ?  As  Peter  at  a  subsequent  period, 
opposed  the  propagation  of  the  gospel 
among  the  heathen,  there  would  be  an  ap- 
parent inconsistency  in  his  now  making 


Chap.  II.] 


IN  PALESTINE. 


27 


such  a  reference.  But  there  is  really  no  | 
such  contradiction,  for  the  scruple  which 
clung  so  closely  to  Peter's  mind,  was 
founded  only  on  his  belief  that  heathens 
could  not  be  received  into  the  community 
of  believers,  without  first  becoming  Jewish 
Proselytes,  by  the  exact  observance  of  the 
Mosaic  law.  Now,  according  to  the  de- 
clarations of  the  prophets,  he  might  expect 
that  in  the  Messianic  times,  the  heathen 
would  be  brought  to  join  in  the  worship  of 
Jehovah,  so  that  this  sentiment  might  occur 
to  him  consistently  with  the  views  he  then 
held,  and  he  might  express  it  without  giv- 
ing offence  to  the  Jews.  Yet  this  explana- 
tion is  not  absolutely  necessary,  for  all  the 
three  clauses  (Acts  ii.  39,)  might  be  used 
only  to  denote  the  aggregate  of  the  Jewish 
nation  in  its  full  extent ;  and  we  might 
rather  expect  that  Peter,  who  had  been 
speaking  of  the  Jews  present  and  their 
children,  if  he  had  thought  of  the  heathen 
also,  would  have  carefully  distinguished 
them  from  the  Jews.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  description,  "All  that  are  afar  ofl^,  even 
as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call," 
appears  too  comprehensive  to  justify  us  in 
confining  it  to  persons  originally  belonging 
to  the  Jewish  nation.  Hence,  it  is  most 
probable,  that  in  Peter's  mind,  when  he 
used  this  expression,  there  floated  an  indis- 
tinct allusion  to  believers  from  other  na- 
tions, though  it  did  not  appear  of  sufficient  | 
importance  for  him  to  give  it  a  greater  { 
prominence  in  his  address,  as  it  was  his 
conviction,  that  the  converts  to  Christianity 
from  heathenism  must  first  become  Jews. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  FIRST  FORM  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  COMMUNITY,  AND 
THE  FIRST  GERM  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE 
CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

The  existence  and  first  developement  of 
the  Christian  church  rests  on  an  historical 
foundation — on  the  acknowledgment  of  the 
fact  that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah — not  on  a 
certain  system  of  ideas.  Hence,  at  first, 
all  those  who  acknowledged  Jesus  as  the 
Messiah,  separated  from  the  mass  of  the 
Jewish  people,  and  formed  themselves  into 
a  distinct  community.  In  the  course  of 
time,  it  became  apparent,  who  were  genuine, 


and  who  were  false  disciples ;  but  all  who 
acknowledged  Jesus  as  the  Messiah  were 
baptized  without  fuller  or  longer  instruc- 
tion, such  as  in  later  times  has  preceded 
baptism.  There  was  only  one  article  of 
faith  which  formed  the  peculiar  mark  of 
the  Christian  profession,  and  from  this  point 
believers  were  led  to  a  clearer  and  perfect 
knowledge  of  the  whole  contents  of  the 
Christian  faith,  by  the  continual  enlighten- 
ing of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Believing  that 
Jesus  was  the  Messiah,  they  ascribed  to 
him  the  whole  idea  of  what  the  Messiah 
was  to  be,  according  to  the  meaning  and 
spiritof  theOld  Testament  promises, rightly 
understood;  they  acknowledged  him  as  the 
Redeemer  from  sin,  the  Ruler  of  the  king- 
dom of  God,  to  whom  their  whole  lives 
were  to  be  devoted,  whose  laws  were  to  be 
followed  in  all  things ;  while  he  would 
manifest  himself  as  the  ruler  of  God's 
kingdom,  by  the  communication  of  a  new 
divine  principle  of  life,  which  to  those  who 
are  redeemed  and  governed  by  him  im- 
parts the  certainty  of  the  forgiveness  of 
sins.  This  divine  principle  of  life,  must 
(they  believed)  mould  their  whole  lives  to 
a  conformity  with  the  laws  of  the  Messiah 
and  his  kingdom,  and  would  be  the  pledge 
of  all  the  blessings  to  be  imparted  to  them 
in  the  kingdom  of  God  until  its  consum- 
mation. Whoever  acknowledged  Jesus  as 
the  Messiah,  received  him  consequently  as 
the  infallible  divine  prophet,  and  implicitly 
submitted  to  his  instructions  as  communi- 
cated by  his  personal  ministry,  and  after- 
wards by  his  inspired  organs,  the  apostles. 
Hence  baptism  at  this  period,  in  its  pecu- 
liar Christian  meaning,  referred  to  this  one 
article  of  faith,  which  constituted  the 
essence  of  Christianity,  as  baptism  into 
Jesus,  into  the  name  of  Jesus ;  it  was  the 
hoLy  rite  which  sealed  the  connexion  with 
Jesus  as  the  Messiah.  From  this  signifi- 
cation  of  baptism,  we  cannot  indeed,  con- 
clude with  certainty,  that  the  baptismal 
formula  was  no  other  than  this.  Still,  it 
is  probable,  that  in  the  original  apostolic 
formula,  no  reference  was  made  except  to 
this  one  article.  This  shorter  baptismal 
formula  contains  in  itself  every  thing  which 
is  further  developed  in  the  words  used  by 
Christ  at  the  institution  of  baptism,  but 
which  he  did  not  intend  to  establish  as  an 
exact  formula;  the  reference  to  God,  who 
has  revealed  and  shown  himself  in  and  by 


28 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Chap.  II. 


the  Son,  as  a  Father ;  and  to  the  Spirit  of 
the  Father,  whom  Christ  imparts  to  be- 
lievers'as  the  new  spirit  of  life;  the  Spirit 
of  hohness,  who  by  virtue  of  this  interven- 
tion is  distinguished  as  the  spirit  of  Christ. 
That  one  article  of  faith  included,  there- 
fore, the  whole  of  Christian  doctrine.  But 
the  distinct  knowledge  of  its  contents  was 
by  no  means  developed  in  the  minds  of  the 
first  converts,  or  freed  from  foreign  admix- 
tures resulting  from  Jewish  modes  of  think- 
ing, wjiich  required  that  religious  ideas 
should  be  stripped  of  that  national  and  car- 
nal veil  with  which  they  were  covered.  As 
the  popular  Jewish  notion  of  the  Messiah 
excluded  many  things  which  were  charac- 
teristic of  this  idea,  as  formed  and  under- 
stood in  a  Christian  sense,  and  as  it  in- 
cluded many  elements  not  in  accordance 
with  Christian  views,  one  result  was,  that 
in  the  first  Christian  communities  which 
were  formed  among  the  Jews,  various  dis- 
cordant notions  of  religion  were  mingled  ; 
there  were  many  errors  arising  from  the 
prevailing  Jewish  mode  of  thinking,  some 
of  which  were  by  degrees  corrected,  in  the 
case  of  those  who  surrendered  themselves 
to  the  expansive  and  purifying  influence 
of  the  Christian  spirit ;  but  in  those  over 
whom  that  spirit  could  not  exert  such 
power,  these  erroi's  formed  the  germ  of  the 
later  Jewish-Christian  (the  so-called  Ebio- 
nitish)  doctrine  which  set  itself  in  direct 
hostility  to  the  pure  gospel. 

Thus  we  are  not  justified  in  assuming 
that  the  Three  Thousand  who  were  con- 
verted in  one  day,  became  transformed  at 
once  into  genuine  Christians.  The  Holy 
Spirit  operated  then,  as  in  all  succeeding 
ages,  by  the  publication  of  divine  truth, 
not  with  a  sudden  transforming  magical 
power,  but  according  to  the  measure  of 
the  free  self-determination  of  the  human 
will.  Hence,  also,  in  these  first  Christian 
societies,  as  in  all  later  ones,  although 
originating  in  so  mighty  an  operation  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  the  foreign  and  spurious 
were  mingled  with  the  genuine.  In  fact, 
in  proportion  to  the  might  and  energy  of 
the  operation,  many  persons  were  more 
easily  carried  away  by  the  first  impressions 
of  divine  truth,  whose  hearts  were  not  a 
soil  suited  for  the  divine  seed  to  take  deep 
root  and  develope  itself;  and  in  outward 
appearance,  there  were  no  infallible  marks 
of  distinction  between  genuine  and  merely 


apparent  conversions.  The  example  of 
Ananias  and  Sapphii-a,  and  the  disputes  of 
the  Palestinian  and  Hellenistic  Christians, 
evince  even  at  that  early  period,  that  the 
agency  of  the  Spirit  did  not  preserve  the 
church  entirely  pure  from  foreign  admix- 
tures. It  happened  then,  as  in  the  great 
religious  revivals  of  other  times,  that  many 
were  borne  along  by  the  force  of  excited 
feelings,  without  having  (as  their  subse- 
quent conduct  proved)  their  disposition 
effectually  penetrated  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 

The  form  of  the  Christian  community 
and  of  the  public  Christian  worship,  the 
archetype  of  all  the  later  Christian  Cultus, 
arose  at  first,  without  any  preconceived 
plan,  from  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  higher 
life  that  belonged  to  all  true  Christians. 
There  was,  however,  this  difference,  that 
the  first  Christian  community  formed  as  it 
were  one  fiimily  ;  the  power  of  the  newly 
awakened  feeling  of  Christian  fellowship, 
the  feeling  of  the  common  grace  of  redemp- 
tion, outweighed  all  other  personal  and 
public  feelings,  and  all  other  relations  were 
subordinated  to  this  one  great  relation. 
But,  in  later  times,  the  distinction  between 
the  church  and  the  family  became  more 
marked,  and  many  things  which  were  at 
first  accomplished  in  the  church  as  a  family 
community,  could  latterly  be  duly  attended 
to  only  in  the  narrower  communion  of 
Christian  family  life. 

The  first  Christians  assembled  daily 
either  in  the  Temple,  or  in  private  houses  ; 
in  the  latter  case,  they  met  in  small  com- 
panies, since  their  numbers  were  already 
too  great  for  one  chamber  to  hold  them 
all.  Discourses  on  the  doctrine  of  salva- 
tion were  addressed  to  believers  and  to 
those  who  were  just  won  over  to  the  faith, 
and  prayers  were  offered  up.  As  the  pre- 
dominant consciousness  of  the  enjoyment 
of  redemption  brought  under  its  influence 
and  sanctified  the  whole  of  earthly  life,  no- 
thing earthly  could  remain  untransformed 
by  this  relation  to  a  higher  state.  The 
daily  meal  of  which  believers  partook  as 
members  of  one  family  was  sanctified  by 
it.*  They  commemorated  the  last  Supper 
of  the  disciples  with  Christ,  and  their  bro- 
therly union  with  one  another.  At  the 
close  of  the  meal,  the  president  distributed 


*  Tlie  liypothesis  lately  revived,  that  such  insti- 
tutions were  borrowed  from  the  Essenes,  is  so 
entirely  gratuitous  as  to  require  no  refutation. 


Chap.  II.] 


IN  PALESTINE. 


29 


bread  and  wine  to  the  persons  present,  as 
a  memorial  of  Christ's  similar  distribution 
to  the  disciples.  Thus  every  meal  was 
consecrated  to  the  Lord,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  was  a  meal  of  brotherly  love.  Hence 
the  designations  afterwards  chosen  were, 
8s7'!fvov  xugi'ou  and  ciyk'^y].* 

From  ancient  times,  an  opinion  has  pre- 
vailed, which  is  apparently  favoured  by 
many  passages  in  the  Acts,  that  the  spirit 
of  brotherly  love  impelled  the  first  Chris- 
tians to  renounce  all  their  earthly  pos- 
sessions, and  to  establish  a  perfect  inter- 
community of  goods.  When,  in  later  times, 
it  was  perceived  how  very  much  the  Chris- 
tian life  had  receded  from  the  model  of  this 
fellowship  of  brotherly  love,  an  earnest 
longing  to  regain  it  was  awakened,  to  which 
we  must  attribute  some  attempts  to  efiect 
what  had  been  realized  by  the  first  glow 
of  love  in  the  apostolic  times — such  were 
the  orders  of  Monkhood,  the  Mendicant 
Friars,  the  Apostolici,  and  the  Waldenses 
in  the  12th  and  13th  centuries.  At  all 
events,  supposing  this  opinion  to  be  well 

*  In  Acts  ii.  42,  we  find  the  first  general  account 
of  what  passed  in  the  assemblies  of  the  first  Chris- 
tians. Mosheim  thinks,  since  every  thing  else 
is  mentioned  that  is  found  in  later  meetings  of 
the  church,  that  the  koivuvia  refers  to  the  collec- 
tions made  on  these  occasions.  But  the  context 
does  not  favour  the  use  of  the  word  noiviDytu.  in  so 
restricted  a  signification,  which,  therefore,  if  it 
were  the  meaning  intended,  would  require  a  more 
definite  term.  See  Meyer's  Commentary.  Wc  may 
most  naturally  consider  it  as  referring  to  the  whole 
of  the  social  Christian  intercourse,  two  principal 
parts  of  which  were,  the  common  meal  and  prayer. 
Luke  mentions  prayer  last  of  all,  probably  because 
the  connexion  between  the  common  meal  and 
prayer,  which  made  an  essential  part  of  the  love- 
feast,  was  floating  in  his  mind.  Olshausen  main- 
tains (see  his  Commentary,  2d  ed.  p.  629),  that 
this  interpretation  is  inadmissible,  because  in  this 
enumeration,  every  thing  relates  to  divine  worship, 
as  may  be  inferred  from  the  preceding  expression 
Mdixi>-  But  this  supposition  is  wanting  in  proof 
According  to  what  we  have  before  remarked,  the 
communion  of  the  church  and  of  the  family,  were 
not  at  that  time  separated  from  one  another ;  no 
strict  line  of  demarcation  was  drawn  between 
what  belonged  to  the  Christian  Cultus  in  a  nar- 
rower sense,  and  what  related  to  the  Christian 
life  and  communion  generally.  Nor  can  tlie  rea- 
son alleged  by  Olshausen  be  valid,  that  if  my 
interpretation  were  correct,  the  word  KoivaivtA  must 
have  been  placed  first,  for  it  is  altogether  in  order 
that  that  should  be  placed  first,  which  alone  refers 
to  the  directive  functions  of  the  apostles,  that  tiien 
the  mention  should  follow  of  the  reciprocal  Chris, 
tian  communion  of  all  the  members  with  one  an- 
other,  and  that  of  this  communion,  two  particulars 
should  be  especially  noticed. 


founded,  this  practice  of  the  apostolic 
church  ought  not  to  be  considered  as  in  a 
literal  sense  the  ideal  for  imitation  in  all 
succeeding  ages;  it  must  have  been  a  de- 
viation from  the  natural  course  of  social 
developement,  such  as  could  agree  only 
with  the  extraordinary  manifestation  of  the 
divine  life  in  the  human  race  at  that  parti- 
cular petiod.  Only  the  S2nnt  and  disposi- 
tio7i  here  manifested  in  thus  amalgamating 
the  earthly  possessions  of  numbers  into 
one  common  fund,  are  the  models  for  the 
church  in  its  developement  through  all  ages. 
For  as  Christianity  never  subverts  the  ex- 
isting natural  course  of  developement  in  the 
human  race,  but  sanctifies  it  by  a  new 
spirit,  it  necessarily  recognises  the  division 
of  wealth  (based  on  that  developement),  and 
the  inequalities  arising  from  it  in  the  social 
relations ;  while  it  draws  from  these  in- 
equalities materials  for  the  formation  and 
exei'cise  of  Christian  virtue,  and  strives  to 
lessen  them  by  the  only  true  and  never 
failing  means,*  the  power,  namely,  of  love. 
This,  we  find,  agrees  with  the  practice  of 
the  churches  subsequently  founded  by  the 
apostles,  and  with  the  directions  given  by 
Paul  for  the  exercise  of  Christian  liberality, 
2  Cor.  viii.  13.  Still,  if  we  are  disposed 
to  consider  this  community  of  goods,  as 
only  the  effect  of  a  peculiar  and  temporary 
manifestation  of  Christian  zeal,  and  foreign 
to  the  later  developement  of  the  church,  we 
shall  find  many  difficulties  even  in  this 
mode  of  viewing  it.     The  first  Christians 

*  As  the  influence  which  Christianity  exercises 
over  mankind  is  not  always  accompanied  with  a 
clear  discernment  of  its  principles,  there  have  been 
many  erroneous  tendencies,  which,  though  hostile 
to  Christianity,  have  derived  their  nourishment 
from  it,  half-truths  torn  from  their  connexion 
with  the  whole  body  of  revealed  truth,  and  hence 
misunderstood  and  misapplied ;  of  this,  the  Saint 
Simonians  furnish  an  example.  They  had  before 
them  an  indistinct  conception  of  the  Cliristian  idea 
of  equality ;  but  as  it  was  not  understood  in  the 
Christian  sense,  they  have  attempted  to  realize  it 
in  a  diflFerent  manner.  They  have  striven  to  ac- 
complish by  outward  arrangements,  what  Chris- 
tianity aims  at  developing  gradually  through  the 
mind  and  disposition,  and  have  thus  fallen  into 
absurdities.  Christianity  tends  by  the  spirit  of 
love  to  reduce  the  opposition  between  the  indivi- 
dual and  tlie  community,  and  to  produce  an  har- 
monious amalgamation  of  both.  St.  Simonianism, 
on  the  contrary,  practically  represents  tlie  pan- 
theistic tendency,  of  wliich  the  theory  is  so  preva- 
lent in  Germany  in  the  present  day  ;  it  sacrifices 
the  individual  to  the  community,  and  thus  deprives 
the  latter  of  its  true  vital  importance. 


30 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Chap.  II. 


formed  themselves  into  no  monkish  frater- 
nities, nor  hved  as  hermits  secluded  from 
the  rest  bf  the  world,  but,  as  history  shows 
us,  continued  in  the  same  civil  relations  as 
before  their  conversion  ;  nor  have  we  any 
proofs  that  a  community  of  goods  was  uni- 
versal for  a  time,  and  was  then  followed 
by  a  return  to  the  usual  arrangements  of 
society.  On  the  contrary,  several  circum- 
stances mentioned  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles, are  at  variance  with  the  notion  of 
such  a  relinquishment  of  private  property. 
Peter  said  expressly  to  Ananias,  that  it 
depended  on  himself  to  sell  or  to  keep  his 
land,  and  that,  even  after  the  sale,  the  sum 
received  for  it  was  entirely  at  his  own  dis- 
posal, Acts  V.  4.  In  the  6th  chapter  of 
the  Acts,  there  is  an  account  of  a  distri- 
bution of  alms  to  the  widows,  but  not  a 
word  is  said  of  a  common  stock  for  the 
support  of  the  whole  body  of  believers. 
We  find  in  Acts  xii.  12,  that  Mary  pos- 
sessed a  house  at  Jerusalem,  which  we 
cannot  suppose  to  have  been  purchased  at 
the  general  cost.  These  facts  plainly  show, 
that  we  are  not  to  imagine  even  in  this 
first  Christian  society,  a  renunciation  of 
all  private  property.*  Therefore,  when 
we  are  told,  "  The  whole  multitude  of  be- 
lievers were  of  one  heart  and  of  one  soul, 

*  Or  we  must  assume,  that  as  the  power  of  the 
newly  awakened  feeling  of  Christian  fellowship 
overcame  every  otlier  consideration,  and  wholly 
repressed  the  other  social  relations  tliat  are  based 
on  the  constitution  of  human  nature,  which  after 
a  while  resumed  their  rights,  and  became  appro- 
priated as  special  forms  of  Christian  fellowship, 
and  that  as  the  church  and  family  life  were  melted 
into  one,  it  would  well  agree  with  the  dcvelopement 
of  a  state  so  natural  to  the  infancy  of  the  church, 
that  by  the  overpowering  feeling  of  Cliristian  tcl- 
lowship,  all  distinction  of  property  should  cease, 
which  would  be  accomplished  from  an  inward  im- 
pulse williout  formal  consultalion  or  legal  prescrip- 
tion.  But  after  experience  had  shown  how  unte- 
nable such  an  arrangement  was,  this  original  com- 
munity of  goods  would  gradually  lead  to  the  forma- 
tion of  a  common  fund  or  chest,  which  would  not 
interfere  with  tlie  limits  of  private  property.  Rut 
in  the  Acts  these  two  gradations  in  the  social 
arrangements  of  the  church  might  not  be  distinctly 
marked,  nor  would  it  be  in  our  power  to  trace  step 
by  step  the  process  of  dcvelopement.  Still,  we  want 
suflicicnt  groimds  for  this  assumption.  The  po- 
verty of  the  church  at  Jerusalem  has  been  adduced 
as  an  ill  consequence  of  that  original  community 
of  goods.  But  this  cannot  be  taken  as  a  sure 
proof  of  the  fact;  for  since  Christianity  at  first 
found  acceptance  among  the  pnorer  classes,  and 
the  distress  of  the  people  at  Jerusalem  in  those 
times  must  have  been  extreme,  it  can  be  explained 
without  having  recourse  to  such  a  supposition. 


and  had  all  things  common,"  &c.,  it  is  not 
to  be  understood  literally,  but  as  a  descrip- 
tion of  that  brotherly  love  which  repressed 
all  selfish  feelings,  and  caused  the  wealthier 
believers  to  regard  their  property  as  belong- 
ing to  their  needy  brethren,  so  ready  were 
they  to  share  it  with  them.  And  when  it 
is  added,  "  that  they  sold  their  possessions, 
and  distribution  was  made  to  every  man 
according  as  he  had  need,"  it  is  to  be  un- 
derstood according  to  what  has  just  been 
said.  A  common  chest  was  established, 
from  which  the  necessities  of  the  poorer 
members  of  the  church  were  supplied,  and 
perhaps  certain  expenses  incurred  by  the 
whole  church,  such  as  the  celebration  of 
the  Agapse,  were  defrayed  ;  and  in  order 
to  increase  their  contributions,  many  per- 
sons parted  with  their  estates.  Probably, 
a  union  of  this  kind  existed  among  the  per- 
sons who  attended  the  Saviour,  and  minis- 
tered to  his  necessities,  Luke  viii.  3 ;  and 
a  fund  for  similar  purposes  was  afterwards 
formed  by  public  collections  in  the  aposto- 
lic churches.* 

This  practice  of  the  first  Christians,  as 
we  have  remarked,  has  been  rendered  me- 
morable by  the  fate  of  Ananias  and  Sap- 
phira.  Their  example  shows,  how  far  the 
apostles  were  from  wishing  to  extort  by 
outward  requirements  what  ought  to  pro- 
ceed spontaneously  from  the  power  of  the 
Spirit;  they  looked  only  for  the  free  act- 
ings of  a  pure  disposition.  A  man  named 
Ananias,  and  his  wife  Sapphira,  were  anx- 
ious not  to  be  considered  by  the  apostles 
and  the  church  as  inferior  to  others  in  the 
liberality  of  their  contributions.  Probably, 
a  superstitious  belief  in  the  merit  of  good 
works  was  mingled  with  other  motives,  so 
that  they  wished  to  be  at  the  same  time 
meritorious  in  God's  sight.  They  could 
not,  however,  prevail  on  themselves,  to 
surrender  the  whole  of  their  property,  but 
brought  a  part,  and  pretended  that  it  was 
the  whole.  Peter  detected  the  dissimula- 
tion and  hypocrisy  of  Ananias,  whether  by 
a  glance  into  the  secret  recesses  of  his 
heart,  imparted  by  the  immediate  influence 
of  God's  Spirit,  or  by  a  natural  sagacity 
derived  from  the  same  source,  we  cannot 
decide  with  certainty  from  the  narrative. 
Nor  is  it  a  question  of  importance,  for  who 


*  This  is  confessedly  no  new  view,  but  one 
adcpted  by  Heumann,  Mosheim,  and  others  before 
them. 


Chap.  IT.] 


IN  PALESTINE. 


31 


can  so  exactly  draw  a  line  between  the  j 
divine  and  the  human,  in  organs  animated 
by  the  Holy  Spirit?  The  criminality  ofj 
Ananias  did  not  consist  in  his  not  deciding 
to 'part  with  the  whole  amount  of  his  pro-  j 
perty  ;  for  the  words  of  Peter  addressed  to  j 
him  show  that  no  exact  measure  of  giving 
was  prescribed  ;  each  one  was  left  to  con- 
tribute according  to  his  peculiar  circum- 
stances, and  the  degree  o/  love  that  ani- 
mated him.  But  the  hypocrisy  with  which 
he  attempted  to  make  a  show  of  greater 
love  than  he  actually  felt — the  falsehood 
by  which,  when  it  took  possession  of  his 
soul,  the  Christian  life  must  have  been 
utterly  polluted  and  adulterated — this  it 
was  which  Peter  denounced  as  a  work  of 
the  spirit  of  Satan,  for  falsehood  is  the 
fountain  of  all  evil.  Peter  charged  him 
with  lying  to  the  Holy  Spirit;  with  lying 
not  to  men  but  to  God  ;  since  he  must  have 
beheld  in  the  apostles  the  organs  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  speaking  and  acting  in  God's 
name — (that  God  who  was  himself  present 
in  the  assembly  of  believers,  as  a  witness 
of  his  intentions) — and  yet  thought  that 
he  could  obtain  credit  before  God  for  his 
good  works.  Peter  uttered  his  solemn  re- 
buke with  a  divine  confidence,  springing 
from  a  regard  to  that  holy  cause  which 
was  to  he  preserved  from  all  foniign  mix- 
tures, and  from  the  consciousness  of  being 
in  an  office  entrusted  to  him  by  God,  and 
in  which  he  was  supported  by  divine  power. 
When  we  reflect  what  Peter  was  in  the 
eyes  of  Ananias,  how  the  superstitious  hypo- 
ciite  must  have  been  confounded  and  thun- 
derstruck to  see  his  falsehood  detected,  how 
the  holy  denunciations  of  a  man  speaking 
to  his  conscience  with  such  divine  confi- 
dence must  have  acted  on  his  terrified  feel- 
ings, we  shall  find  it  not  very  difficult  to 
conceive  that  the  words  of  the  apostle  would 
produce  so  great  an  effect.  The  divine  and 
the  natural  seem  here  to  have  been  closely 
connected.  What  Paul  so  confidently  as- 
serts in  his  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians,  of 
his  ability  of  inflicting  punishment,  testifies 
of  the  conscious  possession  by  the  apostles 
of  such  divine  power.  And  when  Sapphira 
without  suspecting  what  had  taken  place, 
three  hours  after,  entered  the  assembly, 
Peter  at  first  endeavoured  to  rouse  her 
conscience  by  his  interrogations;  but  since, 
instead  of  being  aroused  to  consideration 
and  repentance,  she  was  hardened  in  her 


hypocrisy,  Peter  accused  her  of  having 
concerted  with  her  husband,  to  put,  as  it 
were,  the  Spirit  of  God  to  the  proof,, 
whether  he  might  not  be  deceived  by  their 
hypocrisy.  He  then  menaced  her  with  the 
judgment  of  God,  which  had  just  been  in- 
flicted on  her  husband.  The  words  of  the 
apostle  were  in  this  instance  aided  by  the 
impressicm  of  her  husband's  fate,  and  strik- 
ing the  conscience  of  the  hypocrite,  |)ro- 
duced  the  same  effect  as  on  her  husband. 
So  terrible  was  this  judgment,  in  order  to 
guard  the  first  operations  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  before  the  admixture  of  that  poison 
which  is  always  most  prejudicial  to  the  ope- 
rations of  divine  power  on  mankind ;  and 
to  secure  a  reverence  for  the  apostolic  au- 
thority, which  was  so  important  as  an  ex- 
ternal governing  power  for.  the  develope- 
ment  of  the  primitive  church,  until  it  had 
advanced  to  an  independent  steadfastness 
and  maturity  in  the  faith. 

The  disciples  had  not  yet  attained  a  clear 
understanding  of  that  call,  which  Christ 
had  already  given  them  by  so  many  inti- 
mations, to  form  a  Church  entirely  sepa- 
rated from  the  existing  Jewish  economy ; 
to  that  economy  they  adhered  as  much  as 
possible.;  all  the  forms  of  the  national  the- 
ocracy were  sacred  in  their  esteem,  it  seem- 
ed the  natural  element  of  their  religious 
consciousness,  though  a  higher  principle 
of  life  had  been  imparted,  by  which  that 
consciousness  was  to  be  progressively  in- 
spired and  transformed.  They  remained 
outwardly  Jews,  although,  in  proportion  as 
their  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Redeemer  became 
clearer  and  stronger — they  would  inwardly 
cease  to  be  Jews,  and  all  external  rites 
would  assume  a  different  relation  to  their 
internal  life.  It  was  their  belief,  that  the 
existing  religious  forms  would  continue  till 
the  second  coming  of  Christ,  when  a  new 
and  higher  order  of  things  would  be  esta- 
blished, and  this  great  change  they  expect- 
ed would  shortly  take  place.  Hence  the 
establishment  of  a  distinct  mode  of  worship 
was  far  from  entering  their  thoughts.  Al- 
though new  ideas  respecting  the  essence  of 
true  worship  arose  in  their  minds  from  the 
light  of  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  they  felt  as 
great  an  interest  in  the  temple  worship  as 
any  devout  Jews.  They  believed,  however, 
that  a  sifting  would  take  place  among  the 
members  of  the  theocracy,  and  that  the 
better  part  would,  by  the  acknowledgment 


32 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Chap.  II. 


of  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  be  incorporated 
with  the  Christian  community.  As  the  be- 
lievers,'in  opposition  to  the  mass  of  the 
Jewish  nation  who  remained  hardened  in 
their  unbchef,  now  formed  a  community 
internally  bound  together  by  the  one  faith 
in  .lesus  as  the  Messiah,  and  by  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  higher  life  received  from 
him,  it  was  necessary  that  this  internal 
union  should  assume  a  certain  e.vternal 
form.  And  a  model  for  such  a  smaller 
community  within  the  great  national  the- 
ocracy already  existed  among  the  Jews, 
along  with  the  Temple  worship,  namely,  the 
Synagogues.  The  means  of  religious  edi- 
fication which  they  supplied,  took  account 
of  the  religious  welfare  of  all,  and  consist- 
ed of  united  prayers  and  the  addresses  of 
individuals  who  applied  themselves  to  the 
study  of  the  Old  Testament.  These  means 
of  edification  closely  corresponded  to  the 
nature  of  the  new  Christian  worship.  This 
form  of  social  worship,  as  it  was  copied  in 
all  the  religious  communities  founded  on 
Judaism,  (such  as  the  Essenes)  was  also 
adopted  to  a  certain  extent  at  the  first  for- 
mation of  the  Christian  church.  But  it 
may  be  disputed,  whether  the  Apostles,  to 
whom  Christ  committed  the  chief  direction 
of  affairs,  designed  from  the  first  that  be- 
lievers should  form  a  society  exactly  on 
the  model  of  the  Synagogue,  and,  in  pur- 
suance of  this  plan,  instituted  particular 
offices  for  the  government  of  the  church 
corresponding  to  that  model — or  whether, 
without  such  a  preconceived  plan,  distinct 
offices  were  appointed,  as  circumstances 
required,  in  doing  which  they  would  avail 
themselves  of  the  model  of  the  synagogue 
with  which  they  were  familiar. 

The  advocates  of  the  first  scheme  (par- 
ticularly Mosheim)  proceed  on  the  undeni- 
ably correct  assumption,  that  the  existence 
of  certain  presidents  at  the  head  of  the 
Christian  societies,  under  the  name  of 
Elders  (ir^efj'/SiJTS^oi)  must  be  presupposed, 
though  their  apjjointment  is  not  expressly 
mentioned,  as  appears  from  Acts  xi.  30. 
The  question  arises,  Whether  even  earlier 
traces  cannot  be  found  of  the  existence  of 
such  Presbyters?  The  appointment  of 
deacons  is  indeed  first  mentioned  as  de- 
signed to  meet  a  special  emergency,  but  it 
seems  probable  that  their  office  was  already 
in  existencc.'.It  may  be  presumed,  that  the 
ai)ostles,  in  order  not  to  be  called  off  from 


the  more  weighty  duties  of  their  office,  ap- 
pointed from  the  beginning  such  almoners  ; 
but  as  these  officers  hitherto  had  been 
chosen  only  from  the  native  Jewish  Chris- 
tians of  Palestine,  the  Christians  of  Jewish 
descent,  who  came  from  other  parts  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  and  to  whom  the  Greek 
was  almost  as  much  their  mother-tongue 
as  the  Aramaic,  the  Hellenists  as  they  v/ere 
termed — believed  that  they  were  unjustly 
treated.  On  their  remonstrance,  deacons 
of  Hellenistic  descent  were  especially  ap- 
pointed for  them,  as  appears  by  their  Greek 
names.  As  the  apostles  declared  that  they 
were  averse  from  being  distracted  in  their 
purely  spiritual  employment  of  prayer  and 
preaching  the  word  by  the  distribution  of 
money,  we  may  reasonably  infer  that  even 
before  this  time,  they  had  not  engaged  in 
such  business,  but  had  transferred  it  to 
other  persons  appointed  for  the  purpose. 
Still  earlier,  in  Acts  v.,  we  find  mention 
made  of  persons  under  the  title  of  vswts^oi, 
vsavirfxoi,  who  considered  such  an  employ- 
ment as  carrying  a  corpse  out  of  the  Chris- 
tian assemblies  for  burial  as  belonging  to 
their  office,  so  that  they  seem  to  have  been 
no  other  than  deacons.  And  as  the  title 
of  younger  stands  in  contrast  with  that  of 
elders  in  the  church,  the  existence  of  ser- 
vants of  the  church  (5iaxovoi),  and  of  ruling 
elders  (t^^stfiSurs^oi),  seems  here  to  be  equally 
pointed  out. 

But  though  this  supposition  has  so  much 
plausibility,  yet  the  evidence  for  it,  on 
closer  examination,  appears  by  no  means 
conclusive.  It  is  far  from  clear  that  in  the 
last  quoted  passage  of  the  Acts,  the  narra- 
tive alludes  to  persons  holding  a  distinct 
office  in  the  church,*  it  may  very  naturally 


*  Even  after  what  has  been  urged  by  Meyer 
and  Olshausen  in  their  Commentaries  on  the  Acts, 
against  this  view,  I  cannot  give  it  up.  In  accord- 
ance with  the  relation  in  which,  anciently,  and 
especially  among  the  Jews,  the  young  stood  to 
their  elders,  it  would  follow  as  a  matter  of  course, 
that  tlie  young  men  in  an  assembly  would  be  ready 
to  perform  any  service  which  might  be  required. 
I  do  not  see  why  (as  Olshausen  maintains),  on  that 


supposition,  any 


other  term  than  viunpot  should 


have  been  used— for,  if  Luke  had  wished  to  desig- 
nate appointed  servants  of  the  church,  he  would 
not  have  used  this  indefinite  appellation  ; — nor  can 
I  feel  the  force  of  Olshausen's  objection,  that  in 
tliat  passage  of  the  Acts,  the  article  would  not 
have  been  used,  but  the  pronoun  tivh.  Luke  in- 
tended to  mark,  no  doubt,  a  particular  class  of 
persons,  tlie  younger  contradistinguished  from  the 
elder,  without  determining    whether  all  or  only 


Chap.  II.] 


IN  PALESTINE. 


33 


be  understood  of  the  younger  members  who 
were  fitted  for  such  manual  employment, 
without  any  other  eligibility  than  the  fact 
of  their  age  and  bodily  strength.  And, 
therefore,  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  a  con- 
trast is  intended  between  the  servants  and 
ruling  Elders  of  the  church,  but  simply  be- 
tween the  younger  and  older  members.  As 
to  the  Grecian  names  of  the  seven  deacons, 
it  cannot  be  inferred  with  certainty  from 
this  circumstance  that  they  all  belonged  to 
the  Hellenists,  for  it  is  well  known  that  the 
Jews  often  bore  double  names,  one  Hebrew 
or  Aramaic,  and  the  other  Hellenistic.  Still 
it  is  possible,  since  the  complaints  of  the 
partial  distribution  of  alms  came  from  the 
Hellenistic  part  of  the  church,  that,  in 
order  to  infuse  confidence  and  satisfaction, 
pure  Hellenists  were  chosen  on  this  occa- 
sion. But  if  these  deacons  were  appointed 
only  for  the  Hellenists,  it  would  have  been 
most  natural  to  entrust  their  election  to  the 
Hellenistic  part  alone,  and  not  to  the  whole 
church. 

Hence  we. are  disposed  to  believe,  that 
the  church  was  at  first  composed  entirely 
of  members  standing  on  an  equality  with 
one  another,  and  that  the  apostles  alone 
held  a  higher  rank,  and  exercised  a  direct- 
ing influence  over  the  whole,  which  arose 
from  the  orignal  position  in  which  Christ 
had  placed  them  in  relation  to  other  be- 
lievers ;  so  that  the  whole  arrangement  and 
administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  church 
proceeded  from  them,  and  they  were  first 
induced  by  particular  circumstances  to  ap- 
point other  church  officers,  as  in  the  in- 
stance  of  deacons. 

As  in  the  government  of  the  church  in 
general,  the  apostles  at  first  were  the  sole 
directors,  all  the  contributions  towards  the 
common  fund  were  deposited  with  them 
(Acts  v.  2),  and  its  distribution,  according 
to  the  wants  of  individuals,  was  altogether 
in  their  hands.  From  Acts  vi.  2,  it  cannot 
be  positively  inferred,  that  the  apostles  had 
not  hitherto  been  occupied  with  this  secular 
concern.  That  passage  may  be  understood 


some  lent  their  assistance.  But  Olshausen  is  so 
far  right,  that  if  these  are  assumed  to  be  regularly 
appointed  servants  of  the  church,  they  cannot  be 
considered  as?  the  forerunners  of  the  deacons  chosen 
at  a  later  period,  for  manifestly  these  vsairs/io/  held 
a  far  lower  place.  I  am  glad  to  find  an  acute  ad- 
vocate  of  the  view  I  have  taken  in  Rothe;  see  his 
work  on  the  Commencement  of  the  Christian 
Church,  p.  162. 


to  intimate  that  they  had  hitherto  attended 
to  this  business  without  being  distracted  in 
their  calling  as  preachers  of  the  Word,  as 
long  as  the  confidence  universally  reposed 
in  them  and  the  unity  pervading  the  church, 
lightened  this  labour  ;  but  it  assumed  a 
very  different  aspect  when  a  conflict  of  dis- 
tinct interests  arose  between  the  members. 
Meanwhjle,  the  number  of  the  believers  'in- 
creased so  greatly,  that  it  is  probable,  had 
there  been  no  other  reason,  that  the  apos- 
tles could  not  manage  the  distribution  alone; 
but  consigned  a  part  of  the  business  some- 
times to  one,  sometimes  to  another,  who 
either  offered  themselves  for  the  purpose, 
or  had  shown  themselves  to  be  worthy  of 
such  confidence.  Still  this  department  of 
labour  had  not  yet  received  any  regular 
form. 

But  as  the  visible  church  received  into 
its  bosom  various  elements,  the  opposition 
existing  in  these  elements  gradually  be- 
came apparent,  and  threatened  to  destroy 
the  Christian  unity,  until  by  the  might  of 
the  Christian  spirit  this  opposition  could  be 
counterbalanced,  and  a  higher  unity  de- 
veloped. The  strongest  opposition  existing 
in  the  primitive  church,  was  that  between 
the  Palestinian  or  purely  Jewish,  and  the 
Hellenistic  converts.  And  though  the 
power  of  Christian  love  at  first  so  fused 
together  the  dispositions  of  these  two  par- 
ties, that  the  contrariety  seemed  lost,  yet 
the  original  diflference  soon  made  its  ap- 
pearance. It  showed  itself  in  this  respect, 
that  the  Hellenists,  dissatisfied  with  the 
mode  of  distributing  the  alms,  were  mis- 
trustful of  the  others,  and  believed  that  they 
had  cause  to  complain  that  their  own  poor 
widows  were  not  taken  such  good  care  of 
in  the  daily  distribution,*  as  the  widows  of 
the  Palestinian  Jews  ;  whether  the  fact  was, 
that  the  apostles  had  hitherto  committed 
this  business  to  Palestinian  Jews,  and  these 
had  either  justly  or  unjustly  incurred  the 
suspicion  of  partiality,  or  whether  the  want 
of  a  regular  plan  for  this  business  had  oc- 
casioned much  irregularity  and  neglect  of 

*  Neither  from  the  expression  J'ntx.cviit,  vi.  ],  nor 
from  the  phrase  Si^xovilv  rpaTri^oii;,  can  it  be  in- 
ferred with  certainty  that  the  apostles  alluded  only 
to  the  distribution  of  food  among  the  poor  widows. 
We  may  be  allowed  to  suppose  that  tliis  was  only 
one  of  the  Tables  of  the  service  they  performed, 
and  that  it  is  mentioned  to  mark  more  pointedly 
the  distinction  between  the  oversight  of  spiritual, 
and  that  of  secular  concerns. 


34 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Chap.  II. 


individuals,  or  whether  the  complaint  was 
grounded  more  in  the  natural  mistrust  of 
the  Hellenists  than  in  a  real  grievance, 
must  be  left  undetermined,  from  the  want  of 
more  exact  information.  These  complaints, 
however,  induced  the  apostles  to  establish 
a  regular  plan  for  conducting  this  business, 
and  since  they  could  not  themselves  com- 
bine the  strict  oversight  of  individuals,  and 
the  satisfaction  of  each  one's  wants*  with 
a  proper  attention  to  the  principal  object  of 
their  calling,  they  thought  it  best  to  insti- 
tute  a  particular  office  for  the  purpose,  the 
first  regular  one  for  administering  the  con- 
cerns of  the  church.  Accordingly,  they 
required  the  church  to  entrust  this  business 
to  persons  who  enjoyed  the  general  confi- 
dence, and  were  fitted  for  the  office,  ani- 
mated by  Christian  zeal,  and  armed  with 
Christian  prudence.f  Seven  such  indi- 
viduals were  chosen ;  the  number  being 
accidentally  fixed  upon  as  a  common  one, 
or  being  adapted  to  seven  sections  of  the 
church.  Thus  this  office  originated  in  the 
immediate  wants  of  the  primitive  church, 
and  its  special  mode  of  operation  was 
marked  out  by  the  peculiar  situation  of  this 
first  union  of  believers,  which  was  in  some 
points  dissimilar  to  that  of  the  Jewish  syna- 
gogue, or  of  later  Churches.  As  it  was 
called  for  by  the  pressure  of  circumstances, 
it  certainly  was  not  intended  to  be  perfectly 
correspondent  to  an  office  in  the  Jewish 
synagogue,  and  can  by  no  means  be  con- 
sidered parallel  to  that  of  a  common  servant 
of  the  Synagogue  (Luke  iv.  20),  terir,ed 

jrn.  tj^'»^A  "n::V  n»S:^'4  it  was  of 

higher  importance,  for  at  first  it  was  the 
only  one  in  the  church  besides  the  apos- 
tolic, and  required  a  special  capability  in 
the  management  of  men's  dispositions, 
which  might  be  employed  in  services  of  a 
higher  kind,  and  was  such  as  without  doubt 
belonged  to  the  general  idea  of  (focpia.  Nei- 
ther was  this  office  altogether  identical  with 


•That  they  were  required  to  undertake  the 
business  alone,  instead  of  entrusting  it  to  deputies, 
cannot  be  proved  from  the  language  in  the  Acts. 

t  Acts  vi.  3.  Tlie  word  ttv^j/uu.  (wliich  is  the 
true  reading,  for  ayiou  and  icvfiou  appear  to  be 
only  giosscs),  denotes  tiiat  inspiration  for  the  cause 
of  the  gospel  wliich  is  requisite  for  every  kind  of 
exertion  for  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  <ro<pi!t  signifies, 
that  quality  which  is  essential  for  this  office  in  par- 
ticular, and  imports  in  the  New  Testament,  wis- 
dom  or  prudence. 

t  See  Uothe's  admirable  Remarks,  p.  166. 


that  which  at  a  later  period  bore  the  same 
name,*  but  was  subordinate  to  the  office  of 
presbyters.  And  yet  it  would  be  wrong 
to  deny  that  the  later  church  office  of  this 
name  developed  itself  from  the  first,  and 
might  be  traced  back  to  it.f  Although,  as 
is  usual  in  such  affairs,  when  the  ecclesi- 
astical system  became  more  complex,  many 
changes  took  place  in  the  office  of  deacons  ; 
for  example,  the  original  sole  appointment 
of  deacons  for  the  distribution  of  alms,  be- 
came afterwards  subordinate  to  the  influ- 
ence of  the  presbyters,  who  assumed  the 
whole  management  of  church  afl'airs,:}:  and 
though  many  other  secular  employments 
were  added  to  the  original  one,  yet  the  fun- 
damental principle  as  well  as  the  name  of 
the  office  remained. §  In  later  times,  we 
still  find  traces  of  the  distribution  of  alms 
being  considered  as  the  peculiar  employ- 
ment ofdeacons.il    Here,  as  in  many  other 


*  As  Chrysostom  observes  in  his  fourteenth 
Homily  on  the  Acts,  §  3. 

t  As  the  Second  Trullanian  Council,  c.  16,  which 
was  occasioned  by  a  special  object,  that  the  num- 
ber of  deacons  for  large  towns  might  not  be  limited 
to  seven.  (Pp.  39,  139.  "  Second  Trullanian 
Council" — so  called  from  a  vaulted  chamber  in  the 
Imperial  Palace  at  Constantinople.  o-s^cgsTov  toU 
^itcv  la-AXO-Ttou  TO  0[/T«f  i'wlXiyojUivov  TgoUxXof. 
Vita  Stephani  ed.  Muratori,  p.  482.  o  t^oZakoc, 
ovig  yi/mili  oistTov  KttKoZfAiv.  The  first  Trulla- 
nian (the  sixth  oecumenical  or  general)  Council, 
was  held  in  680;  the  second  in  691  or  692.  At 
the  latter,  the  injunctions  of  the  Apostolic  conven- 
tion, (Acts  XV.),  which  had  long  been  considered 
in  the  Western  Church  as  only  of  temporary  obli- 
gation, were  declared  to  be  permanent,  and  the 
eating  of  blood  or  of"  things  strangled,"  was  for- 
bidden, under  pain  of  excommunication.  Vide  Dr. 
Neander's  "  Allgemeine  Geschichte"  &c.  Vol.  7, 
p.  390  ;  vol.  8,  p.  590.  [Tr.]) 

t  From  Acts  xi,  30,  nothing  more  is  to  be  in- 
ferred, than  that  when  presbyters  were  appointed 
for  the  general  superintendence  of  the  church,  the 
contributions  intended  for  the  church  were  handed 
over  to  them,  ^s  formerly  to  the  apostles,  when 
they  held  the  exclusive  management  of  affairs.  It 
may  be  fairly  supposed  that  the  presbyters  en- 
trusted  each  of  the  deacons  with  a  sum  out  of  the 
common  fund  for  distribution  in  his  own  depart- 
ment. 

§  I  find  no  reason  (with  Rothe,  p.  166)  to  doubt 
this;  for  the  name  was  well  adapted  to  denote 
their  particular  employment,  and  to  distinguish 
them  from  persons  acting  in  a  more  subordinate 
capacity,  as  CTTipHrat.  Nor  is  it  any  objection  to 
til  is,  that  in  Acts  xxi.  8,  they  are  merely  called 
The  Seven,  for  as  the  name  of  deacon  was  then  the 
usual  appellation  of  a  certain  class  of  officers  in 
the  church,  Luke  uses  this  expression  to  distin- 
guish  them  from  others  of  the  same  name,  just  as 
the  tivelve  denoted  the  apostles. 

II  Hence,  at  the  appointment  of  deacons,  it  was 


Chap.  II.] 


IN  PALESTINE. 


35 


instances  in  the  history  of  the  church, 
human  weakness  and  imperfection  sub- 
served the  divine  wisdom,  and  promoted 
the  interests  of  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  for 
by  this  appointment  of  deacons  for  the  Hel- 
lenistic part  of  the  church,  distinguished 
men  of  Hellenistic  descent  and  education 
were  brought  into  the  public  service  of  the 
church,  and  the  Hellenists,  by  their  freer 
mental  culture,  were  in  njany  respects  bet- 
ter qualified  rightly  to  understand  and  to 
publish  the  gospel  as  the  foundation  of  a 
method  of  salvation  independent  of  Ju- 
daism, and  intended  for  all  men  equally 
without  distinction.  The  important  conse- 
quences resulting  from  this  event,  will  ap- 
pear in  the  course  of  the  history. 

The  institution  of  the  office  of  presbyters 
was  similar  in  its  origin  to  that  of  deacons. 
As  the  church  was  continually  increasing 
in  size,  the  details  of  its  management  also 
multiplied  ;  the  guidance  of  all  its  affairs 
by  the  apostles  could  no  longer  be  conve- 
niently combined  with  the  exercise  of  their 
peculiar  apostolic  functions;  they  also 
wished,  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of 
Christianity,  not  to  govern  alone,  but  pre- 
ferred that  the  body  of  believers  should 
govern  themselves  under  their  guidance  ; 
thus  they  divided  the  government  of  the 
church,  which  hitherto  they  had  exercised 
alone,  with  tried  men,  who  formed  a  pre- 
siding council  of  elders,  similar  to  that 
which  was  known  in  the  Jewish  Syna- 
gogues under  the  title  of  tD''^'Dh  if^s(rl3C. 
TS^oi*     Possibly,  as   the   formal    appoint- 


required,  that  they  should  "  not  be  greedy  of  filthy 
luere,"^  1  Timothy,  iii.  8.  Origen,  in  Matt.  t.  xvi. 
§  22,  (/(  SiAKovGi  ^mticovylii  ret  Ti'ic  inKXno-nx.;  ^^n/moOct : 
and  Cyprian  says  of  the  deacon  Felicissimus,  pe. 
cu7ii(B  commissa  sibi  fraudalor.  Even  fn  the  apos- 
toHc  age,  the  deacons'  office  appears  to  have  ex- 
tended to  many  other  outward  employments,  and 
most  probably  the  word  avriK-^m,  '  Helps,'  de- 
notes the  serviceableness  of  their  office.  1  Cor. 
xii.  28. 

*  Bauer  has  lately  maintained,  that  the  general 
government  of  the  affairs  of  the  church  did  not 
enter  originally  and  essentially  into  the  idea  of 
7rp€s0-jripot,  but  that  originally  every  ^pa^vTipo; 
presided  over  a  small  distinct  Christian  society. 
From  this,  one  consequence  would  follow,  which 
Bauer  also  deduces  from  it,  that  not  a  republican 
but  a  monarchical  element  entered  originally  into 
the  constitution  of  the  church,  a  position  from 
which  most  important  consequences  would  follow. 
But  against  this  assertion,  we  have  many  things 
to  urge.  Since  the  appointment  of  presbyters  in 
the  Christian  church  entirely  corresponded  with 
that  of  presbyters  in  the   Jewish  synagogue,  at 


merit  of  deacons  arose  from  a  specific  out- 
ward occasion,  a  similar,  though  to  us  un- 
known, event  occasioned  that  of  presbyters. 
They  were  originally  chosen  as  in  the  Sy- 
nagogue, not  so  much  for  the  instruction 
and  edification  of  the  church,  as  for  taking 
the  lead  in  its  general  government. 

But  as  to  the  provision  made  in  the  pri- 
mitive church  for  religious  instruction  and 
edification,  we  have  no  precise  information. 
If  we  are  justified  in  assuming  that  the 
mode  adopted  in  the  assemblies  of  Gentile 


least  in  their  original  constitution,  so  we  may  con- 
clude, that  if  a  plurality  of  elders  stood  at  the 
head  of  the  synagogue,  the  same  was  the  case 
with  the  first  Christian  church.  But  as  the  syna- 
gogue according  to  the  ancient  Jewish  constitu- 
tion, was  organized  on  the  plan  of  the  great  San- 
hedrim at  Jerusalem,  we  might  expect  that  a  whole 
college  of  elders  would  have  the  direction  of  the 
synagogues,  as  such  a  college  of  elders  was  really 
at  the  head  of  the  Jews  in  a  city.  Luke,  vii.  3. 
The  passages  in  which  one  is  distinguished  by  the 
title  of  <j  d^^iiTuvayitiyo;,  Luke,  viii.  41,  48,  xiii, 
14,  may  signify,  that  the  individual  mentioned 
stood  at  the  head  of  the  Jewish  congregation  as 

riDJlDn  t^*^^'^'  ^^^  that  the  form  of  govern- 
ment was  rather  monarchical.  But  admitting  this, 
still  the  supposition  of  a  college  of  presbyters,  pre- 
siding over  the  synagogue,  would  not  be  invali- 
dated, since  we  meet  with  a  plurality  of  dg;^/!ruv- 
afceyoi  =:  7r^i(r/ivTi^oi,  Acts  xiii.  15;  xviii.  8  ta 
18.  Yet  we  must  make  the  limitation,  that  in 
smaller  places  an  individual,  as  in  larger  towns  a, 
plurality,  stood  at  the  head  of  the  synagogue.  It 
is  most  probable,  that  although  all  presbyters  were 
called  ug^i^vvsi.ya)yoi,  yet  one  who  acted  as  presi- 
dent was  distinguished  by  the  title  of  d^^i^way- 
a>yoc,  as  primus  inter  pares.  In  evidence  of  this, 
compare  the  first  passage  quoted  from  Luke 
with  Mark,  v.  22.  This  is  important  in  re- 
ference to  the  later  relation  of  bishops  to  presby- 
ters. The  analogy  to  the  Jewish  synagogue  al- 
lows us  to  conclude,  that  at  the  head  of  the  first 
church  at  Jerusalem,  a  general  deliberative  col- 
lege was  placed  from  the  beginning,  a  notion 
which  is  favoured  by  a  comparison  with  tlie  col- 
lege of  apostles  ;  and  in  the  Acts,  a  plurality  of 
presbyters  always  appears  next  in  rank  to  the 
apostles,  as  representatives  of  the  church  at  Jeru- 
salem. If  any  one  is  disposed  to  maintain,  that 
each  of  these  presbyters  presided  over  a  smaller 
part  of  the  church  at  its  special  meetings,  still  it 
must  be  thereby  established,  that  notwithstanding 
these  divided  meetings,  tlie  church  formed  a  whole, 
over  which  this  deliberative  college  of  presbyters 
presided,  and  therefore,  the  form  of  government 
was  still  republican.  But  if  it  is  probable  that  the 
whole  church,  which  could  not  meet  in  one  place, 
divided  itself  into  several  companies,  still  the  as- 
sumption, that  from  the  beginning  the  number  of 
presbyters  was  equal  to  the  number  of  places  of 
assembling,  and  to  these  subdivisions  of  the  col- 
lective  body  of  believers,  is  entirely  groundless, 
and  in  the  highest  degree  improbable. 


36 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[C  H  AP.  I 


Christians,  which  in  accordance  with  the 
enlightened  spirit  and  nature  of  Christianity, 
was  not  confined  to  one  station  of  life,  or 
to  one  form  of  mental  cultivation — was 
also  the  original  one,  we  might  from  that 
conclude,  that  from  the  first,  any  one  who 
had  the  ability  and  an  inward  call  to  utter 
his  thoughts  on  Christian  topics  in  a  public 
assembly,  was  permitted  to  speak  for  the 
general  improvement  and  edification.* 

But  the  first  church  differed  from  the 
churches  subsequently  formed  among  the 
Gentiles  in  one  important  respect,  that  in 
the  latter  there  were  no  teachers  of  that 
degree  of  illumination,  and  claiming  that 
respect  to  which  the  apostles  had  a  right, 
from  the  position  in  which  Christ  himself 
had  placed  them.  Meanwhile,  though  the 
apostles  principally  attended  to  the  advance- 
ment of  Christian  knowledge,  and  as 
teachers  possessed  a  preponderating  and 
distinguished  influence,  it  by  no  means  fol- 
lows, that  they  monopolized  the  right  of 
instructing  the  church.  In  proportion  as 
they  were  influenced  by  the  spirit  of  the 
Gospel,  it  must  have  been  their  aim  to  lead 
believers  by  their  teaching  to  that  spiritual 
maturity,  which  would  enable  them  to  con- 
tribute (by  virtue  of  the  divine  life  commu- 
nicated to  all  by  the  Holy  Spirit)  to  their 
mutual  awakening,  instruction  and  improve- 
ment. Viewing  the  occurrences  of  the  day 
of  Pentecost  as  an  illustration  of  the  agency 
of  the  Divine  Spirit  in  the  new  dispensation, 
we  might  conclude  that,  on  subsequent  oc- 
casions, that  spiritual  excitement  which  im- 
pelled believers  to  testify  of  the  divine  life, 
could  not  be  confined  to  the  apostles.  Ac- 
cordingly, we  find  that  individuals  came 
forward,  who  had  already  devoted  them- 
selves to  the  study  and  interpretation  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  to  meditation  on  divine 
things;  and  when,  by  the  illumination  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  they  had  become  familiar 
with  the  nature  of  the  gospel,  they  could 
with  comparative  ease  devclope  and  apply 
its  truths  in  public  addresses.  They  re- 
ceived the  gift  for  which  there  was  an  adap- 
tation in  their  minds^— the  p^a^irfixa  SiSadxa- 

*  That  in  the  Jewish  Christian  churches,  public 
speaking  in  their  assemblies  was  not  confined  to 
certain  authorized  persons,  is  evident  from  the  fact, 
that  James,  in  addressing  believers  of  that  class 
who  were  too  apt  to  substitute  talking  for  prac- 
tising, censured  them,  because  so  many  without 
an  inward  call,  prompted  by  self-conceit,  put  them- 
selves  forwards  in  their  assemblies  as  teachers. 


Xi'aff,  and,  in  consequence  of  it,  were  inferior 
only  to  the  apostles  in  aptitude  for  giving 
public  instruction.  Besides  that  connected 
intellectual  developement  of  truth,  there 
-were  also  addresses,  which  proceeded  not 
so  much  from  an  aptness  of  the  under- 
standing improved  by  its  exercise,  and  act- 
incr  with  a  certain  uniformity  of  operation 
— as  from  an  instantaneous,  immediate,  in- 
ward awakening  by  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  in  which  a  divine  afflatus  was  felt 
both  by  the  speaker  and  hearers ;  to  this 
class,  belonged  the  rf^ocpriTsTai,  the  p^agirff^a 
TT^oop-nrsTas.  To  the  prophets  also  were  as- 
cribed the  exhortations  (ifa^axXriasig),  which 
struck  with  the  force  of  instantaneous  im- 
pression on  the  minds  of  the  hearers.*  The 
SiSadxaXoi  might  also  possess  the  gift  of 
ir^o(pr]Tsia,  but  not  all' who  uttered  particular 
instantaneous  exhortations  as  prophets  in 
the  church  were  capable  of  holding  the 
office  of  8i8a(fxa>M.-\  We  have  no  precise 
information  concerning  the  relation  of  the 
SiSa(fxakm  to  the  presbyters  in  the  primitive 
church,  whether  in  the  appointment  of  pres- 
byters, care  was  taken  that  only  those  who 
were  furnished  with  the  gift  of  teaching 
should  be  admitted  into  the  college  of  pres- 
byters. Yet,  in  all  cases,  the  oversight  of 
the  propagation  of  the  Christian  faith — of 
the  administration  of  teaching  and  of  devo- 
tional exercises  in  the  social  meetings  of 
believers,  belonged  to  that  general  superin- 
tendence of  the  church  which  was  entrusted 
to  them,  as  in  the  Jewish  synagogues ;  al- 
though it  was  not  the  special  and  exclusive 
offices  of  the  elders  to  give  public  exhorta- 
tions, yet  whoever  might  speak  in  their 
assemblies,  they  exercised  an  inspection 
over  them.  Acts  xiii,  15,  In  an  epistle 
written  towards  the  end  of  the  apostolic  era 
to  an  early  church  composed  of  Christians 
of  Jewish  descent  in  Palestine  (the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews),  it  is  presupposed  that  the 
rulers  of  the  church  had  from  the  first  pro- 
vided for  the  delivery  of  divine  truth,  and 
watched  over  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the 


*  The  Levite  Joses,  who  distinguished  himself  by 
his  powerful  addresses  in  the  church,  was  reckoned 
among  the  prophets,  and  hence  was  called  by  the 
apostles    nj^^bi   ^'3i    Bot/!vajSac,    and    this   is 

translated  in  the  Acts  (iv.  36)  vlo?  a-s<g!t)t>.»V£a)f= 

t  In  Acts  xix.  6,  as  a  manifestation  of  the  spi- 
ritual gifts  that  followed  conversion,  ^^cpnTiuW  is 
put  next  to  yxJuva-Mf  xcimIv. 


Chap.  II.] 


IN  PALESTINE. 


37 


church,  and    therefore    had    the  care  of 
souls. 

Relative  to  the  spread  of  Christianity 
among  the  Jews,  the  most  remarkable  fea- 
ture is  the  gradual  transition  from  Judaism 
to  Christianity  as  a  new  independent  crea- 
tion, Christianity  presenting  itself  as  the 
crowning-point  of  Judaism  in  its  consum- 
mation accomplished  by  the  Messiah  ;  the 
transfiguration  and  spiritu«lization  of  Ju- 
daism, the  new,  perfect  law  given  by  the 
Messiah  as  the  fulfilling  of  the  old;  the 
new  spirit  of  the  higher  life  communicated 
by  the  Messiah,  gradually  developing  itself 
in  the  old  religious  forms,  to  which  it  gave 
a  real  vitality.  Such  is  that  representation 
of  Christianity  which  is  given  in  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount.  First  of  all,  Peter  appears 
before  us,  and  then  after  he  had  passed 
over  the  limits  of  the  old  national  theocracy 
to  publish  the  gospel  among  the  heathen, 
James  presents  himself  as  the  representa- 
tive of  this  first  step  in  the  developement 
of  Christianity  in  its  most  perfect  form. 

The  transition  from  Judaism  to  Chris- 
tianity in  general  gradually  developed  itself, 
beginning  with  the  acknowledgmentof  Jesus 
as  the  Messiah  promised  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment ;  and  hence  many  erroneous  mixtures 
of  the  religious  spirit  prevalent  among  the 
Jews  were  formed  with  Christianity,  in 
which  the  Jewish  element  predominated, 
and  the  Christian  principle  was  depressed 
and  hindered  from  distinctly  unfolding  it- 
self. There  were  many  to  whom  faith  in 
the  Messiahship  of  Jesus  was  added  to  their 
former  religious  views,  only  as  an  insulated 
outward  fact,  without  developing  a  new 
principle  in  their  inward  life  and  disposition 
— baptized  Jews  who  acknowledged  Jesus 
as  the  Messiah,  and  expected  his  speedy 
return  for  the  establishment  of  the  Mes- 
sianic kingdom  in  a  temporal  form,  as  they 
were  wont  to  represent  it  to  themselves 
from  their  carnal  Jewish  standing-point ; 
they  received  some  new  precepts  from  Him,  j 
as  so  many  positive  commands,  without  i 
rightly  understanding  their  sense  and  spirit,  | 
and  were  little  distinguished  in  their  lives  j 
from  the  common  Jews.  That  Jesus  faith-  I 
fully  observed  the  form  of  the  Jewish  law,  | 
was  assumed  by  them  as  a  proof  that  that 
form  would  always  retain  its  value.  They 
clung  to  the  letter,  the  spirit  was  always  a 
mystery:  they  could  not  understand  in 
what  sense  he  declared  that  he  came  not 


to  destroy  the  law,  but  to  fulfil  it.  They 
adhered  to  not  destroying  it  according  to 
the  letter,  without  understanding  what  this- 
meant  according  to  the  spirit,  since  what 
was  meant  hy  fuljillmg  it  was  equally  un- 
known to  them.  Such  persons  would  easily 
fall  away  from  the  faith  which  never  had 
been  to  them  a  truly  living  one,  when  they 
found  that  their  carnal  expectations  were 
not  fulfilled,  as  is  implied  in  the  language 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  As  the 
common  Jewish  spirit  manifested  itself  to 
be  a  one-sided  attachment  to  externals  in 
religion,  a  cleaving  to  the  letter  and  out- 
ward forms,  without  any  developement  and 
appropriation  of  the  spirit,  a  preference  for 
the  shell  without  the  kernel ;  so  it  appeared 
in  the  Jews  as  an  opponent  to  the  reception 
of  the  gospel,  and  to  the  renovation  of  the 
heart  by  it,  as  an  overvaluation  of  the  out- 
ward observance  of  the  law,  whether  in 
ceremonies  or  in  a  certain  outward  pro- 
priety, and  an  undue  estimation  of  a  merely 
historical  faith,  something  external  to  the 
soul,  consisting  only  in  outward  profession, 
either  of  faith  in  one  God  as  creator  and 
governor,  or  in  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  as  if 
the  essence  of  religion  were  placed  in  either 
one  or  the  other,  or  as  if  a  righteousness 
before  God  could  be  thereby  obtained.  The 
genius  of  the  gospel  presented  itself  in  op- 
position  to  both  kinds  of  opus  ojoeratuyn 
and  dependence  on  works,  as  we  shall  see 
in  the  sequel.  At  first  it  was  the  element 
of  Pharisaic  Judaism,  which  mingled  itself 
with,  and  disturbed  the  pure  Christian 
truth  ;  at  a  later  period  Christianity  aroused 
the  attention  of  those  mystical  or  theoso- 
phic  tendencies,  which  had  developed  them- 
selves in  opposition  to  the  Pharisaism 
cleaving  rigidly  to  the  letter,  and  a  carnal 
Judaism,  partly  and  more  immediately  as 
a  reaction  from  the  inward  religious  ele- 
ment and  spirit  of  Judaism,  partly  under 
the  influence  of  Oriental  and  Grecian  men- 
tal tendencies,  by  which  the  unbending  and 
rugged  Judaism  was  weakened  and  modi- 
fied ;  and  from  this  quarter  other  erroneous 
mixtures  with  Christianity  proceeded,  which 
cramped  and  dei)ressed  the  pure  develope- 
ment of  the  Word  and  Spirit. 

We  shall  now  pass  on  from  the  first  in- 
ternal developement  of  the  Christian  Church 
among  the  Jews  to  its  outward  condition. 


38 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Chap.  HI. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  OUTWARD  CONDITION  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH: 
ITS  PERSECUTIONS  AND  THEIR  CONSEQUENCES. 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  Pharisees, 
though  they  had  taken  the  lead  in  the  con- 
demnation of  Christ,  were  eager,  after  that 
event,  to  persecute  his  followers.  They 
looked  on  the  illiterate  Galileans,  as  worthy 
of  no  further  attention,  especially  since  they 
strictly  observed  the  ceremonial  law,  and 
at  first  ■  abstained  from  controverting  the 
peculiar  tenets  of  their  party;  they  allowed 
them  to  remain  undisturbed,  like  some  other 
sects  by  whom  their  own  interests  were  not 
affected.  Meanwhile,  the  church  was.  en- 
abled continually  to  enlarge  itself.  An  in- 
creasing number  were  attracted  and  won 
by  the  overpowering  energy  of  spiritual 
influence  which  was  manifested  in  the  pri- 
mitive church ;  the  apostles  also  by  the 
miracles  they  wrought  in  the  confidence 
and  power  of  faith,  first  aroused  the  atten- 
tion of  carnal  men,  and  then  made  use  of 
this  impression  to  bring  them  to  an  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  divine  power  of  Him 
in  whose  name  such  wonders  were  per- 
formed, and  to  hold  him  forth  to  them  as 
the  deliverer  from  all  evil.  Peter  especially, 
possessed  in  an  extraordinary  degree  that 
gift  of  faith  which  enabled  him  to  perform 
cures,  of  which  a  remarkable  example  is 
recorded  in  the  third  chapter  of  the  Acts. 

When  Peter  and  John  at  one  of  the  usual 
hours  of  prayer,  about  three  in  the  after- 
noon, were  going  into  the  Temple,  they 
found  at  the  gates  of  the  Temple  (whose 
precincts,  as  afterwards  those  of  Christian 
churches,  were  a  common  resort  of  beg- 
gars) a  man  who  had  been  lame  from  his 
birth.  While  he  was  looking  for  alms  from 
them,  Peter  uttered  the  memorable  words, 
which  plainly  testified  the  conscious  pos- 
session of  a  divine  power  that  could  go  far 
beyond  the  common  powers  of  Man  and  of 
Nature:  and  which,  pronounced  with  such 
confidence,  carried  the  pledge  of  their  ful- 
filment:  "Silver  and  gold  have  I  none  ; 
but  such  as  I  have,  give  I  thee;  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  rise  up  and  walk." 
When  the  man,  who  had  been  universally 
known  as  a  lame  beggar,  was  seen  stand- 
ing with  joy  by  the  side  of  his  two  benefac- 
tors, to  whom  he  clung  with  overflowing 
gratitude,  a  crowd   full   of  curiosity  and 


astonishment  collected  around  the  apostles 
as  they  were  leaving  the  Temple,  and  were 
ready  to  pay  them  homage  as  persons  of 
peculiar  sanctity.  But  Peter  said  to  them, 
"  Why  do  you  look  full  of  wonder  on  us 
as  if  we  had  done  this  by  our  own  power 
and  holiness  1  It  is  not  our  work,  but  the 
work  of  the  Holy  One  whom  ye  rejected 
and  delivered  up  to  the  Gentiles ;  whose 
death  ye  demanded,  though  a  heathen  judge 
wished  to  let  him  go,  and  felt  compelled  to 
acknowledge  his  innocence."  We  here 
meet  with  the  charge  which  ever  since  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  Peter  had  been  used  to 
bring  forward,  in  order  to  lead  the  Jews  to 
a  consciousness  of  their  guilt,  to  repentance, 
and  to  faith.  "  God  himself  has  by  subse- 
quent events  justified  Him  whom  ye  con- 
demned, and  proved  your  guilt.  That  God 
who  was  with  our  Fathers,  and  revealed 
his  presence  by  miraculous  events,  has 
now  revealed  himself  by  the  glorification  of 
Him  whom  ye  condemned.  Ye  have  put 
him  to  death,  whom  God  destined  thereto, 
to  bestow  on  us  a  divine  life  of  everlasting 
blessedness ;  but  God  raised  him  from  the 
dead,  and  we  are  the  eye-witnesses  of  his 
resurrection.  The  believing  confidence  im- 
planted in  our  hearts  by  him,  has  effected 
this  miracle  before  your  eyes."  Peter  would 
have  spoken  in  a  different  strain  to  obsti- 
nate unbelievers.  But  here  he  hoped  to 
meet  with  minds  open  to  conviction.  He 
therefore  avoided  saying  what  would  only 
exasperate  and  repel  their  feelings.  After 
he  had  said  what  tended  to  convince  them 
of  their  guilt,  he  adopted  a  milder  tone,  to 
infuse  confidence  and  to  revive  the  contrite. 
He  brought  forward  what  might  be  said  in 
extenuation  of  those  who  had  united  in  the 
condemnation  of  Christ,  "  That  in  igno- 
rance they  had  denied  the  Messiah,"*  and 
that  as  far  as  they  and  their  rulers  had 
acted  in  igorance,  it  was  in  consequence  of 
a  higher  necessity.  It  was  the  eternal 
counsel  of  God,  that  the  Messiah  should 
sufl^er  for  the  salvation  of  men,  as  had  been 
predicted  by  the  Prophets.     But  now  is  the 


*  Peter  by  no  means  acquits  them  of  all  crimi- 
nality,  as  the  connexion  of  his  words  with  what  he 
had  before  said  plainly  shows;  for  he  had  brought 
forward  the  example  of  Pilate  to  point  out  how 
great  was  the  criminality  of  those  who,  even  in 
their  blindness,  condemned  Jesus ;  but  ignorance 
may  be  more  or  less  culpable,  according  to  the 
difference  of  the  persons. 


Chap.  III.] 


IN  PALESTINE. 


89 


time  for  you  to  prove,  that  you  have  erred 
only  through  ignorance,  if  you  now  allow 
yourselves  to  be  brought  to  a  sense  of  your 
unrighteousness  by  the  fact  of  which  you 
are  witnesses  ;  if  you  now  repent  and  believe 
in  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  and  seek  through 
him  that  forgiveness  of  your  sins  which  he 
is  ready  to  bestow.  Thus  only  you  can 
expect  deliverance  from  all  evil  and  full 
salvation  ;  for  he  is  now  hidden  from  your 
bodily  eyes,  and,  exalted  to  heaven,  reveals 
himself  as  invisibly  efficient  by  miracles, 
such  as  those  you  have  witnessed ;  but  when 
the  time  arrives  for  the  completion  of  all 
things,  that  great  period  to  which  all  the 
prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  point  from 
the  beginning,  then  will  he  appear  again  on 
earth  to  effect  that  completion  ;  for  Moses* 
and  the  prophets  have  spoken  beforehand 
of  what  is  to  be  performed  by  the  Messiah, 
as  the  consummation  of  all  things.  And 
you  are  the  persons  to  whom  these  promises 
of  the  prophets  will  be  fulfilled ;  to  you  be- 
long the  promises  which  God  gave  to  your 
Fathers,  the  promise  given  to  Abraham, 
that  through  his  posterity  all  the  families 
of  the  earth  should  be  blessed. f  As  one 
day  a  blessing  from  this  promised  seed  of 
Abraham  shall  extend  to  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth,:}:  so  shall  it  first  be  fulfilled  to 
you,  if  you  turn  from  your  sins  to  him. 

The  commotion  produced  among  the  peo- 
ple who  gathered  round  the  apostles  in  the 
precincts  of  the  Temple,  at  last  aroused  the 
attention  and  suspicion  of  the  priests,  whose 
office  it  was  to  perform  the  service  in  the 
Temple,  and  to  preserve  order  there.    The 

*  Peter  here  appeals  to  the  passage  in  Deute- 
ronomy xviii.  15,  18,  where  certainly,  according 
to  the  connexion,  only  the  prophets  in  general,  by 
whom  God  continually  enlightened  and  guided  his 
people,  are  contrasted  with  the  false  soothsayers 
and  tnagicians  of  idolatrous  nations.  But  yet,  as 
the  Messiah  was  the  last  of  these  promised  pro- 
phets, to  be  followed  by  no  other,  in  whom  the 
whole  prophetic  system  found  its  centre  and  con- 
summation, so  far  this  passage  in  its  spirit  may 
justly  be  applied  to  the  Messiah ;  though  we  cannot 
affirm  that  Peter  himself  was  distinctly  aware  of 
the  difference  between  the  right  interpretation  of 
the  letter,  according  to  grammatical  and  logical 
rules,  and  its  application  in  spirit,  not  arbitrary  in- 
deed, but  grounded  on  an  historical  necessity. 

t  This  promise.  Gen.  xii.  3,  xviii.  18,  xxii.  18, 
according  to  its  highest  relation,  which  must  be 
found  in  the  organic  developement  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  is  fulfilled  by  the  Messiah. 

t  On  the  sense  in  which,  at  that  time,  Peter  un- 
derstood  this,  t 


two  apostles,  with  the  cured  cripple  who 
kept  close  to  them,  were  apprehended,  and 
as  it  was  now  evening,  too  late  for  any 
judicial  proceedings,  were  put  in  confine- 
ment till  the- next  day.*  When  brought 
before  the  Sanhedrim,  Peter,  full  of  holy 
inspiration,  and  raised  by  it  above  the  fear 
of  man,  testified  to  the  Rulers  of  the  Jewish 
nation  that 'only  by  the  might  of  Him  whom 
they  had  crucified,  but  whom  God  had  raised 
from  the  dead,  it  had  come  to  pass,  that  they 

*Gfr(3rer  imagines  that  he  can  show  that  this 
narrative  was  only  a  legendary  echo  of  the  accounts 
in  the  Gospels,  a  transference  of  the  miracles  of 
Christ  to  the  apostles,  and  often  applies  this  mode 
of  interpretation  to  the  first  part  of  the  Acts.  Thus 
he  maintains,  that  the  words  in  Acts  iv.  7,  "  By 
what  power  and  by  what  name  have  ye  done  this  ?" 
are  copied  from  the  question  addressed  to  Christ, 
Luke  XX.  2  :  "  Tell  us  by  what  authority  thou  doest 
these  things  ?"  and  that  this  is  proved  to  be  a  false 
transference,  because  the  question  stands  in  its 
right  place  in  the  Gospel  history,  but  not  in  the 
narrative  of  the  Acts  ;  "  for,  according  to  the  Jewish 
notions,  every  one  might  cure  diseases."  But 
though  the  cure  of  a  disease  need  not  occasion  any 
further  inquiries,  yet  a  cure,  which  appeared  to  be 
accomplished  by  supernatural  power,  might  pro- 
perly call  forth  the  inquiry.  Whence  did  he  who 
performed  it  profess  to  receive  the  power  ?  As  it 
was  understood  by  Peter,  the  question  involved  an 
accusation  that  he  professed  to  have  received  power 
for  performing  such  things,  through  his  connexion 
with  an  individual  who  had  been  condemned  by  the 
Sanhedrim.  This  question  was  intended  to  call  forth 
aconfession  of  guilt.  Equally  groundless  isGfrOrer's 
supposition,  that  the  quotation  in  Act«  iv.  11,  "  This 
is  the  stone  which  was  set  at  nought  of  you  build- 
ers," refers  to  Matt.  xxi.  42,  and  can  only  be  un- 
derstood by  such  a  reference.  The  connexion  of 
the  passage  is  sufficiently  explicit,  and  is  as  fol- 
lows :  "  If  ye  call  us  to  account  for  the  testimony 
we  bear  to  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  ye  will  verify 
what  was  predicted  in  that  passage  of  the  Psalms. 
The  Jesus  of  Nazareth  condemned  by  the  heads  of 
the  Jewish  polity,  is  honoured  by  God  to  be  made 
the  foundation  on  which  the  whole  kingdom  of 
God  rests.  He  has  received  from  God  the  power 
by  which  we  effect  such  miracles." 

Gfrfjrer  further  remarks,  that  the  plainest  proof 
that  this  narrative  is  defective  in  historical  truth 
lies  in  verse  16,  "  What  shall  we  do  to  these  men? 
for  that  indeed  a  notable  miracle  hath  been  done 
by  tiiem  is  manifest  to  all  them  that  dwell  in  Jeru- 
salem,  and  we  cannot  deny  it;"  he  asserts  that 
these  persons  could  not  have  so  expressed  them- 
selves.  But  if  the  author  of  this  account  has  put 
in  the  mouth  of  the  Sanhedrim,  what  he  believed 
might  be  presumed  to  be  the  thoughts  that  in- 
fluenced their  conduct,  can  it  on  that  account  be 
reasonably  inferred,  that  the  narrative  is  in  the 
main  unliistorical  ?  On  the  same  plan  by  which 
GfrOrer  thinks  he  can  show  that  such  narratives  in 
the  Acts  are  only  imitations  of  those  in  the  Gospels, 
we  might  easily  nullify  miach  in  later  history,  as 
merely  legendary  copies  of  earlier  history. 


40 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Chap.  III. 


beheld  this  man  standing  in  perfect  sound- 
ness before  them.  He  was  the  stone  de- 
spised by  the  builders,  those  who  wished  to 
be  the  leaders  of  God's  people,  who  would 
become  the  foundation  on  which  the  whole 
building  of  God's  kingdom  would  rest. 
Psalm  cxviii.  22.  There  was  no  other 
means  of  obtaining  salvation,  but  faith  in 
him  alone.  The  members  of  the  Sanhedrim 
were  astonished  to  hear  men,  who  had  not 
been  educated  in  the  Jewish  schools,  and 
whom  they  despised  as  illiterate,  speak  with 
such  confidence  and  power,  and  they  knew 
not  what  to  make  of  the  undeniable  fact, 
the  cure  of  the  lame  man  ;  but  their  preju- 
dices and  spiritual  pride  would  not  allow 
them  to  investigate  more  closely  the  cause 
of  the  fact  which  had  taken  place  before 
their  eyes.  They  only  wished  to  suppress 
the  excitement  which  the  event  had  occa- 
sioned, for  they  could  not  charge  any  false 
doctrine  on  the  apostles,  who  taught  a  strict 
observance  of  the  law.  Perhaps  also  the 
secret  though  not  altogether  decided  friends, 
whom  the  cause  of  Christ  had  from  the  first 
among  the  members  of  the  Sanhedrim,  ex- 
erted an  influence  in  favour  of  the  accused. 
The  schism  likewise  between  the  Pharisaic 
and  the  Sadducean  parties  in  the  Sanhedrim, 
might  have  a  favourable  influence  on  the 
conduct  of  that  assembly  towards  the  Chris- 
tians. The  Sadducees,  who  were  exaspe- 
rated with  the  apostles  for  so  zealously  ad- 
vocating the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection, 
and  who  were  the  chief  authors  of  the 
machinations  against  them  at  this  time, 
were  yet  so  far  obliged  to  yield  to  the  pre- 
valent popular  belief,  as  not  to  venture  to 
allege  that  against  the  disciples  which  most 
excited  their  enmity.  Hence,  without  mak- 
ing any  specific  charge  against  the  apostles, 
they  satisfied  themselves  with  imposing 
silence  upon  them  by  a  peremptory  man- 
date ;  which,  according  to  the  existing  ec- 
clesiastical constitution  of  the  Jews,  the 
Sanhedrim  was  competent  to  issue,  being 
the  highest  tribunal  in  matters  of  faith, 
■without  whose  sanction  no  one  could  be 
acknowledged  as  having  a  divine  commis- 
sion. The  apostles  protested  that  they 
could  not  comply  with  a  human  injunction, 
if  it  was  at  variance  with  the  laws  of  God, 
and  that  they  could  not  bo  silent  respecting 
what  they  had  seen  and  heard ;  the  Sanhe- 
drim, however,  repeated  the  prohibition, 
and  added  threats  of  punishment  in  case  of 
disobedience. 


Meanwhile  this  miracle,  so  publicly 
wrought — the  force  of  Peter's  address — 
and  the  vain  attempt  "to  silence  him  by 
threats,  had  the  effect  of  increasing  the 
number  of  Christian  professors  to  about 
two  thousand.  As  the  apostles,  without 
giving  themselves  any  concern  about  the 
injunction  of  the  Sanhedrim,  laboured  ac- 
cording to  the  intention  they  had  publicly 
avowed,  both  by  word  and  deed,  for  the 
spread  of  the  Gospel,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  they  were  soon  brought  again  before 
the  Sanhedrim  as  contumacious.  When 
the  president  reproached  them  for  their  diso- 
bedience, Peter  renewed  his  former  protes- 
tation. "  We  must  obey  God  rather  than 
man.  And  the  God  of  our  Fathers  (he 
proceeded  to  say)  is  he  who  has  called  us 
to  testify  of  what  ye  have  forbidden  us  to 
speak.  By  his  omnipotence,  he  has  raised 
that  Jesus  whom  ye  crucified,  and  has  ex- 
alted him  to  be  the  leader  and  redeemer  of 
his  people,  that  through  him  all  may  be 
called  to  repentance,  and  receive  from  him 
the  forgiveness  of  their  sins.  This  we 
testify,  and  this  the  Holy  Spirit  testifies  in 
the  hearts  of  those  who  believe  on  him."* 
These  words  of  Peter  at  once  aroused  the 
wrath  of  the  Sadducees  and  Fanatics,  and 
many  of  them  were  clamorous  for  putting 
the  apostles  to  death  ;  but  amidst  the  throng 
of  infuriated  zealots,  07ie  voice  of  temperate 
wisdom  might  be  heard.  Gamaliel,  one  of 
the  seven  most  distinguished  teachers  of  the 
Law  (the  Rabbanim),  thus  addressed  the 
members  of  the  Sanhedrim ;  "  Consider 
well  what   ye   do  to  these  men.     Many 


*  These  words  (Acts  v.  32)  are  by  many  under- 
stood, as  if  by  the  term  7re/3-ag;^3vvT£c  the  apostles 
were  intended,  and  as  if  the  sense  of  the  passage 
were  this :  We  testify  of  these  things,  as  the  eye- 
witnesses chosen  by  Him ;  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  in 
whose  power  we  have  performed  this  cure,  testifies 
by  the  works  which  we  accomplish  in  his  name. 
Such  an  interpretation  is  certainly  possible.  But 
it  is  more  natural,  as  we  apply  the  first  clause  to 
the  apostles,  to  apply  the  second  to  those  who  re- 
ceived their  message  in  faith,  and  to  whom  the 
truth  of  this  message  was  verified,  independently 
of  their  human  testimony,  by  the  divine  witness 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  their  hearts;  to  whom  the 
Holy  Spirit  himself  gave  a  pledge,  that  by  faith  in 
Jesus,  they  had  received  forgiveness  of  sins  and  a 
divine  life.  This  interpretation  is  also  to  be  pre- 
ferred, because  Peter,  after  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
was  always  wont  to  appeal  to  that  objective  testi- 
mony  which  the  Holy  Spirit  produced  in  all  be- 
lievers. If  tiie  first  interpretation  were  correct, 
the  emphasis  would  lie  on  i/uii; — we,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  by  us ;  indeed,  the  last  clause  should  have 
been  >i/xh  to7j  Tm^Af^dua-ii. 


Chap.  III.] 


IN  PALESTINE. 


41 


founders  of  sects  and  party-leaders  have 
appeared  in  our  day;  they  have  at  first 
acquired  great  notoriety,  but  in  a  short 
time  they  and  their  cause  have  come  to 
nothing."  He  proved  his  assertion  by 
several  example?  of  commotions  and  in- 
surrections which  happened  about  that  pe- 
riod among  the  Jews.*  They  might  safely 
leave  this  affair  also  to  itself  If  of  human 
origin,  it  would  speedily  corpe  to  an  end  ; 
but  if  it  should  be  something  divine,  vain 
would  be  the  attempt  to  put  it  down  by  hu- 
man power,  and  let  them  see  to  it,  that  they 
were  not  guilty  of  rebellion  against  God.  ■ 
Too  much  has  been  attributed  to  these 
words  of  Gamaliel,  when  it  has  been  in- 
ferred from  them,  that  he  was  a  secret  ad- 
herent of  the  Gospel  ;t  the  connexion  he 
kept  up  with  the  Jewish  schools  of  theology 
precludes  such  a  supposition.  By  the  tra- 
ditions of  the  Gemara  we  are  justified  in 
considering  him  as  one  of  the  freethinking 
Jewish  theologians,  which  also  we  learn 
from  his  being  in  favour  of  the  cultivation 
of  Grecian  literature  ;^  and  from  his  pecu- 
liar mental  constitution,  we  might  likewise 
infer,  that  he  could  be  more  easily  moved 
by  an  impression  of  the  divine,  even  in 
appearances  which  did  not  bear  the  stamp 
of  his  party.  But  many  of  his  expressions 
which  are  preserved  in  the  Mishna,  mark 
him  plainly  enough  to  have  been  a  strict 
Pharisee,  such  as  he  is  described  by  his 
pupil  Paul ;  the  great  respect,  too,  in  which 

*  The  mention  of  Theudas  in  Gamaliel's  speech, 
occasions,  as  is  well  known,  a  great  difficulty, 
since  his  insurrection  seems  as  if  it  could  be  no 
other  than  that  meniioned  by  Josephus,  Antiq.  xx. 
5,  1 ;  but  to  admit  this  would  involve  an  anachro- 
nism. It  is  very  possible  that,  at  different  times, 
two  persons  named  Theudas  raised  a  sedition 
among  the  Jews,  as  the  name  was  by  no  means 
uncommon.  Origen  (against  Celsus,  i.  57)  men- 
tions a  Theudas  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  but  his 
testimony  is  not  of  great  weight,  for  perhaps  he 
fixed  the  time  by  the  account  in  the  Acts.  It  is 
also  possible  that  Luke,  in  the  relation  of  the  event 
which  he  had  before  him,  found  the  example  of 
Theudas  adduced  as  something  analogous,  or  that 
one  name  has  happened  to  be  substituted  for  an- 
other.    In  either  ease  it  is  of  liltle  importance. 

t  In  the  Clementines,  i.  65,  on  the  principle  of 
fraus  pia,  it  is  supposed  that,  by  the  advice  of  the 
apostles,  lie  remained  a  member  of  the  Sanhedrim, 
and  concealed  his  real  faith  in  order  to  act  for  the 
advantage  of  the  Christians,  and  to  give  them  se- 
cret informations  of  all  the  designs  formed  against 
them. 

t  See  Jost's  History  of  the  Israelites,  vol.  iii.  p. 
170. 


he  has  ever  been  held  by  the  Jews  is  a  suf- 
ficient proof  that  they  never  doubted  the 
soundness  of  his  creed,  that  he  could  not 
be  accused  of  any  suspicious  connexion 
with  the  heretical  sect.  On  the  one  hand, 
he  had  a  clear  perception  of  the  fact,  that 
all  fanatical  movements  are  generally  ren- 
dered more  violent  by  opposition,  and  that 
what  in  itself  is  insignificant,  is  often  raised 
into  importance  by  forcible  attempts  to  sup- 
press it.  On  the  other  hand,  the  manner 
in  which  the  apostles  spoke  and  acted  made 
some  impression  on  a  man  not  wholly  pre- 
judiced ;  while  their  exact  observance  of 
the  law,  and  hostile  attitude  towards  Sad- 
duceeism,  must  have  disposed  him  more 
strongly  in  their  favour,  and  hence  the 
thought  might  arise  in  his  mind,  that  after 
all  there  was  something  divine  in  the  cause 
they  advocated.  His  counsel  prevailed  ;  no 
heavier  punishment  than  scourging  was  in- 
flicted on  the  apostles  for  their  disobedience, 
and  they  were  dismissed  after  the  former 
prohibition  had  been  repeated. 

Up  to  this  time,  the  members  of  the  new 
sect  being  strict  observers  of  the  law,  and 
agreeing  with  the  Pharisees  in  their  opposi- 
tion to  the  Sadducees,  appeared  in  a  favour- 
able light  to  at  least  the  moderate  of  the 
former.*  But  this  amicable  relation  was 
at  an  end  as  soon  as  they  came,  or  threat- 
ened to  come,  into  an  open  conflict  with 
the  principles  of  Pharisaism  itself;  when 
the  spirit  of  the  new  doctrine  was  more 
distinctly  felt  in  that  quarter,  an  effect  pro- 
duced by  an  individual  memorable  on  this 
account  in  the  early  annals  of  Christianity, 
the  proto-martyr  Stephen. 

The  deacons,  as  we  have  already  re- 
marked, were  primarily  appointed  for  a 
secular  object,  but  in  the  discharge  of  their 
special  duty  frequently  came  in  contact 
with  home  and  foreign  Jews ;  and  since 
men  had  been  chosen  for  this  office  who 
were  full  of  Christian  zeal,  full  of  Christian 
faith,  and  full  of  (christian  wisdom  and 
prudence,  they  possessed  both  the  inward 
call,  and  the  ability  to  make  use  of  these 
numerous  opportunities  for  the  spread  of 
the  Gospel  among  the  .lews.  In  these  at- 
tempts, Stephen  particularly  distinguished 
himself  As  a  man  of  Hellenistic  descent 
and  education,  he  was  better  fitted  than  a 


*  See  Schneckenburger's  Essay  in  his  "  Beitra. 
gen  zur  Einleilung  in's  Neue  Testament"  p.  87. 


42 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Chap.  III. 


native  of  Palestine  for  entering  into  the 
views  of  those  foreign  Jews  who  had  syna- 
gogues for  their  exclusive  use  at  Jerusalem, 
and  thus  leading  them  to  receive  the  Gos- 
pel. The  Holy  Spirit,  who  hitherto  had. 
employed  as  instruments  for  the  spread  of 
the  gospel  only  the  Palestinian  Jews,  now 
fitted  for  his  service  an  individual  of  very 
different  mental  training,  the  Hellenistic 
Stephen ;  and  the  result  of  this  choice  was 
very  important.  Although  the  Holy  Spirit 
alone<  according  to  the  Saviour's  promise, 
could  lead  the  apostles  to  a  clear  perception 
of  the  contents  of  the  whole  truth*  an- 
nounced by  himself;  yet  the  quicker  or 
slower  developement  of  this  perception, 
was  in  many  respects  dependent  on  the 
mental  peculiarity,  and  the  special  standing- 
point  of  general  and  religious  culture  of 
the  individuals  who  were  thus  to  be  en- 
lightened by  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  one  indi- 
vidual, the  developement  of  Christian  know- 
ledge was  prepared  for  by  his  previous 
standing-point ;  and  hence  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Holy  Spirit,  a  knowledge 
(yvwrfij)  of  Christian  truth  rapidly  developed 
itself  from  faith  (iridns) ;  whereas,  for  an- 
other to  attain  the  same  insight,  the  bounds 
which  confined  his  previous  standing-point 
must  be  first  broken  down  by  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  operating  in  a  more  imme- 
diate manner,  by  a  new  additional  revela- 
tion (a*oxaXu4/ig).  When  Christ  spoke  to 
his  apostles  of  certain  things  which  they 
could  not  yet  comprehend,  but  which  must 
be  first  revealed  to  them  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
he,  no  doubt,  referred  to  the  essence  of  re- 
ligion, to  that  worshipping  of  God  in  spirit 
and  in  truth,  which  is  not  necessarily  con- 
fined to  place  or  time,  or  to  any  kind  what- 
ever of  outward  observances ;  and  with 
which  the  abolition  of  the  Mosaic  ceremo- 
nial law  (that  wall  of  separation  between 
the  chosen  people  of  God  and  other  nations, 
Ephes.  ii.  14),  and  the  union  of  all  nations 
in  one  spiritual  worship  and  one  faith — 
were  closely  connected.  The  apostles  had 
by  this  time  understood,  through  the  illu- 
mination of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  nature  of 
the  spiritual  worship  founded  on  faith,  but 
the  consequences  flowing  from  it  in  relation 

*  Christ  did  not  promise  the  apostles  indefinitely 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  should  guide  them  into  all 
things,  but  into  the  whole  of  the  truth,  whicli  he 
came  to  announce  for  the  salvation  of  mankind ; 
John  xvi.  13. 


to  outward  Judaism  they  had  not  yet  clearly 
apprehended.  In  this  respect,  their  standing- 
point  resembled  Luther's — after  he  had  at- 
tained a  living  faith  in  justification,  in 
reference  to  outward  Catholicism,  ere  he 
had  by  the  further  maturing  of  his  Chris- 
tian knowledge,  abjured  that  also — and  that 
of  many  who  before  and  since  the  Reforma- 
tion have  attained  to  vital  Christianity, 
though  still  to  a  degree  enthralled  in  the 
fetters  of  Catholicism.  Thus  the  apostles 
first  attained  to  a  full  developement  of  their 
Christian  knowledge,  to  a  clear  perception 
of  the  truth  on  this  side,  when  by  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  they  were  freed  from  the 
fetters  of  their  strictly  Jewish  training, 
which  obscured  this  perception.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Hellenistic  Stephen  needed 
not  to  attain  this  mental  freedom  by  a  new 
immediate  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  for 
he  was  already,  by  his  early  developement 
in  Hellenistic  culture,  more  free  from  these 
fetters,  he  was  not  so  much  entangled  in 
Jewish  nationality,  and  hence  his  Christian 
knowledge  could  on  this  side  more  easily 
and  quickly  attain  to  clearness  of  percep- 
tion. In  short,  Stephen  was  the  fore- 
runner of  the  great  Paul,*  in  his  perception 
of  Christian  truth  and  testimony  he  bore  to 
it,  as  well  as  in  his  conflict  for  it  with  the 
carnal  Jews,  who  obstinately  adhered  to 
their  ancient  standing-point.  It  is  highly 
probable,  that  he  was  first  induced  by  his 
disputations  with  the  Hellenists,  to  present 
the  Gospel  on  the  side  of  its  opposition  to 
the  Mosaic  law  ;  to  combat  the  belief  in  the 
necessity  of  that  law  for  the  justification 


*  "  To  which  Baur  of  Tubingen  has  properly 
drawn  attention  in  his  ingenious  essay,  De  orationis 
habit(B  a  Stephana,  Act.  c.  vii.  consilin.  In  trying 
to  establish  a  divine  objective  or  historical  pragma- 
tism in  the  relative  position  of  these  two  champions 
of  the  Christian  faith  (for  which  I  am  under  obli- 
gations to  Dr.  Baur,  who  probably  first  drew  my 
attention  to  it),  I  cannot  agree  with  Dr.  Schneck- 
enburger,  who  thinks  he  has  detected  a  subjective 
pragmatism  purposely  framed  by  Luke.  In  tlic 
simple  representation  given  by  Luke  from  the  no- 
tices of  single  facts  lying  before  him,  I  cannot 
discover  any  direct  intention  to  exhibit  Stephen  in 
his  public  character  and  in  his  disputations  with 
the  Jews  as  a  prototype  of  Paul.  (See  Schneck- 
enburger's  work  on  the  Acts,  pp.  172, 184).  If  sucii 
had  really  been  his  design,  it  would,  I  think,  have 
been  more  strongly  marked,  after  the  manner  of 
his  times.  Indeed,  the  views  ascribed  to  Luke  of 
becoming  the  apologist  of  Paul  in  opposition  to  tlio 
partisans  of  Peter,  are  of  too  artificial  a  cast,  and 
too  little  supported  by  his  own  language,  to  induce 
me  to  approve  of  such  an  hypothesis. 


Chap.  III.] 


IN  PALESTINE. 


43 


and  sanctification  of  men,  and,  what  was 
connected  therewith,  its  perpetual  obliga- 
tion, and,  then  to  show  that  the  new  spirit 
of  the  gospel  freed  it  altogether  from  the 
outward  forms  of  Judaism ;  that  the  new 
spirit  of  religion  required  an  entirely  new 
form.  As  agreeably  to  the  prophecy  of 
Christ,  the  destruction  of  the  Temple  at 
Jerusalem,  with  which  the  Jews  had  hitherto 
considered  the  worship  of  God  as  neces- 
sarily and  essentially  connected,  was  now 
about  to  take  place  by  means  o^  the  divine 
judgments  on  the  degenerate  earthly  king- 
dom of  God,  through  the  victorious  divine 
power  of  the  Messiah,  exalted  to  the  right 
hand  of  his  Heavenly  Father — so  would 
the  whole  outward  system  of  Judaism  fall 
with  this  its  only  earthly  sanctuary,  and 
the  theocracy  arise  glorified  and  spiritual- 
ized from  its  earthly  trammels.  We  can- 
not determine  with  confidence,  to  what 
extent  Stephen,  in  his  disputations  with  the 
Jews,  developed  all  this,  but  we  may  infer 
with  certainty  from  the  consequences,  that 
it  would  be  more  or  less  explicitly  stated 
by  this  enlightened  man.  Hence  it  came 
to  pass,  that  the  rage  of  the  Pharisees  was 
now  excited,  as  it  had  never  yet  been 
against  the  promulgators  of  the  new  doc- 
trine ;  hence  an  accusation  such  as  had 
never  yet  been  brought  against  them — that 
Stephen  had  uttered  blasphemous  words 
against  Jehovah  and  against  Moses.  We 
are  told,  indeed,  that  false  witnesses  de- 
posed against  him  that  he  ceased  not  to 
speak  against  the  Holy  City  (the  Temple) 
and  the  Law — that  he  had  declared  that 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  would  destroy  the  Tem- 
ple, and  abrogate  the  usages  handed  down 
from  Moses.  But  although  these  accusa- 
tions are  represented  as  the  depositions  of 
false  witnesses,  it  does  not  follow,  that  all 
that  they  said  was  a  fabrication,  but  only 
that  they  had,  on  many  points,  distorted  the 
assertions  of  Stephen,  with  an  evil  inten- 
tion. They  accused  him  of  attacking  the 
divine  origin  and  holiness  of  the  law,  and 
of  blaspheming  Moses;  all  which  was  very 
far  from  his  design.  Yet  he  must,  by  what 
he  said,  have  given  them  some  ground  for 
their  misrepresentations,  for  before,  this 
time,  nothing  similar  had  been  brought 
against  the  publishers  of  the  gospel ;  hence 
we  may  make  use  of  their  allegations  to 
find  out  what  Stephen  really  said.  And-  his 
defence   plainly  indicates   that   he   by   no 


means  intended  to  repel  that  accusation 
as  altogether  a  falsity,  but  rather  to  ac- 
knowledge that  there  was  truth  mixed  up 
with  it ;  that  what  he  had  really  spoken, 
and  what  was  already  so  obnoxious  to  the 
Jews,  he  had  no  Avish  to  deny,  but  only  to 
develope  and  establish  it  in  its  right  con- 
nexion. And  thus  we  gain  the  true  point- 
of  view  for* understanding  this  memorable 
and  often  misunderstood  speech. 

Stephen  was  seized  by  his  embittered 
enemies,  brought  before  the  Sanhedrim, 
and  accused  of  blasphemy.  But  though 
the  minds  of  his  judges  were  so  deeply 
prejudiced  by  the  reports  spread  against 
him,  and  they  waited  with  intense  eager- 
ness to  see  the  man  who  had  uttered  such 
unheard  of  things — when  he  actually  came 
before  them,  and  began  to  speak,  they 
were  struck  with  the  commanding  expres- 
sion of  his  whole  figure,  with  the  inspired 
confidence — the  heavenly  repose  and  se- 
renity which  beamed  in  all  his  features. 
In  the  Acts  we  are  told,  that  he  stood  be- 
fore them  with  a  glorified  countenance,  "  as 
it  were  the  face  of  an  angel ;"  and  it  is  very 
probable,  that  many  members  of  the  San- 
hedrim had  thus  described  the  impression 
which  his  appearance  made  upon  them. 
The  topics  and  arrangement  of  his  discourse 
were  suited  to  confirm  this  impression,  and 
to  turn  it  to  good  account,  to  fix  the  atten- 
tion of  his  judges,  and  to  put  their  minds 
in  a  more  favourable  position  towards  the 
speaker,  thus  gradually  preparing  them  for 
that  which  he  wished  to  make  the  m^n 
subject  of  his  discourse.  That  discoiffse 
perfectly  corresponds  with  the  leading  qua- 
lities ascribed  to  his  character  in  the  Acts. 
In  his  frank  manner  of  expressing  what 
he  had  learnt  by  the  light  of  divine  spirit, 
we  recognise  the  man  full  of  the  power 
of  faith,  without  the  fear  of  man,  or  defer- 
ence to  human  opinion ;  in  his  manner  of 
constantly  keeping  one  end  in  view,  and 
yet,  instead  of  abruptly  urging  it,  gradually 
preparing  his  hearers  for  it,  we  recognise 
the  man  full  of  Christian  prudence. 

The  object  of  Stephen's  discourse  was 
not  simple  but  complex  ;  yet  it  was  so  con- 
structed, that  the  different  topics  were  linked 
together  in  the  closest  manner.  Its  primary 
object  was  certainly  apologetical,  but  as  he 
forgot  himself  in  the  subject  with  which  he 
was  inspired,  his  apologetic  efforts  relate  to 
the   truths   maintained  by  him,  and   im- 


44 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Chap.  III. 


pugned  by  his  adversaries,  rather  than  to 
himself;  hence,  not  satisfied  with  defend- 
ing, he' developed  and  enforced  the  truths 
he  had  proclaimed ;  and  at  the  same  time, 
condemned  the  carnal  ungodly  temper  of 
the  Jews,  which  was  little  disposed  to  re- 
ceive the  truth.  Thus  with  the  apologetic 
element,  the  didactic  and  polemic  were 
combined.  Stephen  first  refutes  the  charges 
made  against  him  of  enmity  against  the 
people  of  God,  of  contempt  of  their  sacred 
institutions,  and  of  blaspheming  Moses. 
He  traces  the  procedure  of  the  divine  pro- 
vidence, in  guiding  the  people  of  God  from 
the  times  of  their  progenitors  ;  he  notices 
the  promises  and  their  progressive  fulfil- 
ment, to  the  end  of  all  the  promises,  the 
end  of  the  whole  developement  of  the  the- 
ocracy— the  advent  of  the  Messiah,  and 
the  work  to  be  accomplished  by  him.  But 
with  this  narrative,  he  blends  his  charges 
against  the  Jewish  nation.  He  shows  that 
their  ingratitude  and  unbelief  proceeding 
from  a  carnal  mind,  became  more  flagrant 
in  proportion  as  the  promises  were  fulfilled, 
or  given  with  greater  fulness;  and  their 
conduct  in  the  various  preceding  periods  of 
the  developement  of  God's  kingdom,  was 
a  specimen  of  the  disposition  they  now 
evinced  towards  the  publication  of  the  gos- 
pel.* The  first  promise  which  God  made 
to  the  patriarchs,  was  that  respecting  the 
land  which  he  would  give  to  their  posterity 
for  a  possession,  where  they  were  to  wor- 
ship him.  In  faith,  the  patriarchs  went 
forth  under  the  guidance  of  God  himself, 
which,  however,  did  not  bring  them  to  the 
fulfilment  of  the  promise.  This  promise 
was  brought  to  the  eve  of  its  accomplish- 
ment by  Moses.  His  divine  call,  the  mira- 
cles God  wrought  for  him  and  by  him,  arc 
especially  brought  forward,  and  likewise 
the  conduct  of  the  .lews  while  under  his 
guidance,  as  unbelieving,  ungrateful,  and 
rebellious  towards    this    highly  accredited 

•  In  this  species  of  polcniical  discussion,  Ste- 
phcn  was  a  forerunner  of  Paul.  De  Wette  justly 
notices,  as  a  peculiarity  of  ihe  Hebrew  nation,  that 
conscience  was  more  alive  among:  ''lem  than  any 
olher  people;  often,  indeed,  ;in  evil  conscience,  the 
feeling  of  puilt,  the  feeling  of  the  high  office  assign- 
ed to  it  wiiich  it  cannot  and  will  not  discharge,  the 
feeling  of  a  schism  between  knowledge  (the  law) 
and  the  will,  so  that  sin  accumulates  and  comes 
distinctly  into  view;  Rom.  v.  20.  Sec  Sluclien 
nnd  Kntikfn,  1 837,  p.  10U3.  On  this  account,  the 
history  of  the  Hebrew  nation  is  the  type  of  tlie 
history  of  mankind,  and  of  men  in  general. 


servant  of  God,  through  whom  they  had 
received  such  great  benefits  ;  and  yet 
Moses  was  not  the  end  of  the  divine  reve- 
lation. His  calling  was  to  point  to  that 
prophet  whom  God  would  raise  up  after 
him,  whom  they  were  to  obey  like  himself. 
The  conduct  of  the  Jews  towards  Moses  is 
therefore  a  type  of  their  conduct  towards 
that  last  great  prophet  whom  he  announced 
and  prefigured.  The  Jews  gave  themselves 
up  to  idolatry,  when  God  first  established 
among  them  by  Moses  a  symbolical  sanc- 
tuary for  his  worship.  This  sanctuary 
was  in  the  strictest  sense  of  divine  origin. 
Moses  superintended  its  erection  according 
to  the  pattern  shown  to  him  by  God.  in  a 
symbolic  higher  manifestation.*  The  sanc- 
tuary was  a  movable  one,  till  at  last,  So- 
lomon was  permitted  to  erect  an  abiding 
edifice  for  divine  worship  on  a  similar  plan. 
With  this  historical  survey,  Stephen  con- 
cludes his  argument  against  the  supersti- 
tious reverence  for  the  temple  felt  by  the 
carnally-minded  Jews,  their  narrow-hearted 
sensuous  tendency  to  confine  the  essence  of 
religion  to  the  temple-worship.  Having 
expressed  this  in  the  words  of  the  prophet 
Isaiah,  it  was  a  natural  transition  to  speak 
of  the  essential  nature  of  true  spiritual  wor- 
ship, and  of  the  prophets  who  in  opposition 
to  the  stiff-necked,  carnal  dispositions  of 
the  Jews  had  testified  concerning  it,  and 
the  Messiah  by  whom  it  was  to  be  esta- 
blished among  the  whole  human  race.  A 
vast  prospect  now  opened  before  him ;  but 
he  could  not  complete  the  delineation  of  the 
august  vision  of  the  divine  dispensations 
which  was  present  to  his  imagination  ; 
while  gazing  at  it,  the  emotions  it  excited 
carried  him  away;  his  holy  indignation 
gushed  forth  in  a  torrent  of  rebuke,  against 
the  ungodly,  unbelieving,  hypocritical  dis- 
position of  the  Jews,  whose  conduct  in  re- 
ference to  the  divine  communications  had 
been  the  same  from  the  time  of  Moses  up 
to  that  very  moment.  "  Ye  stiff-necked, 
although  boasting  of  your  circumcision, 
yet  who  have  never  received  the  true  cir- 
cumcision.   Ye  uncircumcised  in  heart  and 


*  Stephen  probably  wished  to  intimate  ihat,  in 
order  to  guard  against  idolatry,  to  whicii  the  Jews 
were  so  prone,  it  was  necessary  to  confine  the  wor- 
ship of  God  to  a  fixed  visible  sanctuary,  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  which  is  an  idea  that  pervades  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  that  this  sanctuary  could 
not  communicate  the  divine,  but  could  only  repre- 
sent it  in  a  figure. 


Chap.  III.] 


IN  PALESTINE. 


45 


ear  (who  want  the  disposition  to  feel  and  to 
understand  what  is  divine),  ye  always  with- 
stand the  workings  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Ye 
do  as  your  fathers  did.  As  your  fathers 
murdered  the  prophets  who  predicted  the 
appearance  of  the  Holy  One,  so  have  ye 
yourselves  given  Him  up  to  the  Gentiles, 
and  thus  are  become  his  murderers.  Ye 
who  boast  of  a  law  given  by  God  through 
the  ministry  of  angels,*  (as  organs  of 
making  known  the  divine  will),  and  yet  are 
so  little  observant  of  this  law!" 

Till  this  rebuke  was  uttered,  Stephen 
had  been  quietly  heard.  But  as  soon  as 
they  perceived  the  drift  of  his  discourse, 
their  blind  zeal  and  spiritual  pride  were 
roused.  He  observed  the  symptoms  of 
their  rage,  but  instead  of  being  terrified 
thereby,  he  looked  up  to  heaven,  full  of 
believing  confidence  in  the  power  of  Him 
of  whom  he  testified,  and  saw  with  a  pro- 
phetic glance,  in  opposition  to  the  machi- 
nations of  men  against  the  cause  of  God, 
the  glorified  Messiah,  denied  by  these  men, 
but  exalted  to  heaven,  armed  with  divine 
power,  and  about  to  conquer  all  who  dared 
to  oppose  his  kingdom.  This  prophetic 
view  was  presented  to  him  in  the  form  of 
a  symbolic  vision.  As  he  looked  up  to 
heaven,  it  appeared  to  open  before  his  eyes. 
In  more  than  earthly  splendour,  there  ap- 
peared  to  him  a  form  of  divine  majesty  ; 
he  beheld  Christ  (whose  glorious  image 
was  probably  present  to  him  from  actual 
early  recollection)  glorified  and  enthroned 
at  the  right  hand  of  God.  Already  in 
spirit  raised  to  heaven,  he  testified  with 
full  confidence  of  what  he  beheld.  In  all 
periods  of  the  church,  a  blind  zeal  for  ad- 
herence to  the  letter  and  ceremonial  ser- 
vices has  been  wont  to  interpret  a  highly 
spiritual  state  which  will  not  follow  the 
rules  of  the  reigning  theological  school, 
nor  suffer  it  to  be  confined  by  ancient 
maxims,  as  mere  fanaticism  or  blasphe- 
my ;t  and  so  it  was  on  this  occasion.  The 


*  This  was  confessedly  a  frequent  mode  among- 
the  Jews  of  marking  the  superhuman  origin  of  the 
law;  so  tliat,  according  to  Josephiis,  Herod,  in  a 
speech  to  the  Jewish  army,  made  use  of  this  uni- 
versally acknowledged  fact,  that  the  Jews  had  re- 
ceived their  law  from  God  (J'i  C.yyixm  wag*  tou  S-ssu 
^atS-ovTa)»),  in  order  to  show  how  holy  the  ambas- 
sadors sent  to  them  must  be,  who  filled  the  same 
office  as  that  of  the  angels  between  God  and  men  ; 
dyyixoi  =  TT^ir^tK  ;t«gux.«f.  Joseph.  Antiq.  xv.  5,  3. 

t  Thus,  at  the  Council  of  Constance,  it  was  con- 


members  of  the  Sanhedrim  stopped  their 
ears,  that  they  might  not  be  defiled  by  his 
supposed  blasphemies.  They  threw  them- 
selves on  Stephen,  and  dragged  him  out  of 
the  city,  in  order  to  stone  him  as  a  blas- 
phemer. It  was  sentence  and  execution 
all  at  once ;  an  act  of  violence  without  re- 
gular judicial  examination ;  besides,  that 
according  to  the  existing  laws,  the  Sanhe- 
drim could  decide  only  on  disciplinary 
punishment,  but  was  not  allowed  to  exe- 
cute a  capital  sentence,  without  the  concur- 
rence of  the  Roman  governor.  With  the 
same  confidence  with  which  Stephen, amidst 
the  rage  and  fury  of  his  enemies,  saw  the 
Saviour  of  whom  he  testified,  ruling  victo- 
rious— with  the  same  confidence  he  directed 
his  eyes  towards  him  in  the  prospect  of 
death,  and  said,  "  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my 
spirit !"  And  as  he  had  only  Him  before 
his  eyes,  it  was  his  Spirit  which  led  him 
to  adopt  the  Saviour's  last  words,  thus 
making  him  a  pattern  in  death,  as  he  had 
been  in  life.  He  who,  when  carried  away 
with  holy  zeal  for  the  cause  of  God,  had 
so  emphatically  censured  the  baseness  of 
the  Jews,  now  that  their  fury  attacked  his 
own  person,  prayed  only  for  this,  that  their 
sins  might  be  forgiven. 

Thus  we  see  in  the  death  of  Stephen  the 
new  developement  of  Christian  truth  appa- 
rently stopped  :  he  died  a  martyr,  not  only 
for  the  truth  of  the  gospel  in  general,  but 
in  particular  for  this  free  and  wider  appli- 
cation of  it,  which  began  yvhh  him  and 
seemed  to  expire  with  him,  /  Yet  from  the 
beginning,  it  has  been  the  law  of  the  deve- 
lopement of  the  Christian  life,  and  will 
continue  to  be  the  same  down  to  the  last 
glorious  result,  which  will  consummate  the 
whole  with  the  final  triumph  over  death — 
that  out  of  death  a  new  life  co7nes  forth, 
antl  martyrdom  for  the  divine  truth,  both 
in  its  general  and  particular  forms,  pre- 
pares  its  victory .^\xc\\  was  the  issue  here. 
This  first  new  developement  of  evangelical 
truth  was  checked  in  the  germ  in  order  to 
shoot  forth  with  greater  vigour,  and  to  a 
wider  extent,  in  the  person  of  Paul,  and 
the  martyrdom  of  Stephen  was  one  step 
in  the  process.  If  this  new  develope- 
ment had  been  fully  exhibited  at  this  time, 
the  other  publishers  of  the  gospel  would 


demned  as  a  violation  of  ecclesiastical  subordina- 
tion, that  Huss  had  dared  to  appeal  to  Christ. 


46 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Book  II. 


liave  been  found  unprepared  for  it,  and  not  \ 
yet  capable  of  receiving  it.  But  in  the  '. 
meantinhc,  these  persons,  by  a  variety  of 
circumstances  concurring  in  a  natural  way  j 
under  the  constant  guidance  of  the  Holy  ! 
Spirit,  were  prepared  for  this  deeper  insight  ' 
into  the  truth. 

The  martyrdom  of  Stephen  was  impor- 
tant in  its  direct  eflects  for  the  spreading 
of  the  faith,  since  it  might  be  expected  that, 
under  the  immediate  impression  made  by 
the  sight  of  such  a  witness,  and  of  such  a 
death,  many  minds  not  altogether  unsus- 
ceptible, nor  altogether  deluded  by  the 
power  of  error,  would  be  led  to  the  faith  ; 
but  yet  the  indirect  consequences  were  still 
more  important,  by  which  the  third  violent 
persecution  was  raised  against  the  new 
church  at  Jerusalem.  This  persecution 
must  have  been  more  severe  and  extensive 
than  the  former ;  for  by  the  manner  in 
which  Stephen  entered  into  conflict  with 
Pharisaism,  he  had  roused  to  hostilities 
against  the  teachers  of  the  doctrine,  the 


sect  of  the  Pharisees,  who  had  the  most 
credit  with  the  common  people,  and  were 
powerful  and  active,  and  ready  to  leave  no 
means  untried  to  attain  their  object,  what- 
,ever  it  might  be.  The  persecution  pro- 
ceeding from  this  quarter  would  naturally 
mark  as  its  special  victims  those  who  were 
colleagues  in  office  with  Stephen,  as  dea- 
cons, and  who  resembled  him  in  their  Hel- 
lenistic origin  and  education.  It  was,  how- 
ever, the  occasion  of  spreading  the  gospel 
beyond  the  bounds  of  Jerusalem  and  Judea, 
and  even  among  the  Gentiles.  With  this 
progressive  outward  developement  of  the 
gospel,  was  also  connected  its  progressive 
inward  developement,  the  consciousness  of 
the  independence  and  intrinsic  capability 
of  Christianity  as  a  doctrine  destined  with- 
out foi-eign  aid  to  impart  divine  life  and 
salvation  to  all  men,  among  all  nations 
without  distinction.  Here,  then,  we  stand 
on  the  boundary-line  of  a  new  era,  both  of 
the  outward  and  inward  developement  of 
Christianity. 


BOOK  II 


THE  FIRST   SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY  FROM   THE  CHURCH  AT   JERUSA- 
LEM TO  OTHER  PARTS,  AND  ESPECIALLY  AMONG  HEATHEN  NATIONS. 


Sajiaria,  which   had  been  a  scene  of  j 
Christ's  personal   ministry,  was   the  first 
place  out  of  Judea  where  the  gospel  was 
preached    by    the   apostles.     Though   the  ' 
people  of  this  country  received  no  part  of  ^ 
the  Old  Testament  as  sacred  excepting  the  j 
Pentateuch,  yet  from  this  portion  of  the  j 
Scriptures  they  formed  themselves  to  faith 
in  a  Messiah  who  was  to  come ;  on  him  ' 
they  placed  their  hopes,  as  the  personage  I 
who  was  to  bring  back  all  things  to  their 
right  relations,  and  thus  to  be  the  universal 
Restorer.*    Political  considerations  did  not ' 
here,  as  among  the  Jews,  obstruct  the  right 


*  "  2r}'^r\  o""  Dnnn  ;  sec  Ccsenius'  Weill. 

Vqoo^''P'"°^^^'"'"    ''''    *■«"'«"«« nor «7n    Thcologia, 
1822;  and  his  Carmina  Samarilana,  p.  75." 


apprehension  of  the  idea  of  the  Messiah  ; 
an  idea  which  was  specially  awakened 
among  this  people  by  feelings  of  mental 
and  bodily  misery,  though  they  were  defi- 
cient in  that  right  understanding  of  it  which 
could  only  be  obtained  from  its  progressive 
developement  in  the  Old  Testament ;  nor 
could  the  deep  feeling  of  the  need  of  re- 
demption and  restoration  be  clearly  deve- 
loped among  them.  A  lively  but  indefinite 
obscure  excitement  of  the  religious  feeling, 
always  exposes  men  to  a  variety  of  dan- 
gerous delusions.  This  was  the  case  with 
the  Samaritans.  As  at  that  time,  in  other 
parts  of  the  East,  a  similar  indefinite 
longing  after  a  new  communication  from 
Heaven, — an  ominous  restlessness  in  the 
minds  of  men,  such  as  generally  precedes 


Book  II.] 


IN  PALESTINE, 


47 


great  changes  in  the  history  of  mankind, 
was  diffused  abroad ;  so  this  indistinct 
anxiety  did  not  fail  to  lead  ^stray  and  to 
deceive  many,  who  were  not  rightly  pre- 
pared for  it,  while  they  adopted  a  false 
method  of  allaying  it,  A  mixture  of  un- 
conscious self-deception  and  intentional 
falsehood  moved  certain  Goet,  who,  with 
mystical  ideas,  proceeding  from  an  amal- 
gamation of  Jewish,  Oriental,  and  Grecian 
elements,  boasted  of  a  special  connexion 
with  the  invisible  world ;  and  by  taking 
advantage  of  the  unknown  powers  of  Na- 
ture, and  by  various  arts  of  conjuration, 
excited  the  astonishment  of  credulous  peo- 
ple, and  obtained  credit  for  their  boastful 
pretensions.  Such  persons  found  at  that 
time  an  easy  access  to  the  Samaritans  in 
their  state  of  mental  excitement.  To  this 
class  of  men  belonged  a  Jewish  or  Sama- 
ritan Goes,  Simon,  who,  by  his  extraordi- 
nary magical  powers,  so  fascinated  the 
people,  that  they  said  he  must  be  more 
than  man,  that  he  was  the  great  Power 
which  emanated  from  the  invisible  God, 
by  which  he  brought  forth  the  universe, 
now  appearing  on  earth  in  a  bodily  form.* 
The  idea  of  such  an  Intelligence  emanat- 
ing from  God,  as  proceeding  from  the  first 
act  of  the  divine  self-revelation,  the  first 
link  in  the  chain  of  developed  life  was 
spread  abroad  in  various  oriental-Alexan- 
drian and  Alexandrian-oriental  forms.  The 
idea  also  of  the  incarnation  of  higher  intel- 
ligences generally,  and  of  this  intelligence 
in  particular,  was  by  no  means  foreign  to 
the  notions  prevalent  in  those  parts.  We 
can  hardly  consider  every  thing  of  this  kind 
as  a  mere  copy  of  the  Christian  idea  of  the 
incarnation,  or  recognise  in  it  a  symptom 
of  the  transforming  power  which  the  new 

*  Possibly  the  words  of  which  this  Goes  made 
use,  are  contained  in  the  apocryphal  writings  of 
the  Simonians ,  see  Jerome's  Commentary  on  Mat- 
thew, eh.  xxiv.  "  Ego  sum  sermo  Dei  (o  koj-oc), 
ego  sum  speciosus,  ego  paraclitus,"  (according 
to  Philo,  the  Logos  Advocate,  ^ragaKXuroc  /;csTHf, 
through  the  divine  reason  revealing  itself  in  the 
phenomenal  world  (the  voynov  TTA^uSny/un  tou  x-ou- 
fAov),  forms  the  connexion  between  God  and  tlie 
phenomena,  what  is  defective  in  the  latter  is  sup- 
plied. De  Vita  Mosis,  i.  iii.  673 ;  De  Migratione 
Abrahami,  406).  Ego  omnipotens,  ego  omnia 
Dei  (according  to  Philo  the  Logos  is  the  fjntT^oTrcKi; 
vultZv  Twv  (fuva/zsaiv  toS  ^vai).  Still  this  is  uncer- 
tain, for  the  sect  of  the  Simonians  might  easily 
borrow  these  expressions,  as  they  had  borrowed 
other  things,  from  Christianity,  and  attribute- them 
to  Simon. 


Christian  spirit  exercised  over  the  intellec- 
tual world  ;  for  we  find  earlier  traces  of 
such  ideas.*  But  the  prevalence  of  such  . 
ideas  proves  nothing  against  the  originality 
of  Christianity,  or  of  any  of  its  particular 
doctrines.  On  the  one  hand,  we  dare  not 
refuse  to  acknowledge  what  could  already 
form  itself  from  the  germs  already  given 
in  the  Old  Testament,  which  was  the  pre- 
parative covering  of  the  New,  or  from  its 
spirit  and  leading  ideas,  which  were  directed 
to  Christ,  as  the  end  of  the  divine  revela- 
tions. On  the  other  hand,  we  must  recol- 
lect, that  as  from  the  new  creation  effected 
by  Christianity,  a  powerful  excitement  was 
caused  both  of  kindred  and  hostile  minds, 
so  also  a  great  excitement  of  these  minds 
preceded  the  great  crisis,  unconsciously 
anticipating  and  yearning  after  it ;  a  pre- 
sentiment that  there  would  be  such  a  reve- 
lation of  the  spiritual  world  as  had  not  yet 
been  made  relating  to  the  destinies  of  the 
human  race.  And  from  a  teleological  point 
of  view,  we  recognise  Christianity  as  the 
final  aim  of  Divine  Wisdom  in  conducting 
the  course  of  human  developement,  when  at 
this  period  we  find  the  spiritual  atmosphere 
pregnant  with  ideas,  which  served  to  pre- 
pare a  more  susceptible  soil  for  Christianity 
and  its  leading  doctrines,  and  to  form  a 
back-ground  for  giving  relief  to  the  exhi- 
bition of  the  divine  transactions  which  it 
announced. 

Philip  the  Deacon  being  compelled  to 
leave  Jerusalem  by  the  persecution  which 
ensued  on  Stephen's  death,  was  induced  to 
take  refuge  in  Samaria.  He  came  to  a 
city  of  that  country,!  where  Simon  was 
universally  esteemed,  and  looked  upon  with 
wonder  and  reverence  as  a  supernatural  be- 

*  In  a  Jewish  apocryphal  writing,  the  3-gc(rat;;^^» 
'l&)!r«<5),  the  patriarch  Jacob  is  represented  as  an 
incarnation  of  the  highest  spirit  living  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  divine  Original  Being,  whose  true 
divine  name  was  'Is-^awA,  dviig  og^Iiv  ^-sov,  the  TrgaiTo- 
j,ovoc  "cravToc  i^'iou  ^atov/xuav  vtt^  Ssou,  (similar  ex- 
pressions to  those  used  by  Philo  respecting  tlie 
Logos),  who  was  begotten  before  all  angels,  o  b 
7rpo<r^7ra>  ^vjv  xitToupyo^  v^Zitk.  Sec  Origen,  t.  n. 
Joh.  k  25. 

t  It  is  not  quite  clear  that  the  city  of  Samaria 
is  intended  ;  for  there  is  no  reason,  with  some  ex- 
positors  of  Acts  viii.  5,  to  consider  the  genitive  as 
the  sign  of  apposition.  As  in  the  whole  chapter, 
Samaria  is  the  designation  of  the  country,  it  is 
most  natural  to  understand  it  so  in  this  passage. 
In  the  14th  verso,  by  Samaria  is  certainly  meant 
the  country,  and  yet  it  does  not  follow  that  abso- 
lutely the  whole  land  had  received  the  gospel. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Book  II. 


ing.  When  he  saw  the  people  so  devoted  to  a 
destructive  delusion,  he  felt  impelled  by  his 
zeal  for  the  cause  of  God  and  the  salvation 
of  men,  to  impart  that  to  them  which  alone 
could  give  substantial  relief  to  their  spiritual 
necessities.  But  men  in  this  situation  were 
not  yet  susceptible  of  the  spiritual  power 
of  truth  ;  it  was  needful  to  pave  a  way  to 
their  hearts  by  preparatory  impressions  on 
the  senses.  As  Philip,  by  the  divine  aid, 
performed  things  which  Simon  with  all' his 
magical  arts  could  not  effect,  especially 
healing  the  sick  (which  he  accomplished  by 
prayer  and  calling  on  the  name  of  Christ), 
he  thus  attracted  the  attention  of  men  to 
Him  in  whose  name  and  power  he  had  ef- 
fected such  things  for  them,  and  in  their 
sight;  he  then  took  occasion  to  discourse 
more  fully  of  Him,  his  works,  and  the  king- 
dom that  he  had  established  among  men, 
and  by  degrees  the  divine  power  of  truth 
laid  hold  of  their  hearts.  When  Simon 
saw  his  followers  deserting  him,  and  was 
himself  astounded  at  the  works  performed 
by  Philip,  he  thought  it  best  to  acknowledge 
a  power  so  superior  to  his  own.  He  there- 
fore professed  himself  a  disciple  of  Philip, 
and  was  baptized  by  him  like  the  rest;  but 
as  the  sequel  proves,  we  cannot  infer  from 
this,  that  the  publication  of  the  gospel  had 
made  an  impression  on  his  heart ;  it  seems 
most  probable  that  he  secretly  interpreted 
■what  had  occurred  according  to  his  own 
views.  The  miracles  performed  by  Philip 
had  led  him  to  the  conviction,  that  he  was 
in  league  with  some  superhuman  spirit ;  he 
looked  on  baptism  as  an  initiation  into  the 
compact,  and  hoped  that,  by  forming  such 
a  compact,  he  might  obtain  an  interest  in 
such  higher  power,  and  use  it  for  his  own 
ends  ;  he  wished,  in  short,  to  combine  the 
new  magic  or  theurgy  with  his  own.  As 
we  have  already  remarked.  It  was  a  stand- 
ing regulation  in  primitive  times,  that  all 
those  who  professed  to  believe  the  an- 
nouncement of  Jesus  as  the  Messiah  should 
be  baptized.  And  when  Simon  renounced 
his  magical  arts,  which  were  now  quite  out 
of  repute,  there  was  no  ground  for  rejecting 
him. 

The  information  that  despised  Samaria 
was  the  first  province  out  of  Judea  where 
the  gospel  found  acceptance,  caused  great 
surprise  among  the  Christians  at  Jerusalem. 
As  the  ancient  prejudice  against  the  Samari- 
tans had  not  quite  worn  away,  and  no  ac- 


count had  been  received  that,  among  the 
baptized  believers,  those  wonderful  works 
were  manifested  which,  since  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  were  considered  as  necessary 
concomitants  of  a  reception  into  the  Chris- 
tian communion,  the  apostles  Peter  and 
John  were  sent  thither  to  investigate  what 
had  transpired,  and,  by  virtue  of  their  apos- 
tolic calling,  to  complete  whatever  might 
be  wanting  for  the  establishment  of  a  Chris- 
tian community.  We  find,  in  the  narra- 
tive of  the  Acts,  no  reason  to  impute  the 
want  of  these  operations  of  the  Divine  Spirit 
among  the  Samaritans  in  any  degree  to 
Philip's  being  only  a  deacon,  as  if  he  could 
not  found  a  Christian  society,  and  by 
preaching  the  gospel,  and  by  prayer  in  the 
name  of  Christ,  produce  effects  similar  to 
those  wrought  by  the  apostles.  But  as  in 
the  reverse  case,  namely,  the  conversion  of 
Cornelius,  when  the  effects  that  commonly 
followed  baptism  then  followed  the  preach- 
ing of  the  word,  and  preceded  baptism, 
there  was  an  internal  reason  for  the  order 
observed  ;  a  longer  prepared  susceptibility 
of  disposition  promoted  the  more  rapid 
operations  of  living  faith ;  so  we  naturally 
seek  an  internal  reason  for  a  different  pro- 
cedure among  the  Samaritans.  The  effects 
to  which  we  refer  proceeded  from  the  power 
of  a  living  consciousness  of  redemption  ob- 
tained, and  at  the  commencement  of  the 
new  spiritual  creation  were  a  mark  of  vital 
Christianity.  If  all  were  not  influenced  in 
an  equal  degree,  yet  all  were  to  a  certain 
extent  moved  by  the  power  of  the  Divine, 
and  susceptible  enough  to  be  vitally  aroused 
and  borne  along  by  the  impression  of  that 
Christian  inspiration  v/hich  they  saw  before 
them,  for  the  germ  with  which  these  mani- 
festations of  the  Spirit  connected  themselves 
already  existed  in  their  bosoms.  It  was,  in 
a  spiritual  respect,  as  when  a  flame  once 
broken  forth,  detects  and  kindles  all  the  in- 
flammable materials  in  its  neighbourhood. 
But  among  these  Samaritans,  the  feeling  of 
their  religious  and  moral  necessities,  which 
living  faith  in  the  Redeemer  presupposes 
and  unites  with,  was  not  yet  awakened,  in 
consequence  of  their  being  drawn  aside  and 
disturbed  by  the  influence  of  Simon.  At 
first,  they  believed  the  declarations  of  Philip 
as  they  had  believed  in  the  magical  illu- 
sions of  Simon,  since  these  gross  sensible 
miracles  demanded  their  belief.  Those  who 
had  thus  attained  to  faith,  were  still  entirely 


Book  II.] 


IN  PALESTINE. 


dependent  on  the  person  of  Philip  as  a 
worker  of  miracles.  They  had  not  yet  at- 
tained the  consciousness  of  a  vital  commu- 
nion with  the  Christ  whom  Philip  preached, 
nor  yet  to  the  consciousness  of  a  personal 
divine  life.  The  indwelling  of  the  Spirit  was 
as  yet  something  foreign  to  them,  known 
only  by  the  wonderful  operations  which 
they  saw  taking  place  around  them.  We 
have  not  a  full  account  in  the  Acts  of  what 
was  done  by  Peter  and  John,  but  simply 
the  general  results.  No  doubt  these  apostles 
carried  on  the  work  of  Philip  by  preaching 
and  prayer. 

After  such  a  preparation,  the  believers 
were  assembled,  and  the  apostles  prayed 
that  Christ  might  glorify  himself  in  them, 
as  in  all  believers,  by  marks  of  the  com- 
munication of  divine  life,  employing  the 
usual  sign  of  Christian  consecration,  the 
laying  on  of  hands.  Manifestations  now 
followed  similar  to  those  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  and  the  believers  were  thus 
recognised  and  attested  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian church,  standing  in  an  equal  rank 
with  the  first  church  at  Jerusalem.  But 
Simon  was  naturally  incapable  of  under- 
standing the  spiritual  connexion  of  these 
manifestations ;  he  saw  in  all  of  them 
merely  the  workings  of  magical  forms  and 
charms,  a  magic  differing  not  in  nature 
but  only  in  degree  from  what  he  practised 
himself.  Hence  he  imagined,  that  the 
apostles  might  communicate  these  magical 
powers  to  him  also,  by  virtue  of  which  all 
those  on  whom  he  laid  hands  would  be- 
come filled  with  divine  power,  and  with 
this  view  he  offered  them  money.  Peter 
spurned  this  proposal  with  detestation,  and 
now  first  saw  in  its  true  light  the  real 
character  of  Simon,  who,  in  joining  him- 
self to  believers,  had  pretended  to  be  what 
he  was  not.  Peter's  terrible  rebuke  pre- 
sents him  to  us  as  a  faithful  preacher  of 
the  gospel,  insisting  most  impressively  on 
the  supreme  importance  of  disposition  in 
every  thing  which  is  imparted  by  Chris- 
tianity in  direct  opposition  to  the  art  of 
magic,  which  disregards  the  necessary  con- 
nexion of  the  divine  and  supernatural  with 
the  disposition  of  the  heart,  drags  them 
down  into  the  circle  of  the  natural,  and  at- 
tempts to  appropriate  to  itself  divine  power 
by  means  of  something  else  than  that 
which  is  allied  to  it  in  human  nature,  and 
the  only  possible  point  of  connexion  for 

7 


it.*  These  were  Peter's  words :  "  Thy 
gold,  with  which  thou  attemptest  to  traffic 
in  impiety,  perish  with  thee.  Do  not  de- 
ceive thyself,  as  if  with  this  disposition  thou 
couldst  have  any  part  in  what  is  promised 
to  believers.  Thou  hast  no  share  in  this 
niatter,t  for  God,  who  sees  what  is  within, 
is  not  deceived  by  thy  hypocritical  profes- 
sions. Before  his  eyes  thy  intentions  are 
manifest.  With  sincere  repentance  for  such 
wickedness,  pray  to  God  that  he  would  be 
pleased  to  forgive  thee  this  wicked  de- 
sign." This  rebuke  made  a  great  impres- 
sion at  the  time  on  Simon's  conscience, 
inclined  more  to  superstition  than  to  faith, 
and  awakened  a  feeling  not  of  repentance 
for  the  sinfulness  of  his  disposition,  but  of 
apprehension  of  the  divine  vengeance.  He 
entreated  the  apostles  that  they  would  pray 
to  the  Lord  for  him,  that  what  they  had 
threatened  him  with  might  not  come  to 
pass. 

As  is  usual  with  such  sudden  impressions 
on  the  senses,  the  effect  on  Simon  was  only 
transient,  for   all   the   further  notices  we 


*  The  poetical  fancies  of  Christian  antiquity, 
which  make  Peter  the  representative  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  simple  faith  in  revelation,  and  Simon  the 
representative  of  the  magical  and  theosophic  ten- 
dency in  the  human  mind,  have  important  truths 
for  their  basis. 

t  I  cannot  agree  with  those  who  understand 
xo^oc  (Acts  viii.  21)  in  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew 
^I^TJ  =  'gii^a,  and  suppose  that  Peter  only  told 

Simon  that  he  could  have  no  share  in  that  thing-, 
in  that  higher  power  which  he  hankered  after. 
In  this  general  sense,  'g«//a  is  indeed  used  in  the 
New  Testament,  but  not  the  more  definite  term 
\oyni;.  And  according  to  this  interpretation,  Peter 
would  say  less  than  the  context  requires ;  for  look- 
ing at  the  connexion  of  v.  21  with  20  and  22,  it 
is  plain,  he  did  not  merely  say,  that  Simon  with 
such  a  disposition  was  excluded  from  participating 
in  this  higher  power,  but  also  from  the  kingdom 
of  God,  and  thereby  bring  condemnation  on  him- 
self -Hence  we  understand  the  word  xo^oc  in  the 
common  New  Testament  meaning  of  the  divine 
doctrine — "  tiie  doctrine  or  truth  announced  by 
us" — at  the  same  time  including  tTwinSoniyZi,  all 
that  a  person  would  be  authorized  to  receive  by 
the  appropriation  of  this  doctrine.  I  am  not  con- 
vinced  by  what  Meyer  in  his  commentary  urges 
against  this  interpretation,  that  it  is  at  variance 
with  the  connexion,  in  which  there  is  no  mention 
made  of  the  doctrine.  For  in  the  mind  of  the 
speaker,  the  power  of  working  miracles  could  not 
be  separated  from  the  publication  of  the  gospel 
and  faith  in  it;  and  as  Simon  in  tlie  disposition  of 
his  mind  was  far  from  the  gospel,  and  could  stand 
in  no  sort  of  fellowship  with  it,  it  followed  as  a 
matter  of  course,  that  he  could  have  no  sliare  in 
the  ability  to  work  such  miracles. 


50 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Book  II. 


have  of  him  show  that  he  soon  returned  to 
his  former  courses.  About  ten  or  twenty 
years  later,  we  meet  with  a  Simon  in  the 
company  of  Felix  the  Roman  Procurator  of 
Palestine,  so  strikingly  resembling  this  man, 
that  we  are  tempted  to  consider  them  as 
identical.  The  latter  Simon*  appears  as  a 
heartless  magician,!  to  whom  all  persons, 
whatever  their  character,  were  welcome, 
provided  they  gave  credit  to  his  enchant- 
ments. With  equal  arrogance  he  dis- 
clairped  all  respect  for  the  ancient  forms  of 
religion,  and  for  the  laws  of  morality.  He 
was  a  confidant  of  the  Roman  Procurator 
Felix,  and  therefore  could  never  have  op- 
posed his  vicious  inclinations,  but  on  the 
contrary  made  his  magic  subservient  to 
their  gratification;  he  thus  bound  him 
more  closely  to  himself,  as  a  single  ex- 
ample will  show.  The  immoral  Felix  had 
indulged  a  passion  for  Drusilla,  sister  of 
King  Herod  Agrippa,  and  wife  of  King 
Azizus  of  Emesa.  Simon  allowed  himself 
to  be  the  tool  of  Felix,  for  gratifying  his 
unlawful  desires.  He  persuaded  Drusilla 
that  by  his  superhuman  power  he  could 
ensure  great  happiness  for  her,  provided 
she  married  Felix,  and  managed  to  over- 
come her  scruples  of  conscience  against 
marrying  a  heathen.  The  character  of 
this  Simon  is  stamped  on  the  later  theoso- 
phic  goetic  sect  of  the  Simonians,  whose 
tenets  were  a  mixture  of  the  Oriental, 
Jewish,  Samaritan,  and  Grecian  religious 
elements.  The  germ  of  their  principles 
may  be  plainly  traced  back  to  this  Simon, 
though  we  cannot  attribute  to  him  the  com- 
plete system  of  this  sect  as  it  existed  in  the 
second  century. 

The  two  apostles  returned  again  to  Jeru- 


*  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  the  difference  of 
country,  for  the  Simon  to  whom  we  refer,  and 
whom  Josephus  mentions  (Antiq.  book  xx,  eh.  vii. 
§  2),  was  a  Jew  from  Cyprus ;  but  Simon  Magus, 
according  to  Justin  Martyr,  himself  a  native  of 
Samaria,  was  born  at  a  place  called  Gittim,  in 
Samaria.  Yet  this  evidence  is  not  decisive,  for  a 
tradition  so  long  after  the  time,  though  prevalent 
in  the  country  where  Simon  made  his  appearance, 
might  be  erroneous.  What  has  been  said  since  I 
wrote  the  above,  against  the  identity  of  the  two 
Simons,  is  not  demonstrative,  though  I  willingly 
allow,  that  since  the  name  of  Simon  was  a  very 
common  one  among  the  Jews,  and  such  itinerant 
yo>,ra.i  were  not  seldom  to  be  met  with,  the  time 
also  not  perfectly  agreeing,  the  identity  must  be 
left  rather  doubtful. 

t  fxdyov  thct-i  v^KHTTTOfxtvoY,  says  Josephus. 


salem,  and  as  what  they  had  witnessed 
convinced  them  of  the  susceptibility  of  the 
Samaritans  for  receiving  the  gospel,  they 
availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  of 
publishing  it  in  all  the  parts  of  the  country 
through  which  they  passed.  But  Philip 
extended  his  missionary  journey  farther, 
and  became  the  instrument  of  bringing  the 
first  seeds  of  the  gospel  into  Ethiopia  (the 
kingdom  of  Candace  at  Meroe),  though,  as 
far  as  our  knowledge  of  history  goes,* 
without  any  important  consequences.  But, 
what  is  more  deserving  of  notice,  he  pub- 
lished the  gospel  in  the  cities  of  Palestine, 
on  the  southern  and  northern  coasts  of  the 
Mediterranean,  till  at  last,  probably  after  a 
considerable  time,  he  settled  at  Csesaria 
Stratonis,  where  on  his  arrival  he  found  a 
Christian  society  already  formed,  which  he 
built  up  in  the  faith. 

Though  the  Christians  of  Jewish  descent, 
who  were  driven  by  persecution  from  Je- 
rusalem, were  by  that  event  induced  to 
spread  the  gospel  in  Syria,  and  the  neigh- 
bouring districts,  yet  their  labours  were 
confined  to  Jews.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Hellenists,  such  as  Philip  and  others,  who 
originally  came  from  Cyprus  and  Cyrene, 
made  their  way  among  the  Gentilesf  also, 
to  whom  they  were  allied  in  language  and 
education,  which  was  not  the  case  with  the 
Jews.  They  presented  them  with  the  gos- 
pel independent  of  the  Mosaic  law,  without 
attempting  to  make  them  Jews  before  they 
became  Christians.  Thus  the  principles  held 
by  the  enlightened  Stephen,  the  truths  for 
which,  in  part,  he  had  suffered  martyrdom, 
were  by  them  first  brought  into  practice 
and  realized.  And  if  in  this  way,  inde- 
pendently of  the  exertions  of  the  apostles 


*  It  is  still  a  question  whether  the  introduction 
of  Christianity  was  not  partially  made  before  the 
mission  of  Frumentius  on  another  side,  and  in  a 
different  part  of  Ethiopia ;  whether  many  things  in 
the  doctrine  and  usages  of  the  present  Abyssinian 
church,  with  which  we  have  been  better  acquainted 
by  means  of  Gobat's  Journal,  do  not  indicate  a 
Jewish-Christian  origin.  If  I  am  not  mistaken, 
the  late  Rettig  has  brought  forward  these  ques- 
tions in  the  "  Studien  und  Kritiken."  Perhaps 
intercourse  with  that  ancient  church  will  open  to 
us  some  sources  of  information  for  answering 
them. 

t  In  Acts  XI.  20,  the  common  reading  iAhmirra; 
is  evidently  to  be  rejected,  as  formed  from  a  false 
gloss,  and  the  reading  which  refers  to  the  Gen- 
tiles (ihKtivA;)  must  be  substituted  as  undoubtedly 
correct. 


Book  II.] 


IN  PALESTINE. 


51 


in  Judea,  and  the  developement  of  Christi- 
anity in  a  Jewish  form,  churches  had  been 
raised  of  purely  Hellenistic  materials  among 
the  heathen,  free  altogether  from  Judaism, 
and  if  Paul  had  then  appeared  to  confirm 
and  extend  this   mode   of  operation,  one 
consequence    might    have   been,   that   the 
older  apostles  would  have  maintained  with 
greater  stiffness  their  former  standing-point, 
in    opposition   to    this    freer-  direction   of 
Christianity,  and  thus,  by  the  overweight 
of  human   peculiarities  in  the  first   pub- 
lishers of  the  gospel,  a  violent  and  irrecon- 
cilable opposition  might  have  divided   the 
Church  into  two  hostile  parties.     It  could 
not  have  happened  otherwise  if  the  gei-mi- 
nating  differences,  left  altogether  to  them- 
selves as  in  later  times,  had  been  so  deve- 
loped as  to  exclude  all  hopes  of  a  reconci- 
liation, and  the  idea  of  an  universal  church, 
overcoming  by  its  higher  unity  all  human 
differences,  could  never  have  been  realized. 
But  this  disturbing  influence,  with  which 
the  self-seeking  and  one-sided  bias  of  human 
nature  threatened  from  the  beginning   to 
destroy  the  unity  of  the  divine  work,  was 
counteracted  by  the  still  mightier  influence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  never  allows  human 
differences  to  develope  themselves  to  such 
an  extreme,  but  is  able  to  maintain  unity 
in  manifoldness.     We  may  distinctly  re- 
cognise the  attractive  divine  power  which 
gives  scope  to  the  free  agency  of  man,  but 
knows  exactly  when  it  is  needful  for  the 
success  of  the  divine  work,  to  impart  its 
immediate  illumination,  if  we  observe  that 
at  the  precise  moment  when  the  apostles 
needed  a  wider  developement  of  their  Chris- 
tian knowledge  for  the  exercise  of  their 
calling,  and  their  former  contracted  views 
would  have  been   highly   injurious,  what 
had   been   hitherto  wanting  was  imparted 
to  them,  by  a  memorable  coincidence  of 
an  internal  revelation  with  a  train  of  out- 
ward  circumstances.     The    apostle   Peter 
was  the  chosen  instrument  on  this  occa- 
sion. 

Peter  made  a  visitation  from  Jerusalem 
to  the  churches  founded  in  Judea,  Samaria, 
and  towards  the  west  near  the  Mediterra- 
nean. The  cures  effected  by  him  in  Christ's 
name  in  the  large  town  of  Lydda,*  and  in 


the  city  of  Joppa  (Jaffa),  a  few  miles  dis- 
tant, drew  upon  him  the  universal  attention 
of  that  very  populous  and  extensive  district 
on  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  (the 
plain  of  Saron.)  Many  were  converted  by 
him  to  Christianity,  and  the  city  of  Joppa 
became  the  central  point  of  his  labours.  As 
the  publication  of  his  new  doctrine  made  - 
such  an  impression  in  these  parts,  informa- 
tion respecting  it  would  easily  spread  to 
Cajsaria  Stratonis,  a  town  on  the  seacoast 
about  eight  miles  distant.  In  the  Roman 
cohort  which  formed  the  garrison  of  this 
place,   was    a    centurion,    Cornelius*   by 


*  According  to  Josephus  (Antiq.  xx.  6,  §  2),  a 
town  as  large  as  a  city,  in  later  times  a  consider- 
able  city  under  the  name  of  Diospolis. 


*  We  must  here  take  notice  of  what  GfrOrer 
alleges  against  the  historical  truth  of  this  narra- 
tive. He  maintains,  "  that  the  principle,  that  the 
heathens  were  to  be  incorporated  with  the  Chris- 
tian church  by  baptism,  without  the  -observance  of 
the  Mosaic  law,  was  first  expressed  by  Paul,  and 
that  Peter  was  brought  to  acknowledge  it  by  his 
influence.  The  conduct  of  Peter  at  Antioch,  as 
it  is  described  in  the  2d  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Galatians,  is  inexplicable,  if  he  attained  his 
knowledge  on  this  subject,  in  an  independent 
manner,  by  a  divine  revelation.  If,  on  the  con- 
trary, it  was  only  impressed  upon  him  from  with- 
out, by  the  preponderating  influence  of  Paul,  it  is 
then  easy  to  account  for  his  again  wavering  under 
the  opposite  influences  of  the  adherents  of  James." 
But  whoever  understands  the  relation  of  the  divine 
and  the  hurnan  to  one  another,  in  the  develope- 
ment of  the  religious  life,  cannot  be  surprised,  if 
in  the  soul  of  a  man,  who  in  general  held  a  truth 
with  divine  confidence  and  clearness,  the  appre- 
hension of  it  should,  in  an  unfavourable  moment, 
undergo  a  transient  obscuration,  by  the  influence 
of  foreign  elements,  which  would  afterwards  be 
removed  by  the  return  of  divine  light.  But  it  is 
by  no  means  evident,  that  Peter  at  that  time  held 
an  erroneous  conviction.  It  was  only  the  violence 
of  a  sudden  impression,  which,  through  the  pecu- 
liarity of  his  natural  temperament,  had  too  much 
power  over  Peter,  and  made  him  practically  faith- 
less to  those  principles  which  he  had  by  no  means 
abandoned  from  deliberate  reflection.  Paul  even 
reproached  him  with  thus  acting  in  contradiction 
to  his  yjrinciples,  that  he  who  was  living  as  a  Gen- 
tile  (s3-i'«wc  ^Pf),  now  practically  laid  an  injunction 
on  the  Gentile  Christians,  that  they  must  submit 
to  the  Mosaic  law.  Certainly,  a  great  change 
must  have  passed  on  Peter,  if  he  had  been  brought 
so  to  act,  that  Paul  could  say  to  him  that  he  him- 
self had  been  living  as  a  Gentile.  But  if  this  was 
not  connected  with  some  previous  preparation  in 
the  peculiar  religious  developement  of  Peter,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  attribute  it  solely  to  Paul's 
influence.  Paul  nowhere  asserts  that  Peter  was 
first  led  by  him  to  adopt  these  views:  on  the  con- 
trary, he  speaks  of  a  revelation  made  by  the  Divine 
Spirit  on  ihis  point  to  the  apostles  and  prophets. 
Eph.  iii.  5.  If  we  look  at  the  question  in  a  purely 
psychological  point  of  view,  we  may  indeed  pre- 
sume,  that  Peter  could  not  have  arrived  at  a  con- 
viction  of  Christian  truth  on  this  point,  without  a 


52 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Book  II. 


name,  a  Gentile  who,  dissatisfied  with  the 
old  popular  religion,  and  seeking  after  one 
that  would  tranquillize  his  mind,  was  led 
by  acquaintance  with  Judaism,  to  the  foun- 
dation of  a  living  faith  in  the  one  God.- 
Having  with  his  whole  family  professed 
the  worship  of  Jehovah,  he  testified  by  his 
benefactions  the  sympathy  he  felt  with  his 
fellow-worshippers  of  the  Jewish  nation ; 
and  observed  the  hours  of  prayer  customary 
to  the  Jews  ;  so  that  there  is  scarcely  any 
room 'to  doubt  that  he  belonged  to  the  class 
of  Proselytes  of  the  Gate.  Nor  can  we 
infer  the  contrary  from  the  circumstance 
that  Peter  and  the  stricter  Jewish  Chris- 
tians looked  on  Cornelius  as  an  imclean 
person,  and  in  many  respects  the  same  as 
a  heathen.  The  Proselytes  of  the  Gate 
were  certainly  permitted  to  attend  the  syna- 
gogue worship,  which  was  a  means  of  gra- 
dually bringing  them  to  a  full  reception  of 
Judaism.  Yet  the  Jews  who  adopted  the 
stricter  maxims  of  the  Pharisees,  placed  all 
the  uncircumcised  in  the  class  of  the  un- 
clean, and  avoided  living  and  eating  with 
such  persons  as  defiling.  Unless  we  sup- 
pose this  to  have  been  the  case,  what  after- 
wards occurred  in  reference  to  the  stricter 
pharisaical-minded  Jewish  Christians,  and 
the  Gentile  Christians  who  had  been  partly 


severe  mental  struggle;  and  in  this  struggle  of 
the  divine  and  the  human  in  his  soul,  that  ecstatic 
vision  would  find  its  natural  point  of  connexion, 
and  occur  at  a  critical  juncture,  to  accomplish 
the  victory  of  Christian  truth,  over  the  reaction  of 
his  Jewish  mode  of  thinking.  Nor  can  I  with 
GfrOrer  perceive  in  Acts  xi.  3,  the  traces  of  a  more 
correct  account  bearing  evidence  against  the  nar- 
rative. That  Peter  made  no  scruple  of  incorpo- 
rating Gentiles  by  baptism  with  the  Christian 
church,  might  unquestionably  be  inferred,  if  he 
shunned  not  to  eat  and  drink  with  them.  Still, 
we  might  with  equal  confidence  infer,  that  a 
Jewish  teacher,  who  had  no  scruple  to  administer 
baptism  to  Gentiles,  might  not  come  to  the  con- 
clusion to  consider  them  of  equal  rank  in  the 
Christian  theocracy,  and  admit  them  to  every 
kind  of  intercourse.  But  though  Peter  afterwards 
reckoned  the  publication  of  the  gospel  among  the 
heathen  as  the  special  calling  of  Paul,  and  the 
publication  of  it  among  the  Jews  as  his  own,  it  is 
by  no  means  contradictory,  that  he,  when  a  special 
demand  was  made  upon  him,  should  exercise  his 
ministry  among  the  Gentiles;  just  as  Paul,  al. 
though  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  gladly  embraced 
the  opportunity,  when  he  could  find  an  entrance 
among  the  Jews.  But  in  Acts  xi.  9,  a  different 
spirit  speaks  from  that  of  the  Petrine  party,  from 
whom,  according  to  Gfrcirer,  this  narrative,  and 
in  general  the  first  part  of  the  Acts  was  derived. 


Proselytes  of  the  Gate,  would  appear  purely 
enigmatical. 

As  to  the  remarkable  manner  in  which 
this  devout  truth-seeking  man  (in  whose 
heart  God's-  Spirit  had  awakened  so  lively 
a  sense  of  his  spiritual  necessities)  was  led 
to  mental  peace,  in  order  to  have  a  clear 
conception  of  the  whole  proceeding,  we 
must  bear  in  mind  that  the  Acts 'of  the 
Apostles  is  not  intended  to  develope  all  the 
circumstances  which  belong  to  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  exact  historical  connexion 
of  events  ;  and  that  in  reference  to  the 
manner  in  which  Cornelius  was  prompted 
to  seek  out  Peter,  his  own  narrative  is  the 
only  immediate  source  of  information.  But 
we  are  not  justified  to  assume  that  Corne- 
lius, who  certainly  could  best  testify  of  the 
facts  relating  to  his  own  state  of  mind,  of 
what  he  had  himself  experienced,  was 
equally  capable  of  clearly  distinguishing 
the  objective,  the  external  matter  of  fact 
from  the  subjective  of  his  own  mental  state, 
in  what  presented  itself  to  him  as  an  ob- 
ject of  his  own  experience  and  perception. 
It  was  natural  also  for  him  not  to  think'  of 
tracing  out  the  connexion  of  the  higher  re- 
velations made  to  him,  with  the  preparative 
natural  circumstances  ;  but  that  the  divine 
in  the  affair  which  wholly  occupied  his 
thoughts  should  remain  alone  in  his  re- 
membrance, and  be  brought  forward  in  his 
narrative,  while  the  preparatives  in  the  na- 
tural connexion  of  causes  and  effects  re- 
tired into  the  background.  We  are  also 
permitted  and  justified  to  supply  many 
circumstances,  which  though  not  expressly 
mentioned,  are  yet  to  be  supposed  ,•  not  in 
order  to  obscure  what  was  divine  in  the 
event,  but  to  glorify  the  manifold  wisdom 
of  God  as  shown  in  the  way  men  are  led 
to  a  participation  of  redemption,  in  the  con- 
nexion of  the  divine  and  the  natural,  and 
in  the  harmony  that  subsists  between  na- 
ture and  grace.  Ephes.  iii.  10. 

Cornelius  had  devoted  himself  for  some 
days  to  fasting  and  prayer,  which  were 
frequently  used  conjointly  by  the  Jews  and 
first  Christians — the  former  as  the  means 
of  making  the  soul  more  capable  (by  de- 
taching it  from  sense)  for  undisturbed  con- 
verse with  divine  things.  This  they  were 
wont  to  do  when,  in  an  emergency  from 
inward  or  outward  distress,  they  sought  re- 
lief and  illumination  from  God.  We  may, 
therefore,  presume  that  something  similar 


Book  II.] 


IN  PALESTINE. 


53 


was  the  case  with  Cornelius;  and  naturally 
ask,  What  it  was  that  so  troubled  him  1 
From  the  whole  narrative  we  see  that  his 
ardent  longing  was  for  religious  truth  that 
would  bring  peace  and  repose  to  his  heart. 
Hence  it  is  most  probable,  that  on  that  ac- 
count he  sought  illumination  from  God  by 
fervent  prayer.  And  what  occasioned  his 
seeking  it  precisely  at  this  time?  From  the 
words  of  the  Angel  to  Coi:nelius,  it  is  by 
no  means  certain  that  the  apostle  Peter 
was  wholly  unknown  to  him.  Peter  him- 
self, in  his  discourse  before  the  family  of 
Cornelius,  Acts,  x.  37,  appears  to  have 
presumed  that  he  had  already  heard  of  the 
doctrine  of  Christ.  It  is  also  probable,  that 
a  matter  which  had  already  excited  such 
great  attention  in  this  district,  and  which 
was  so  closely  related  to  his  religious  wants, 
had  not  escaped  his  notice.  He  had  pro- 
bably heard  very  various  opinions  respect- 
ing Christianity  ;  from  many  zealous  Jews 
judgments  altogether  condemnatory  ;  from 
others,  sentiments  which  led  him  to  expect 
that  in  the  new  doctrine  he  would  at  last 
find  what  he  had  been  so  long  seeking : 
thus  a  conflict  would  naturally  arise  in  his 
mind  which  would  impel  him  to  seek  illu- 
mination from  God  on  a  question  that  so 
anxiously  occupied  his  thoughts. 

It  was  the  fourth  day*  since  Cornelius 
had  been  in  this  state  of  mind,  when,  about 
three  in  the  afternoon,  one  of  the  customary 

*  It  will  be  proper  here  to  give  the  right  inter- 
pretation of  Acts  X.  30.  Many  have  interpreted 
the  words  as  equivalent  to — "  Four  days  ago  I 
fasted  to  this  time," — namely,  the  ninth  hour 
wlien  he  was  speaking,  and  then  only  one  fast- 
day  was  kept  by  Cornelius,  in  the  ninth  hour  of 
which  this  happened.  This  agrees  perfectly  with 
the  reckoning  of  the  time.  But  the  meaning  of 
dTTo  favours  our  rendering  the  passage,  I  fasted  to 
the  ninth  hour  of  the  fourth  day  in  which  this 
happened.  Kuinoel's  objection  to  this  interpreta- 
tion  is  not  pertinent;  for,  from  the  manner  in 
which  Cornelius  expressed  himself,  it  must  be  evi- 
dent that  the  vision  happened  on  the  ninth  hour  of 
the  fourth  fast-day.  Now,  this  passage  can  be 
understood  to  mean,  either  that  Cornelius  was 
wont  to  fast  four  days  throughout  to  three  o'clock, 
or  that  for  four  days  he  fasted  entirely  to  the  ninth 
hour  of  the  fourth  day  when  this  happened.  But 
fasts,  according  to  the  Jewish  Christian  mode  of 
speaking,  did  not  imply  an  entire  abstinence  from 
all  nourishment.  I  cannot  agree  with  Meier's 
interpretation,  as  I  understand  it,  that  Peter  meant 
that  he  had  fasted  four  days,  and  on  the  fourth 
day,  reckoning  backwards,  that  is,  the  day  on 
which  the  fast  began,  about  three  o'clock  this 
event  happened. 


Jewish  hours  of  prayer,  while  he  was  call- 
ing on  God  with  earnest  supplication,  he 
received  by  a  voice  from  Heaven  an  an- 
swer to  his  prayers.  The  appearance  of 
the  angel  may  be  considered  as  an  objec- 
tive event.  The  soul  belongs  in  its  essence 
to  a  higher  than  the  sensible  and  temporal 
order  of  things,  and  none  but  a  contracted 
and  arrogant  reason  can  deny  the  possibi- 
lity of  a  communication  between  the  higher 
world  and  the  soul  which  is  allied  to  it 
by  its  very  nature.  The  Holy  Scriptures 
teach  us,  that  such  communications  from 
a  higher  spiritual  world  to  individuals  used 
to  occur  in  the  history  of  mankind,  until 
the  central  point  of  all  communications 
from  heaven  to  earth,  the  Divine  Fountain 
of  life  itself  appeared  among  us,  and  there- 
by established  for  ever  the  communion  be- 
tween heaven  and  earth  ;  John  i,  52.  We 
need  not  suppose  any  sensible  appearance, 
for  we  know  not  whether  a  higher  spirit 
cannot  communicate  itself  to  men  living  in 
a  world  of  sense,  by  an  operation  on  the 
inward  sense,  so  that  this  communication 
should  appear  under  the  form  of  a  sensu- 
ous perception.  Meanwhile,  Cornelius  him- 
self is  the  only  witness  for  the  objective 
reality  of  the  angelic  appearance,  and  he 
can  only  be  taken  as  a  credible  witness  of 
what  he  believed  that  he  had  perceived. 
By  the  influence  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  an 
elevation  of  the  mind  might  be  naturally 
connected  with  his  devotion,  in  which  the 
internal  communication  from  heaven  might 
be  represented  to  the  higher  self-conscious- 
ness under  the  form  of  a  vision.*  Although, 
in  the  words  of  the  angel,  "  Thy  prayers 
and  alms  are  come  up  before  God,"  &c,, 
the  expression  is  anthropopathic,  and  adapt- 
ed to  the  then  Jewish  mode  of  expression, 
this  relates  only  to  the  form  of  the  expres- 
sion. It  is  the  divine  in  human  form.  It 
is  marked  throughout  by  the  thought  so 
worthy  of  God,  that  the  striving  of  the 
devout  anxiety  of  Cornelius,  which  was 
shown  to  the  extent  of  his  ability  by  prayer 
and  works  of  love  towards  the  worshippers 
of  Jehovah, — of  this  germ  of  goodness,  the 
fostering  fatherly  love  of  God  had  not  been 
unmindful, — that  God  had  heard  the  prayer 
of  his  longing  after  heavenly  truth,  and  had 


*  The  word  ''oe,^fAa  (Acts  x.  3)  cannot  here  be 
decisive,  since  it  may  be  used  in  speaking  of  an 
ecstatic  vision,  or  of  a  vision  as  an  objective  fact. 


64 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Book  II. 


sent  him,  in  the  person  of  Peter,  a  teacher 
of  this  truth.  From  the  whole  form  of  this 
narrative,  it  may  be  inferred  that  Cornelius 
considered  the  pointing  out  of  Peter's  place 
of  residence,  not  as  something  that  came 
to  his  knowledge  in  a  natural  way,  but  by 
a  supernatural  communication.  It  is  in- 
deed possible  that  he  had  heard  it  men- 
tioned by  others  casually  in  conversation, 
but,  as  he  had  not  thought  further  about 
it,  it  had  completely  escaped  his  recollec- 
tion, and  now  in  this  elevated  state  of  mind 
what  had  been  forgotten  was  brought  back 
again  to  his  consciousness,  without  his 
thinking  of  the  natural  connexion.  After 
all,  this" is  only  possible,  and  we  are  by  no 
means  justified  in  considering  it  necessary. 
The  possibility  therefore  remains,  that  this 
information  was  communicated  in  a  super- 
natural way. 

No  sooner  had  Cornelius  obtained  this 
important  and  joyful  certainty,  than  he 
sent  two  of  his  slaves,  and  a  soldier  that 
waited  on  him,  who  also  was  a  Proselyte 
of  the  Gate,  to  fetch  the  longed-for  teacher 
of  divine  truth.  But  this  divine  leading 
would  not  have  attained  its  end,  Peter 
would  not  have  complied  with  the  request 
of  Cornelius,  if  he  had  not  been  prepared 
exactly  at  the  same  time,  by  the  inward 
enlightening  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  to  acknow- 
ledge and  rightly  interpret  this  outward  call 
of  God.  In  the  conjunction  of  remark- 
able circumstances  which  it  was  necessary 
should  meet  so  critically,  in  order  to  bring 
about  this  important  result  for  the  histori- 
cal developement  of  Christianity,  the  guid- 
ing wisdom  of  eternal  Love  undoubtedly 
manifests  itself. 

It  was  about  noon,  on  the  next  day, 
when  Peter  withdrew  to  the  roof  of  the 
house  (built  flat,  in  the  oriental  style)  where 
lie  lodged  at  Joppa,  in  order  to  otTer  up  his 
mid-day  devotions.  We  can  easily  sup- 
pose, that  the  prayer  of  the  man  who  had 
been  so  zealously  occupied  in  publishing 
the  gospel  in  that  region,  would  especiallv 
relate  to  this  great  object,  the  extension  of 
the  kingdom  of  Christ.  He  might  have 
heard  frequent  reports  that  here  and  there 
heathens  had  shown  themselves  suscepti- 
ble of  the  gospel,  when  proclaimed  to  them 
by  the  scattered  Christian  Hellenists ;  he 
might  have  called  to  mind  many  intima- 
tions in  the  discourses  of  Christ ;  new 
views  respecting  the  spread  of  the  gospel 


might  have  opened  to  his  mind ;  but  he 
ventured  not  to  surrender  himself  to  these 
impressions,  he  was  as  yet  too  much  fet- 
tered by  the  power  of  Jewish  prejudices, 
-and  hence,  probably,  a  conflict  was  raised 
in    his    mind.      While    thus    occupied   in 
prayer,    the   demands    of    animal    nature 
pressed  upon  him.    He  arose  for  the  noon- 
tide   meal,    which    must   have    been    just 
ready.     In  the  mean  time,  the  meditations 
which    had  occupied  him   in   prayer,  ab- 
stracted him  from  sensible  objects.     Two 
tendencies  of  his  nature  came  into  collision. 
The  higher,  the  power  of  the  Divine,  had 
the  mastery  over  his  spirit,  and  the  power 
of  sensuous  wants  over  his  lower  nature. 
Thus,  it  came  to  pass,  that  the  Divine  and 
the  Natural  were  mingled  together,*   not 
so  as  to  obscure  the  Divine  ;  but  the  Divine 
availed  itself  of  the  reflection  of  the  Natural 
as   an  image,  a  symbolic  vehicle  for  the 
truth  about  to  be  revealed  to  Peter.     The 
divine  light  that  was  breaking  through  the 
atmosphere  of  traditionary  representations, 
and  making  its  way  to  his  spirit,  revealed 
itself  in  the  mirror  of  sensible  images  which 
proceeded  from   the  existing  state  of  his 
bodily  frame.     Absorbed  in  divine  medita- 
tions, and  forgetting  himself  in  the  Divine, 
Peter  saw  heaven  open,  and  from  thence 
a  vessel,   "  as  it  had   been  a  great  sheet 
knit  at  four  corners,"  f  corresponding  to 
the  four  quarters  of  the  heavens,  was  let 
down  to  the  earth.     In  this  vessel  he  saw 


*  What  Plutarch  says  of  such  an  appearance 
of  the  higher  Ufe  is  remarkable :  "  ic  d  J'Jvct  rZ* 
a/mx  Kux-xui  Kctrupigo/ntvaiv  o-mfxaTfev  olix.  i7riK^xrt,vtn 
^i&Aiai!,  axxcr  x.ux,Xa>  /niv  'vtt'  dva^xj)?  (fisOfAivm,  KaTm 
ii  <p6<rii  'piTTOvrcev,  yiviroii  rt;  i^  d/nfoh  Ta^i^lSn?  no.) 

iotm  fxi\t^  iha.1  ^iMtKrim  Suoiv,  riiv  /utv  i,;  b-s/t-cvSs  Tiif 
4y;tHc  <x//a  TiSv  Se  wt  /j-e<pw«  mvov/AiviK." — De  Pyth. 
Orac.  c.  21. 

t  If  the  words  S^iSi/uivov  xm  (Acts  x.  11)  are 
genuine,  yet,  on  comparing  them  with  xi.  5,  we 
must,  with  Meyer,  interpret  them,  not,  "  bound 
together  at  the  lour  corners,"  but,  "  bound  to  four 
corners."  But  it  is  a  question,  whether  these 
words,  which  are  wanting  in  the  Cod.  Alex.  g.  f. 
and  in  the  Vulgate,  are  not  to  be  considered  as  a 
gloss,  and  left  out,  as  in  Lachman's  edition,  and 
then  the  clause  will  be  equivalent  to  "  letting  itself 
down  at  four  corners  from  heaven,"  as  the  Vulgate 
translates  it,  "quatuor  initiis  submitti  de  cqbIo." 
At  all  events,  tliese  four  corners  are  not  unim- 
portant. As  tliry  corresponded  to  the  four  quarters 
of  the  heavens,  they  convey  an  intimation  that 
men  from  the  north  and  south,  the  east  and  the 
west,  would  appear  as  clean  before  God,  and  be 
called  to  a  participation  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 


Book  II. 


IN  PALESTINE. 


55 


birds,  four-footed  beasts,  and  edible  creep- 
ing things  of  various  kinds,  and  a  voice 
from  heaven  called  upon  him  to  slay  one 
or  other  of  these  creatures,  and  to  prepare 
them  for  food.  But  against  this  require- 
ment his  Jewish  notions  revolted,  accus- 
tomed as  he  was  to  distinguish  between 
clean  and  unclean  meats.  He  now  heard 
a  voice  from  heaven  which  refuted  his 
scruples  with  these  very  significant  words, 
"  What  God  hath  cleansed  that  call  not 
thou  common."  It  is  clear,  that  in  the 
explanation  of  these  pregnant  words,  many 
circumstances  conspired.  First,  in  their 
application  to  the  objects  here  sensibly  re- 
presented. "  Thou  must  not  by  human 
perversity  make  a  distinction  of  clean  and 
unclean  between  creatures,  all  of  which 
God  has  declai-ed  to  be  clean,  by  letting 
them  down  to  thee  from  heaven."  This 
letting  down  from  heaven  is  partly  a 
symbol,  that  all  are  alike  clean  as  being 
the  creatures  of  God, — partly,  that  by  the 
new  revelation,  the  new  creation  from 
heaven  presents  all  as  pure.  Then  the 
higher  application  of  these  words  intended 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  is  in  reference  to  the 
relation  of  man  to  God,  intimating  that 
every  distinction  of  clean  and  unclean 
would  be  taken  away  from  among  men  ; 
that  all  men  as  the  creatures  of  God  would 
be  considered  as  alike  clean,  and  again 
become  so  as  at  their  original  creation,  by 
the  redemption  that  related  to  all. 

After  Peter  had  again  expressed  his 
scruples,  this  voice  was  repeated  a  third 
time,  and  he  saw  the  vessel  taken  up  again 
to  heaven.  He  now  returned  from  the 
state  of  ecstatic  vision,  to  that  of  ordinary 
consciousness.  While  he  was  endeavour- 
ing to  trace  the  connexion  between  the 
vision  and  the  subject  of  his  late  medita- 
tions, the  event  that  now  occurred  taught 
him  what  the  spirit  of  God  intended  by  that 
vision.  Voices  of  strangers  in  the  court 
of  the  house,  by  whom  his  own  name  was 
repeated,  excited  his  attention.  They  were 
the  three  messengers  of  Cornelius  who 
were  inquiring  for  him.  They  had  left 
Csesarea  the  day  before  at  three  o'clock, 
and  arrived  at  Joppa  that  very  day  about 
noon.  While  Peter  was  observing  the  men, 
who  by  their  appearance  were  evidently 
not  Jews,  the  spirit  of  God  imparted  to  him 
a  knowledge  of  the  connexion  between  the 
symbolic  vision  and  the  errand  of  these 


persons.  A  voice  within  said  God  has  sent 
these  men  to  seek  thee  out,  that  thou  mayest 
preach  the  gospel  to  the  heathen.  Go  con-  • 
fidently  with  them  ;  without  dreading  inter- 
course with  the  Gentiles  as  unclean,  for 
thou  hast  been  taught  by  a  voice  from  hea- 
ven, that  thou  must  not  dare  to  consider 
those  unclean  whom  God  himself  has  pro* 
nounced  ctean,  and  whom  he  now  sends  to 
thee.  On  the  next  day,  he  departed  with  the 
messengers  from  Joppa,  accompanied  by 
six  other  Christians  of  Jewish  descent,  to 
whom  he  had  told  what  had  happened,  and 
who  awaited  the  result  with  eager  expecta- 
tion. As  the  distance  for  one  day's  journey 
was  too  great,  they  made  two  short  days' 
journeys  of  it.  On  the  day  after  their  de- 
parture, (the  fourth  after  the  messengers 
had  been  dispatched  by  Cornelius,)  about 
three  in  the  afternoon  they  arrived  at 
Csesarea.  They  found  Cornelius  assembled 
with  his  family  and  friends,  whom  he  had 
informed  of  the  expected  arrival  of  the 
teacher  sent  to  him  from  heaven ;  for  he 
doubted  not  that  he  whom  the  voice  of  the 
angel  had  notified  as  the  appointed  divine 
teacher,  would  obey  the  divine  call.  After 
what  had  passed,  Peter  appeared  to  Corne- 
lius, as  a  super-earthly  being.  He  fell 
reverentially  before  him  as  he  entered  the 
chamber  ;  but  Peter  bade  him  stand  up,  and 
said,  "  Stand  up,  I  myself  also  am  a  man." 
He  narrated  to  the  persons  assembled,  by 
what  means  he  had  been  induced  not  to  re- 
gard the  common  scruples  of  the  Jews  re- 
specting intercourse  with  heathens,  and 
expressed  his  desire  to  hear  from  Cornelius 
what  had  determined  them  to  call  him 
thither.  Cornelius  explained  this,  and  ended 
with  saying,  "  Now,  therefore,  are  we  all 
here  present  before  God,  to  hear  all  things 
that  are  commanded  thee  of  God."  Peter 
was  astonished  at  the  pure  disposition  so 
susceptible  of  divine  truth,  which  appeared 
in  the  words  of  Cornelius,  and  formed  so 
striking  a  contrast  to  the  obstinate  unsus- 
ceptibility  of  many  Jews ;  and  perceived 
the  hand  of  God  in  the  way  Cornelius  had 
been  led,  since  he  had  sought  the  truths  of 
salvation  with  upright  desire ;  he  therefore 
said,  "  Now,  I  perceive  of  a  truth  that  God 
is  no  respecter  of  persons ;  but  in  every 
nation,  he  that  feareth  him  and  worketh 
righteousness  is  accepted  of  him."  As  to 
these  memorable  words  of  Peter,  the  sense 
cannot  be,  that  in  every  nation,  every  one 


56 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


[Book  II. 


who  only  rightly  employs  his  own  moral 
power,  will  obtain  salvation ;  for  had  Peter 
meant  this,  he  would,  in  what  he  added, 
announcing  Jesus  as  him  by  whom  alone 
men  could  obtain  forgiveness  of  sin  and- 
salvation — have  contradicted  himself.  On 
that  supposition,  he  ought  rather  to  have 
told  Cornelius,  that  he  had  only  to  remain 
in  his  present  disposition,  that  was  enough, 
and  he  needed  no  new  doctrine  of  salvation. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  impossible, 
accorfling  to  the  connexion,  to  understand 
by  "every  one  that  feareth  God  and 
worketh  righteousness,"  those  who  had 
attained  true  piety  through  Christianity, 
and  to  make  the  words  mean  no  more  than 
this — that  Christians  of  all  nations  are. ac- 
ceptable to  God :  for  the  words  plainly  im- 
port that  Cornelius,  on  account  of  his  up- 
right pious  striving,  was  deemed  worthy  of 
having  his  prayers  heard,  and  being  led  to 
faith  in  the  Redeemer.  Nor  can  these 
words  relate  only  to  such  who  already 
believed  in  the  revelation  of  God  in  the  Old 
Testament,  and  according  to  its  guidance, 
honoured  God,  and  expected  the  Messiah. 
But  evidently  Peter  spoke  in  opposition  to 
the  Jewish  Nationalism — God  judgeth  men 
not  according  to  their  descent  or  non-de- 
scent from  the  theocratic  nation,  but  ac- 
cording to  their  disposition.  All  who,  like 
Cornelius,  honour  God  uprightly  according 
to  the  measure  of  the  gift  entrusted  to  them, 
are  acceptable  to  him,  and  he  prepares  by 
his  grace  a  way  for  them,  by  which  they 
are  led  to  faith  in  Him,  who  alone  can 
bestow  salvation.  This  is  what  Peter 
meant  to  announce  to  them.* 


*  Cornelius  belonged  to  that  class  of  persons  who 
are  pointed  out  in  John  iii.  21.  We  are  by  no 
means  authorized  to  maintain  that  Peter,  from  the 
general  position  laid  down  by  him,  intended  to 
draw  the  inference,  that  God  would  certainly  lead 
to  salvation  those  among  all  nations,  to  whom  the 
marks  belonged  which  he  here  specified,  even  if 
they  did  not  during  their  earthly  life  obtain  a  par- 


It  was  natural  that,  since  the  minds  of 
these  persons  were  so  much  more  pre- 
pared than  others  for  the  appropriation 
of  saving  truth,  and  for  living  faith  by 
their  inward  want  and  earnest  longing,  that 
the  word  would  make  a  much  quicker  and 
more  powerful  impression  on  them.  While 
Peter  was  speaking  to  them,  they  were  im- 
pelled to  express  their  feelings  in  inspired 
praises  of  that  God,  who  in  so  wonderful  a 
manner,  had  led  them  to  salvation.  One 
inspiration  seized  all,  and  with  amazement 
the  Jewish  Christians  present  beheld  their 
prejudices  against  the  Gentiles  contradicted 
by  the  fact.  What  an  impression  must  it 
have  made  upon  them,  when  they  heard  the 
Gentile  who  had  been  considered  by  them 
as  unclean,  testify  with  such  inspiration  of 
Jehovah  and  the  Messiah  !  And  now  Peter 
could  appeal  to  this  transaction  in  order  to 
nullify  all  the  scruples  of  the  Jews,  respect- 
ing the  baptism  of  such  uncircumcised  per- 
sons, and  ask,  "  Who  can  forbid  water  that 
these  should  be  baptized,  who  have  already 
received  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit  like  our- 
selves ?"  And  when  he  returned  to  Jeru- 
salem, and  the  manner  in  which  he  had 
held  intercourse  with  the  Gentiles  had 
raised  a  stumbling-block  among  the  strict 
Pharisaical  believers,  he  was  able  to  silence 
them  by  a  similar  appeal.  "  Forasmuch 
then  (said  he),  as  God  gave  them  the  like 
gift,  as  he  did  unto  us  who  believed  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  what  was  I  that  I  could 
withstand  God  ?"     Acts  xi.  17. 


ticipation  in  redemption.  He  expressed  that  truth, 
which  at  the  moment  manifested  itself  to  him  in  a 
consciousness  enlightened  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  with- 
out reflecting  on  all  the  consequences  deducible 
from  it.  We  must  ever  carefully  distinguish  be- 
tween what  enlightened  men  consciously  intend  to 
say,  according  to  historical  conditions,  and  in  re- 
lation  to  interests  immediately  affected  by  existing 
circumstances, — and  what  forms  the  contents  of 
eternal  truth,  to  be  developed  with  all  the  conse- 
quences involved.  To  develope  the  first  is  the 
province  of  exegesis  and  historical  apprehension, 
the  second  that  of  Christian  doctrine  and  morals. 


Chap.  I.] 


AMONG  THE  GENTILES. 


57 


BOOK  III 


THE  SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY  AND  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN 
CHURCH  AMONG  THE  GENTILES  BY  THE  INSTRUMENTALITY  OF  THE 
APOSTLE  PAUL. 


CHAPTER  L 

Paul's  preparation  and  call  to  be  the  apostle 
of  the  gentiles, 

In  this  manner,  Christianity,  indepen- 
dently of  Judaism,  began  to  be  propagated 
among  the  Gentiles  ;  the  appointment  of 
the  gospel  as  a  distinct  means  of  forming 
all  nations  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  was  now 
acknowledged  by  the  apostles ;  and  con- 
sequently, on  their  part,  no  opposition  could 
be  made  to  employing  it  for  this  purpose. 
While,  by  the  arrangements  of  the  divine 
wisdom,  the  principal  obstacle  to  the  con- 
version of  the  heathen  was  taken  out  of  the 
way,  and  the  first  impulse  was  given  to 
that  work  ;  by  the  same  wisdom,  that  great 
champion  of  the  faith  who  was  to  carry  it 
on,  and  lay  the  foundation  for  the  salvation 
of  the  heathen  through  all  ages,  was  called 
forth,  to  take  the  position  assigned  him  in  ] 
the  developement  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
This  was  no  other  than  the  apostle  Paul ; 
a  man  distinguished,  not  only  for  the  wide 
extent  of  his  apostolic  labours,  but  for  his 
developement  of  the  fundamental  truths  of 
the  gospel  in  their  living  organic  connexion, 
and  their  formation  into  a  compact  system. 
The  essence  of  the  gospel  in  relation  to 
human  nature,  on  one  side  especially,  the 
relation,  namely,  to  its  need  of  redemption, 
was  set  by  him  in  the  clearest  light ;  so 
that  when  the  sense  of  that  need  has  been 
long  repressed  or  perverted,  and  a  revival 
of  Christian  consciousness  has  followed  a 
state  of  spiritual  death,  the  newly  awakened 
Christian  life,  whether  in  the  church  at 
large,  or  in  individuals,  has  always  drawn 
its  nourishment  from  his  writings.  As  he 
has  presented  Christianity  under  this  aspect 
especially,  and  has  so  impressively  shown 
the  immediate  relation  of  religious  know- 


ledge and  experience  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  in 
opposition  to  all  dependence  on  any  human 
mediation  whatever,  thus  drawing  the  line 
of  demarcation  most  clearly  between  the 
Christian  and  Jewish  standing-point ; — he 
may  be  considered  as  the  representative 
among  the  apostles  of  the  Protestant  prin- 
ciple. And  history,  though  it  furnishes 
only  a  few  hints  respecting  the  early  life  of 
Paul  before  his  call  to  the  apostleship,  has 
recorded  enough  to  make  it  evident,  that  by 
the  whole  course  of  his  previous  develope- 
ment, he  was  formed  for  what  he  was  to 
become,  and  for  what  he  was  to  effect. 

Saul  or  Paul  (the  former  the  original 
Hebrew,  the  latter  the  Hellenistic  form  of 
his  name),*  was  a  native  of  the  city  of 

*  The  latter  was  his  usual  appellation^  from  the 
time  of  his  being  devoted  entirely  to  the  conversion 
of  the  heathen  ;  Acts  xiii.  9.  Although  the  ancient 
supposition,  that  he  changed  his  own  name 
for  that  of  his  convert  Sergius  Paulus,  has  been 
recently  advocated  by  Meyer  and  Olshausen,  I 
cannot  approve  of  it.  I  cannot  imagine  that  the 
conversion  of  a  proconsul  would  be  thought  so 
much  more  of  by  him  than  the  conversion  of  any 
other  man  (and  he  was  far  from  being  his  first 
convert),  as  to  induce  him  to  assume  his  name. 
It  is  more  agreeable  to  the  usage  of  ancient  times, 
for  the  scholar  to  be  named  after  his  teacher  (as 
Cyprian  after  Csecilius,  Eusebius  after  Pamphilus), 
rather  than  for  the  teacher  to  be  named  after  the 
scholar ;  for  no  one  could  think  of  finding  a  paral- 
lel in  the  instance  of  Scipio  Africanus.  And  had 
this  really  been  the  reason  why  Paul  assumed  the 
name,  he  might  have  expected,  as  it  was  closely 
connected  with  the  whole  narrative,  that  Luke 
would  have  expressly  assigned  it.  And  Fritz- 
sche  is  correct  in  saying  (see  his  Commentary  on 
the  Romans,  Proleg.  p.  11),  that,  in  this  case,  not 
Acts  xiii.  9,  but  xiii.  13,  would  have  been  a  natural 
place  for  mentioning  it.  Still  I  cannot,  with 
Fritzsche,  think  it  probable,  that  Luke  was  acci- 
dentally led,  by  the  mention  of  Sergius  Paulus,  to 
remark  that  Paul  also  bore  the  same  name.  The 
most  natural  way  of  viewing  the  matter  seems  to 
be  this :  Luke  had  hitherto  designated  him  by  the 
name  which  he  found  in  the  memoirs  lying  before 


SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY 


[Book  III. 


Tarsus  in  Cilicia.  This  we  learn  from  his 
own  expressions  in  Acts  xxi.  39,  xxii.  3, 
and  the  contradictory  tradition  reported  by 
Jerome,  that  he  was  born  in  the  small 
town  of  Gischala,  in  GaHlee,  cannot  appear 
credible,  though  it  is  not  improbable  that 
his  parents  once  resided  there,*  which  may 
have  given  rise  to  the  report.  As  we  do 
not  know  how  long  he  remained  under  the 
paternal  roof,  it  is  impossible  to  determine 
what  influence  his  education  in  the  me- 
tropolis of  Cilicia,  (which  as  a  seat  of  litera- 
ture vied  with  Athens  and  Alexandria,)! 
had  on  the  formation  of  his  character. 
Certainly,  his  early  acquaintance  with  the 
language  and  national  peculiarities  of  the 

him  on  the  early  history  of  Christianity.  Bat  he 
was  now  induced  to  distinguish  him  by  the  name 
which  he  found  in  the  memoirs  of  his  labours 
amongthe  heathen, and  by  whichhe  had  personally 
known  him  during  that  later  period ;  and,  there- 
fore, took  the  opportunity  of  remarking,  that  this 
Paul  was  no  other  than  the  individual  whom  he 
had  hitherto  called  Saul. 

*  If  we  were  justified  in  understanding  with 
Paulus  (in  his  work  on  the  Apostle  Paul's  Epistles 
to  the  Galatians  and  Romans,  p.  323),  the  word 
t/?ga7of,  Phil.  iii.  5,  2  Cor.  xi.  22,  as  used  in  con- 
tradistinction  to  "sxx»v/a-T))?,"  it  would  serve  to  con- 
firm this  tradition,  since  it  would  imply  that  Paul 
could  boast  of  a  descent  from  a  Palestinian-Jewish 
and  not  Hellenistic  family,  But  since  Paul  calls 
himself  sjjgaio?,  thougli  he  was  certainly  by  birth 
a  Hellenist,  it  is  evident  that  the  word  cannot  be 
used  in  so  restricted  a  sense ;  and  in  the  second 
passage  quoted  above,  where  it  is  equivalent  to  an 
Israelite,  a  descendant  of  Abraham,  it  plainly  has 
a  wider  meaning;  see  Bleek's admirable  Introduc- 
tion to  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  p.  32.  This 
tradition  too,  reported  by  .Terome,  is,  as  Fritzsche 
justly  remarks,  very  suspicious,  not  only  on  ac- 
count  of  the  gross  anachronism,  which  makes  the 
taking  of  Gischala  by  the  Romans  the  cause  of 
Paul's  removal  thence  with  his  parents, — since 
this  event  happened  much  later  in  the  Jewish  war, 
but  also  because  Jerome,  in  his  Commentary  on 
the  Epistle  to  Philemon  (verse  23),  makes  use  of 
this  tradition  to  explain  why  Paul,  though  a  citizen 
of  Tarsus,  calls  himself,  2  Cor.  xi.  22,  Philip,  iii. 
5,  "  HebrcEus  ex  Hehrais,  et  caetera  qua?  ilium 
Judajum  magis  indicant  quamTarsensem,"  which 
yet,  as  we  have  remarked  above,  proceeds  only 
from  a  misunderstanding  of  the  epithet  which 
Paul  applies  to  himself.  Jerome  must  have,  there- 
fore, taken  up  this  false  account  (talcm  iabulam 
accepimus,  are  his  own  words),  without  proof,  in  a 
very  thoughtless  manner. 

t  Strabo,  who  wrote  in  the  time  of  Augustus, 
places  Tarsus  in  this  respect  above  these  two  cities  : 

(ro<fiav  x.!ti  T)iv  u^ahv  tyxuK^.tov  9.7rntra.v  TntiJiiav  yi. 
>ovtv,  is-^'jTtgCi/gxhVTtf/  nai  'A^OTrtc  KAi  'A>,£^av- 
cf|ge/<y  xai  it  tivx  uxmjv  tottcv  J'uvtiTCv  iiTrfiv  fv  Z 
<rx,o\<tt  K*i  iixTgiB-it  Twv  <fixo<ro<^m  yiyivaa-i."  Geo. 
i.  14,  c.  5. 


Greeks,  was  of  some  advantage  in  prepar- 
ing him  to  be  a  teacher  of  Christianity 
among  nations  of  Grecian  origin.  Yet  the 
few  passages  from  the  Greek  poets  which 
we  meet  with  in  his  discourse  at  Athens, 
and  in  his  Epistles,  do  not  prove  that  his 
education  had  made  him  familiar  with 
Grecian  literature  :  nor  is  it  probable  that 
such  would  be  the  case.  As  his  parents 
designed  him  to  be  a  teacher  of  the  law,  or 
Jewish  theologian,  his  studies  must  have 
been  confined  in  his  early  years  to  the  Old 
Testament,  and  about  the  age  of  12  or  13, 
he  must  have  entered  the  school  of  Gama- 
liel.* It  is  possible,  though,  considering 
Paul's  pharisaic  zeal,  not  probable,  that  the 
more  liberal  views  of  his  tolerant-minded 
teacher  Gamaliel  might  induce  him  to  turn 
his  attention  to  Grecian  literature.  A  man 
of  his  mental  energy,  whose  zeal  overcame 
all  difficulties  in  his  career,  and  whose  love 
prompted  him  to  make  himself  familiar 
with  all  the  mental  habitudes  of  the  men 
among  whom  he  laboured,  that  ho  might 
sympathize  more  completely  with  their 
wants  and  infirmities,  might  be  induced, 
while  among  people  of  Grecian  culture,  to 
acquire  some  knowledge  of  their  principal 
writers.  But  in  the  style  of  his  represen- 
tations, the  Jewish  element  evidently  pre- 
dominates. His  peculiar  mode  of  argu- 
mentation was  not  formed  in  the  Grecian, 
but  in  the  Jewish  school.     The  name  Saul, 

7lNC^3  t  the  desired  one,  the  one  prayed 
for,  perhaps  indicates,  that  he  was  the  first- 
born of  his  parents,:}:  granted  in  answer  to 
their  earnest  prayers  ;  and  hence  it  may 
be  inferred,  that  he  was  devoted  by  his 
father,  a  Pharisee,  to  the  service  of  religion, 
and  sent  in  early  youth  to  Jerusalem,  that 
he  might  be  trained  to  become  a  learned 
expounder  of  the  law  and  of  tradition  ;  not 
to  add,  that  it  was  usual  for  the  youth  of 
Tarsus, §  to  complete  their  education  at 
some  foreign  school.  Most  advantageously 
for  him,  he  acquired  in  the  pharisaic  schools 
at  Jerusalem,  that  systematic  form  of  in- 
tellect, which  afterwards  rendered  him  such 


*  See  Tholuck's  admirable  remarks  in  the 
"Studien  und  Kritiken,"  1835,  2d  part.  366. 

t  We  cannot  attach  much  iiDportance  to  so  un- 
certain an  inference. 

t  Like  the  names  Theodorus,  Thcodoret,  com- 
mon among  the  Christians  in  the  first  century. 

§  See  Strabo. 


Chap.  I.] 


BY  THE  APOSTLE  PAUL. 


59 


good  service  in  developing  the  contents  of 
the  Christian  doctrine  ;  so  that,  hke  Luther, 
he  became  thoroughly  conversant  with  the 
theological  system,  which  afterwards,  by 
the  power  of  the  gospel,  he  uprooted  and 
destroyed.  A  youth  so  ardent  and  ener- 
getic as  Paul,  would  throw  his  whole  soul 
into  whatever  he  undertook ;  his  natural 
temperament  would  dispose  him  to  an  over- 
flowing impetuous  zeal,  and  for  such  a 
pi-opensity  Pharisaism  supplied  abundant 
aliment.  We  may  also  infer  from  his 
peculiar  disposition,  as  well  as  from  various 
hints  he  gives  of  himself,  that  in  legal  piety, 
according  to  the  notions  of  the  strictest 
Pharisaism,  he  strove  to  go  beyond  all  his 
companions.  But  in  proportion  to  the 
earnestness  of  his  striving  after  hoUness — 
the  more  he  combated  the  refractory  im- 
pulses of  an  ardent  and  powerful  nature, 
which  refused  to  be  held  in  by  the  reins  of 
the  law — 30  much  more  ample  were  his 
opportunities  for  understanding  from  his 
own  experience  the  woful  discord  inhuman 
nature  which  arises  when  the  moral  con- 
sciousness asserts  its  claims  as  a  controlling 
law,  while  the  man  feels  himself  constantly 
carried  away  in  defiance  of  his  better  long- 
ing and  willing,  by  the  force  of  ungodly 
inclination.  Paul  could  not  have  depicted 
this  condition  so  strikingly  and  to  the  life, 
in  the  seventh  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  if  he  had  not  gained  the  know- 
ledge of  it  from  personal  experience.  It 
was  advantageous  for  him  that  he  passed 
over  to  Christianity,  from  a  position  where, 
by  various  artificial  restraints  and  prohibi- 
tions, he  had  attempted  to  guard  against 
the  incursions  of  unlawful  desires  and  pas- 
sions, and  to  compel  himself  to  goodness  ;* 
for  thus  he  was  enabled  to  testify  from  his 
own  experience — (in  which  he  appears  as 
the  representative  of  all  men  of  deep  moral 
feeling) — how  deeply  the  sense  of  the  need 
of  redemption  is  grounded  in  the  moral 
constitution  of  man ;  and  thus  likewise 
from  personal  experience,  he  could  describe 
the  relation  of  that  freedom  which  results 


*  As,  for  example,  for  the  standing-point  of 
Pharisaism,  it  has  been  said,  "  Instead  of  leaving 
every  thing  to  the  free  movements  of  the  disposi- 
tion,  a  man  should  force  himself  to  do  this  or  that 
good  by  a  direct  vow.     Vows  arc  the  enclosures  of 

holiness."  nitJ^'ntDy;i\"'P  CDnni.  see 

Pirke  Avoth.  6  13.      '  '  '       - 


from  faith  in  redemption,  to  the  servitude 
of  the  legal  standing-point.  In  his  conflict 
with  himself  while  a  Pharisee,  Paul's  ex- 
periences resembled  Luther's  in  the  clois- 
tei's  of  Erfurt ;  both  the  apostle  and  the  re- 
former were  taught  the  power  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  sin,  by  means  of  its  hidden  inter- 
nal movements,  and  not  like  Augustin  by 
those  open  outbreaks  of  evil,  from  which 
they  were  preserved  by  their  strict  legal 
discipline.  Though  in  the  Pharisaic  dia- 
lectics and  exposition  of  the  law,  he  was  a 
zealous  and  faithful  disciple  of  Gamaliel, 
we  cannot  from  this  conclude  that  he  im- 
bibed that  spirit  of  moderation  for  which 
his  master  was  so  distinguished,  and  which 
he  showed  in  his  judgment  of  the  new  sect 
at  the  first,  before  it  came  into  direct  con- 
flict with  the  theology  of  his  party.  For  the 
scholar,  especially  a  scholar  of  so  ener- 
getic and  marked  a  character,  would  im- 
bibe the  mental  influences  of  his  teacher, 
only  so  far  as  they  accorded  with  his  own 
peculiarities.  His  unyielding  disposition, 
the  fire  of  his  nature,  and  the  fire  of  his 
youth,  made  him  a  vehement  persecuting 
zealot  against  all  who  opposed  the  system 
that  was  sacred  in  his  eyes.  Accordingly, 
no  sooner  did  the  new  doctrine  in  the  hands 
of  Stephen  assume  a  hostile  aspect*  against 


*The  question  has  been  raised,  whether  Paul 
saw  and  heard  Jesus  during  his  earthly  life  ?  We 
have  not  the  data  for  answering  the  question.  In 
his  Epistles,  we  find  nothing  conclusive  either  one 
way  or  the  other.  Olshausen  thinks  that  it  may 
be  inferred  from  2  Cor.  v.  16,  that  Paul  really 
knew  Jesus  during  liis  earthly  life,  xara  o-u/jxse. 
Paul,  in  that  passage,  he  understands  as  saying, 
"  But  if  I  knew  Christ,  as  indeed  I  did  know  him, 
according  to  the  flesh,  in  his  bodily  earthly  ap- 
pearance, yet  now  I  know  him  so  no  more." 
Against  this  interpretation  I  will  not  object  with 
Baur,  in  his  Essay  "On  the  Party  of  Christ  in  the 
Corinthian  Church,"  in  the  Tubingen  "  Zeitschrift 
fur  Theologie,"  1831,  part  iv,,  p.  95,  that  he  could 
not  mean  this,  because  it  would  have  been  under- 
valuing Christ  in  his  state  of  humiliation,  which 
would  be  in  contradiction  to  those  passages  in 
whicli  he  attributes  to  that  state  the  highest  abid- 
ing  importance,  and  says  he  is  determined  to 
know  nothing  save  Christ  and  him  crucified.  For 
though  the  remembrance  of  Christ  in  the  form  of 
a  servant  could  never  vanish  from  his  mind,  though 
he  never  could  forget  what  he  owed  to  Christ  the 
Crucified,  yet  now  he  knew  him  no  longer  as 
living  in  jiuman  weakness,  and  subject  to  death, 
but  as  having  risen  victoriously  from  death,  the 
glorified  one,  now  living  in  divine  power  and  ma- 
jesty;  2  Cor.  xiii.  4.  The  relation  in  which  it 
would  have  been  possible  to  stand  to  Christ  while 
he  lived  in  the  form  of  a  servant  on  earth,  could  no 


SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY 


[Book  III. 


the  Pharisaic  theology,  than  he  became  its 
most  vehement  persecutor.  After  the  mar- 
tyrdom of  Stephen,  when  many  adherents 
of  the  gospel  sought  for  safety  by  flight, 
Paul  felt  himself  called  to  counterwork, 
them  in  the  famed  city  of  Damascus,  where 
the  new  sect  was  gaining  ground.  And  he 
hastened  thither,  after  receiving  full  powers 
for  committing  all  the  Christians  to  prison 
from  the  Sanhedrim,  who,  as  the  highest 
ecclesiastical  authority  among  the  Jews, 
were  allowed  by  the  Romans  to  inflict  all 
disciplinary  punishment  against  the  viola- 
tors of  the  law.* 


longer  exist.  No  one  could  now  stand  nearer  to 
him,  simply  for  being-  a  Jew ;  no  one  could  hold 
converse  with' him  in  an  outward  manner,  as  a 
being  present  to  the  senses  :  henceforth  it  was  only 
possible  to  enter  into  union  with  Christ  as  the 
glorified  one,  as  he  presented  himself  to  the  reli- 
gious consciousness  in  a  spiritual,  internal  manner, 
by  believing  on  him  as  crucified  for  the  salvation 
of  mankind.  In  this  respect,  Paul  might  well  say 
that  now  there  could  no  longer  be  for  him  such 
"a  knowledge  of  Christ  after  the  flesh."  And  we 
grant  that  he  might  have  said  fiy pathetically,  If  I 
had  known  Christ  heretofore  after  the  flesli,  had  I 
stood  in  any  such  outward  communion  with  him 
as  manifest  in  the  flesh,  yet  now  such  a  com- 
munion would  have  lost  all  its  importance  for  me 
(such  a  value  as  those  Judaizers  attribute  to  it  who 
make  it  the  sign  of  genuine  apostleship) ;  but  now 
I  know  Christ  afler  the  spirit,  like  all  those  who 
enjoy  spiritual  communion  with  him.  But  Paul 
could  only  say  this  in  a  purely  hypothetical  form, 
supposing  something  to  be  which  really  was  not ; 
for  allowing  that  he  had  seen  and  heard  Jesus 
with  his  bodily  senses,  his  opponents  would  have 
been  far  from  attaching  any  importance  to  such 
seeing  and  hearing,  as  it  could  have  been  affirmed 
with  equal  truth  of  many  Jews,  who  stood  in  an 
indifferent  or  even  hostile  position  towards  Christ. 
The  reference  in  this  passage  can  be  only  to  such 
a  "  knowing  of  the  Christ  afler  the  flesh,"  as  be- 
longed  to  the  other  apostles,  since  only  to  this 
could  any  religious  value  be  attached  against 
which  Paul  might  feel  himself  called  to  protest. 
For  this  reason  I  must  agree  with  Baur,  who  un- 
derstands "^g/a-Toc"  here,  not  of  the  person  of 
Jesus,  but  of  the  Messiah,  a  Messiah  known  afler 
the  flesh,  as  from  the  early  Jewish  standing-point, 
I  also  believe  with  Baur,  that  if  Paul  had  intended 
a  personal  reference,  he  would  iiave  said  'intrsUv 
Xg'iTTov,  and  I  cannot  admit  the  force  of  the  objec- 
tion which  Olshausen  makes  to  this  interpretation, 
that  it  would  require  the  article  before  xC^tcv,  for 
it  means  not  the  Messiah  definitively,  but  generally 
a  Messiah.  ^ 

•  If  Damascus  at  that  time  still  belonged  to  a 
Roman  province,  the  Sanhedrim  could  exercise  its 
authority  there,  in  virtue  of  the  right  secured 
every  where  to  the  Jews  to  practise  their  worship 
m  their  own  manner.  If  the  city  was  brought 
under  the  government  of  the  Arabian  King  Aretas, 
the  Sanhedrim  could  still  reckon  on  his  support,  in 


As  for  the  great  mental  change  which 
Paul  experienced  in  the  course  of  this 
journey,  undertaken  for  the  extinction  of 
the  Christian  faith,  it  is  quite  possible  that 
this  event  may  strike  us  as  sudden  and 
marvellous,  only  because  the  history  re- 
cords the  mere  fact,  without  the  various 
preparatory  and  connecting  circumstances 
which  led  to  it ;  but,  by  making  use  of  the 
hints  which  the  narrative  furnishes  to  fill 
up  the  outline,  we  may  attempt  to  gain  the 
explanation  of  the  whole,  on  purely  natural 
principles. 

Paul — (it  would  be  said  by  a  person 
adopting  this  view  of  the  event) — had  re- 
ceived many  impressions  which  disturbed 
the  repose  of  his  truth-loving  soul ;  he  had 
heard  the  temperate  counsels  of  his  revered 
instructor  Gamaliel ;  he  had  listened  to  the 
address  of  Stephen,  to  whom  he  was  allied 
in  natural  temperament,  and  had  witnessed 
his  martyrdom.  But  he  was  still  too  deeply 
imbued  with  the  spirit  of  Pharisaism,  to 
surrender  himself  to  these  impressions,  so 
contrary  to  the  prevailing  bent  of  his  mind. 
He  forcibly  repressed  them  ,•  he  rejected 
the  thoughts  that  involuntarily  rose  in  his 
mind  in  favour  of  the  new  doctrine,  as  the 
suggestions  of  Satan,  whom  he  regarded 
as  the  sole  contriver  of  this  rebellion  against 
the  authority  of  the  ancient  traditions,  and 
accordingly  set  himself  with  so  much  the 
greater  ardour  against  the  new  sect.  Yet 
he  could  not  succeed  altogether  in  sup- 
pressing these  rising  thoughts,  and  in 
silencing  the  voice  of  conscience,  which 
rebuked  his  fanaticism.  A  conflict  arose  in 
his  soul.  While  in  this  state,  an  outward 
impression  was  added,  which  brought  the 
internal  process  to  maturity.  Not  far  from 
Damascus  he  and  his  followers  were  over- 
taken by  a  violent  storm ;  the  lightning 
struck  Paul,  and  he  fell  senseless  to  the 
ground.  He  attributed  this  catastrophe  to 
the  avenging  power  of  the  Messiah,  whom 
in  the  person  of  his  disciples  he  was  per- 
secuting, and,  confounding  the  objective 
and  subjective,  converted  this  internal  im- 
pression into  an  outward  appearance  of 
Christ  to  him :  blinded  by  the  lightning. 


consequence  of  the  connexion  he  had  formed  with 
the  Jews ;  perhaps  he  himself  had  gone  over  to 
Judaism.  The  Jews  in  Damascus  might  also 
possess  great  influence  by  means  of  the  women, 
who  were  almost  all  converts  to  Judaism.  Jose- 
phus,  De  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  20,  2. 


Chap.  I.] 


BY  THE  APOSTLE  PAUL. 


61 


and  stunned  by  the  fall,  he  came  to  Da- 
mascus.— But  admitting  this  explanation 
as  correct,  how  are  we  to  explain  by  na- 
tural causes  the  meeting  of  Paul  with  Ana- 
nias ?  Even  here  we  may  supply  many 
particulars  which  are  not  expressly  men- 
tioned in  the  narrative.  Since  Ananias 
was  noted  even  among  the  Jews  as  a  man 
of  strict  legal  piety,  it  is  not  improbable 
that  he  and  Paul  were  previously  acquaint- 
ed with  one  another  at  Jerusalem.  At  all 
events,  Paul  had  heard  of  the  extraordi- 
nary spiritual  gifts  said  to  be  possessed  by 
Ananias,  and  the  thought  naturally  arose 
in  his  mind,  that  a  man  held  in  so  much 
repute  among  the  Christians,  might  be  able 
to  heal  him  and  recover  him  from  his  pre- 
sent unfortunate  condition  ;  and  while  oc- 
cupied with  this  thought,  his  imagination 
formed  it  into  a  vision.  On  the  other  hand, 
we  may  suppose,  that  Ananias  had  heard 
something  of  the  great  change  that  had 
taken  place  in  Paul ;  and  yet  might  not 
give  full  credence  to  the  report,  till  a  vision 
corresponding  to  Paul's,  and  explicable  on 
similar  psychological  principles,  had  over- 
come his  mistrust. 

In  reference  to  this  explanation,  we  must 
certainly  allow  the  possibility  that  a  change 
like  that  which  took  place  in  Paul,  might 
have  been  prepared  by  impressions  of  the 
kind  mentioned  ;  but  the  narrative  will  not 
countenance  either  the  necessity  or  proba- 
bility of  such  a  supposition.  History  fur- 
nishes us  with  numerous  examples  of  the 
power  of  religious  fanaticism  over  minds 
that  in  other  respects  have  been  susceptible 
of  the  true  and  the  good,  and  yet,  while 
under  its  influence,  have  used  those  very 
things  to  confirm  them  in  their  delusion 
which  might  seem  fitted  to  rescue  them 
from  it.  It  is,  therefore,  quite  consistent 
with  the  powerful  character  of  Paul  to  be- 
lieve that,  in  the  martyrdom  of  Stephen, 
he  saw  only  the  power  of  the  evil  spirit 
over  the  mind  of  one  who  had  been  seduced 
from  the  pure  faith  of  his  fathers  ;  and  that 
hence  he  felt  a  stronger  impulse  to  coun- 
terwork the  propagation  of  a  doctrine 
which  could  involve  in  such  ruin  men  dis- 
tinguished by  their  disposition  and  their 
talents.  Besides,  if  only  the  impression 
which  a  storm  with  its  attendant  circum- 
stances made  upon  him,  was  the  fact  that 
formed  the  groundwork  of  that  vision  of 
Christ — it  would  ill  agree  with  this,  that 


Paul's  followers  believed  that  they  per- 
ceived something  similar  to  what  befell 
him  ;  for  this  is  only  admissible,  if  we 
suppose  them  to  have  been  like-minded 
with  Paul,  which  could  not  be  unless  they 
were  already  Christians,  or  on  the  way 
to  Christianity.  But  such  persons  would 
hardly  attach  themselves  to  a  persecutor 
of  Christians.* 

Such  attempts  at  explaining  the  narra- 
tive are  suspicious,  because  unusual  na- 
tural appearances  are  made  use  of,  to  bring 
down  what  is  extraordinary  into  the  cir- 
cle of  common  events.  Instead,  there- 
fore, of  following  this  explanation,  which 
is  attended  with  great  difficulties — we  might 
rather  conceive  the  whole,  independently 
of  all  outward  phenomena,  as  an  inward 
transaction  in  Paul's  mind,  a. spiritual  re- 
velation of  Christ  to  his  higher  self-con- 
sciousness ;  and,  in  this  light,  we  may 
view  the  experiences  which  he  had  in  his 
conflicts  with  himself  while  a  Pharisee — 
and  the  impression  of  the  discourse  and 
martyrdom  of  Stephen — as  forming  a  pre- 
paration by  which  his  heart  was  rendered 
capable  of  receiving  these  internal  revela- 
tions of  the  Redeemer.  The  divine  origin 
and  the  reality  of  the  fact  will  not  be  in  the 
slightest  degree  affected  by  this  explana- 
tion ;  for  though  we  may  conceive  of  out- 
ward supernatural  appearances — still  there 
would  be  nothing  more  than  the  means  by 
which  Paul  would  be  prepared  for  that  in- 


*  The  variations  in  the  narrative  of  these  events 
contained  in  Acts  ix.  xxii.  and  xxvi.  prove  nothing 
against  the  reality  of  the  fact.  Sucli  unimportant 
differences  might  easily  arise  in  the  repetition  of 
the  narrative  of  an  event  so  far  removed  from  the 
circle  of  ordinary  occurrences ;  and  these  differ- 
ences need  not  be  attribuled  to  alterations  in  the 
narrative  by  Paul  himself,  but  may  be  supposed  to 
originate  in  the  incorrectness  of  others  in  repeat- 
ing ft.  As  for  the  rest,  if  we  assume  that  his  at- 
tendants received  only  a  general  impression  of  the 
phenomenon,  not  so  definite  as  Paul's,  for  whom 
it  was  mainly  intended  ;  that  they  saw  a  light,  but 
no  precise  shape  or  figure  ;  that  they  heard  a  voice, 
without  distinguishing  or  understanding  the  words ; 
— it  is  easy  to  perceive,  that  various  representa- 
tions would  naturally  be  given  of  the  event.  As 
this  phenomenon,  from  its  very  nature,  cannot  be 
judged  of  according  to  the  laws  of  ordinary  earthly 
communications  and  perceptions,  the  difference  in 
the  perceptions  of  Paul  and  his  attendants,  argues 
nothing  against  its  objective  reality.  We  are  too 
ignorant  of  the  laws  which  regulate  the  commu- 
nications between  a  higher  spiritual  world  and 
men  living  in  a  world  of  the  senses,  to  determine 
I  any  thin^  precisely  on  these  points. 


SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY 


[Book  III. 


ternal  revelation  of  Christ,  which  formed 
the  ba^sis  of  his  apostleship.  The  percep- 
tions of  the  senses  cannot  have  greater 
certainty  and  reaUty  than  the  facts  of  a 
higher  self-consciousness,  whereby  a  man 
receives  revelations  of  an  order  of  things 
in  which  his  true  life  has  its  root,  far 
above  the  sensible  world,  which  he  expe- 
riences and  apprehends  spiritually.  And 
that  this  was  no  self-illusion,  capable  of 
being  psychologically  explained,*  that  ex- 
traordinary change  would  testify  which 
was  the  result  in  Paul  of  this  internal 
transaction — this  the  whole  course  of  his 
apostolic  ministry  testifies,  which  may  be 
traced  to  his  inward  experience,  as  the 
effect  to  its  cause.  But  yet  the  manner  in 
which  his  attendants  were  affected  by  what 
happened  on  this  occasion,  contradicts  the 
supposition  of  a  merely  internal  transac- 
tion, even  if  we  could  resolve  on  ascribing 
the  state  in  which  Paul  came  to  Damascus 
to  the  power  of  an  internal  impression. f 


*  Dr.  Strauss  says,  in  his  "  Leben  Jesu,"  vol.  ii. 
p.  656,  "  Neander  merely  ventures  to  maintain  an 
internal  operation  of  Clirist  on  the  mind  of  Paul, 
and  only  adds  the  supposition  of  an  outward  ap- 
pearance, as  if  it  were  a  favour  for  his  readers  to 
grant  it ;  and  even  the  internal  operation  he  makes 
superfluous,  by  particularizing  various  influences 
which,  in  a  natural  way,  might  bring  about  such 
a  revolution  in  such  an  individual's  mind."  But 
as  to  what  concerns  the  latter,  the  conclusion  from 
a  possibility  under  certain  presupposed  circum- 
stances, to  that  which  actually  took  place  in  the 
absence  of  any  historical  proof  of  its  taking  place 
— is  by  no  means  justifiable,  unless  a  person  argues 
on  an  assumption  which  I  do  not  admit,  namely, 
that  every  thing  must  proceed  according  to  the 
laws  of  natural  psychological  developement,  and 
that  a  supernatural  operation  cannot  take  place. 
But  according  to  a  mode  of  viewing  this  subject, 
which  is  as  different  from  the  caricature  of  super- 
naturalism,  drawn  by  Dr.  Strauss  and  others,  (let 
my  readers  compare  the  words  of  truth  in  Twes- 
ten's  preface  to  the  Second  Volume  of  his  "  Dog- 
matik,")  as  from  the  views  of  Dr.  Strauss  himself 
on  the  relation  of  God  to  the  world — a  superna- 
tural operation  by  no  means  excludes  a  prepara- 
tion in  the  natural  develo|)ement  of  man,  nor  does 
the  latter  make  the  former  superfluous.  With  re- 
spect to  the  other  point,  tlie  outward  appearance 
of  Christ,  I  do  not  indeed  hold  this  as  absolutely 
requisite  for  explaining  the  great  revolution  in  the 
spiritual  life  of  Paul,  but  the  circumstances  men- 
tioned in  the  text,  compared  with  the  expressions 
of  Paul  himself,  compel  me  to  admit  its  reality, 
and  I  recognise  the  importance  of  it  for  Paul,  in 
order  that,  like  the  other  apostles,  he  might  be 
able  to  testify  of  Clirist  as  risen  from  the  dead. 

+  The  notion,  that  the  vision  which  immediately 
preceded  Paul's  conversion,  is  the  one  described 
by  himself  in  2  Cor.  xii.  2,  which  in  modern  times 


It  will  be  of  great  service  to  compare 
with  the  narrative  in  the  Acts  the  expres- 
sions used  by  Paul  in  his  Epistles  in  refer- 
ence to  this  event,  so  important  to  him  as 
the  coinmencement  of  a  new  era  in  his 
life.  As  he  often  refers  to  it  in  opposition 
to  his  Jewish  adversaries,  who  were  un- 
willing to  acknowledge  him  as  an  apostle  ; 
so  he  had  a  confident  persuasion  that  the 
apostolic  commission  was  given  him  by 
Christ  in  the  same  manner  as  to  the  other 
apostles  ;  this  is  expressed  most  fully  and 
strongly  in  Gal.  i.  1.  Yet  here  we  need 
not  suppose  an  outward  event  to  be  meant, 
but  may  rather  understand  it  of  an  internal 
transaction  such  as  we  have  described.  In 
the  sixteenth  verse,  Paul  evidently  speaks 
of  an  internal  communication  of  Christ,  of 
an  inward  revelation  of  him  to  his  self- 
consciousness,*  whereby,  independently  of 
all  human  instruction,  he  was  qualified  to 
preach  Christ.  But  something  in  addition 
to  this  is  intended  where  Paul,  in  1  Cor. 
ix.  1,  appeals  to  his  having  seen  Christ  as 
a  mark  of  his  apostleship. f  But  this  might 


has  been  revived  by  several  distinguished  theolo- 
gians, has  every  thing  against  it :  In  the  latter, 
Paul  describes  his  elevation  in  spirit  to  a  higher 
region  of  the  spiritual  world ;  in  the  vision  which 
occasioned  his  conversion,  there  was  a  revelation 
of  Christ  coming  down  to  him  while  consciously 
living  on  the  earth.  The  immediate  impression 
of  the  first  was  depressing  and  humiliating ;  the 
second  was  connected  with  an  extraordinary  men- 
tal elevation,  a  tendency  to  pride  and  vain-glory. 
With  the  first  his  Christian  consciousness  began ; 
the  second  marked  one  of  the  most  exalted  mo- 
ments of  his  inward  life,  after  he  had  long  lived  in 
communion  with  Christ ;  and  by  such  a  foretaste 
of  heavenly  existence,  he  was  refreshed  under  his 
manifold  conflicts,  and  animated  to  renew  his 
earthly  labours.  Tlie  date  of  fourteen  years  men- 
tioned  here,  is  of  no  chronological  use,  farther  than 
to  satisfy  us,  that  the  date  of  Paul's  conversion 
must  be  false,  according  to  which  he  must  have 
written  this  exactly  fourteen  years  later. 

*  It  is  most  natural  to  understand  the  phrase 
h  ijuoi  as  denoting  something  internal. 

+  It  must  be  evident  to  every  unprejudiced 
person,  that  this  cannot  refer  to  Paul's  having 
seen  Jesus  during  his  earthly  life,  (though  a  pos- 
sible  occurrence,)  for  it  would  have  added  nothing 
to  his  apostolic  authority ;  nor  yet  to  the  mere 
knowledge  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ.  Ruekert  in 
his  Commentary  on  this  passage,  maintains  that 
it  refers  to  one  of  the  appearances  of  Christ,  which 
were  granted  to  him  in  a  state  of  ecstatic  vision, 
Acts  xviii.  9,  xxii.  17,  than  to  that  which  occa- 
sioned his  conversion,  especially  since  an  appear- 
ance of  Christ  of  this  kind  is  not  mentioned  either 
in  Acts  ix.  xxii.  xxvi.  nor  in  Galat.  i.  12-^6.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  following  considerations  de- 


Chap.  L] 


BY  THE  APOSTLE  PAUL. 


refer  to  an  ecstatic  vision,  similar  to  what  ] 
Paul  himself  describes  in  2  Cor.  xii.  2. 
On  the  contrary,  something  different  from 
this  must  be  intended  in  the  15th  chap- 
ter of  1st  Corinthians  where  he  places 
the  appearance  of  Christ  to  himself  on  an  | 
equality  with  all  the  other  appearances  of 
the  risen  Saviour.  And  this  declaration 
of  Paul  has  additional  weight,  because,  as 
is  apparent  from  the  passage§  before  quoted 
in  the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
he  could  so  accurately  distinguish  an  ecsta- 
tic state  from  a  state  of  ordinary  self-con- 
sciousness. Hence  we  also  see  how  im- 
portant it  was  for  him,  as  well  as  the  other 
apostles,  to  be  enabled  to  testify,  on  the 
evidence  of  their  own  senses,  of  that  great 
fact,  the  foundation  of  Christian  faith  and 
Christian  hope — the  real  resurrection  of 
Christ  and  his  glorified  personal  existence. 


serve  attention.  Since,  as  Riickert  himself  ac- 
knowledges, the  reading  in  that  passage  is  to  be 
preferred,  in  which  the  words,  "  Am  I  not  an 
apostle  ?"  are  immediately  followed  by  "  Have  I 
not  seen  Christ?"  we  may  infer  that  Paul  ad- 
duced his  having  seen  Christ  as  a  confirmation  of 
his  apostleship ;  as  afterwards,  for  the  same  pur- 
pose, he  adduces  the  success  of  his  efforts  in  found- 
ing the  Corinthian  church.  Without  doubt,  he 
urged  this  against  his  Judaising  opponents,  who 
disputed  his  call  to  the  apostleship  on  the  ground, 
that  he  had  not  been  appointed  by  Christ  himself 
like  the  other  apostles.  In  this  connexion,  it  is 
most  natural  to  expect,  that  Paul  would  speak  of 
that  appearance  of  Christ,  which  marked  the  com- 
mencement of  his  apostolic  career,  that  real  ap- 
pearance of  Christ  which  he  classes  with  the  other 
appearances  of  the  risen  Saviour,  1  Cor.  xv.  8,  and 
not  a  mere  vision.  Ruckert  indeed  maintains, 
that  Paul  made  no  distinction  between  the  two 
kinds  of  appearances,  for  "otherwise  he  would 
have  attributed  no  value  to  visions,  as  mere  fig- 
ments of  the  imagination."  But  this  conclusion 
is  not  correct ;  for  we  may  suppose  something  be- 
tween a  real  objective  appearance,  and  a  natural 
creation  of  the  imagination  formed  in  the  usual 
psychological  manner,  such  an  operation  of  the 
Divine  Spirit  on  the  higher  self-consciousness,  in 
virtue  of  which  what  is  inwardly  apprehended, 
presents  itself  to  the  person  so  influenced  under  a 
sensible  image,  whereby  the  imagination  is  turned 
into  an  organ,  for  what  is  inwardly  apprehended 
by  the  operation  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  That  such 
a  communication  of  the  Divine  Spirit  may  be  dis- 
tinguished both  from  a  real  appearance  to  the 
senses,  and  from  a  mere  result  of  the  imagination, 
is  evident  from  many  passages  of  Holy  Writ,  as 
for  example,  Peter's  vision,  Acts  x.  12.  The 
passage  Gal.  i.  16,  does  not  exclude  an  appearance 
of  Christ,  but  it  was  foreign  to  the  apostle's  object 
to  specify  it.  But  the  word  ^ii/eva.  not  fAnJiv,  Acts 
ix.  7,  certainly  implies,  that  Paul,  in  the  distinc- 
tion from  his  attendants,  had  seen  a  person. 


Lastly,  we  by  no  means  suppose  a  ma- 
gical influence  on  Paul,  by  which  he  was 
carried  away,  and  converted  against  his 
will.  According  to  the  view  we  have 
taken  of  this  event,  we  suppose  an  internal 
point  of  connexion,  without  which,  no  out- 
ward revelation  or  appearance  could  have 
become  an  inward  one;  without  which, 
any  outward  impression  that  could  have 
been  made,  however  powerful,  would  have 
been  transient  in  its  results.  But  in  his 
case,  the  love  for  the  true  and  the  good, 
discernible  even  through  his  errors,  though 
repressed  by  the  power  of  his  passions  and 
prejudices,  was  to  be  set  free  from  its 
thraldom,  only  by  a  mighty  impression. 
Yet  no  external  miracle  whatever  could 
have  converted  a  Caiaphas  into  a  preacher 
of  the  gospel. 

It  might  be  expected,  that  Paul  could 
not  at  once,  after  such  an  impression,  enter 
on  a  new  course  of  action.  Every  thing 
which  hitherto  had  been  the  motive  and 
aim  of  his  conduct,  now  seemed  as  nothing. 
Sorrow  must  have  been  the  predominant 
feeling  of  his  crushed  spirit.  He  could 
not  instantaneously  recover  from  so  over- 
whelming an  impression,  which  gave  a 
new  direction  to  his  whole  being.  He  was 
reduced  to  a  state  of  mental  and  bodily 
weakness,  from  which  he  could  not  restore 
himself.  He  passed  three  days  without 
food.  This  was  for  him  the  point  of  trans- 
ition from  death  to  a  new  life ;  and  no- 
thing can  so  vividly  express  his  feelings  at 
this  awful  crisis,  as  the  exclamation  which 
he  himself,  reverting  to  his  earlier  state, 
puts  in  the  lips  of  the  man  who,  with  the 
deepest  consciousness  of  inward  slavery 
under  the  violated  law,  and  with  earnest 
aspirations  after  freedom,  pours  forth  his 
whole  heart  in  the  words,  "  O  wretched 
man  that  I  am  !  who  shall  deliver  me  ?" — 
Nor  is  it  at  all  probable  that,  in  this  state, 
he  would  seek  for  social  intercourse.  No- 
thing could  less  agree  with  his  feelings 
than  intercourse  with  the  Jews  ;  nor  could 
he  easily  prevail  on  himself  to  seek  out 
the  Christians,  whom  he  had  hitherto  per- 
secuted. To  a  man  in  this  state  of  mind, 
nothing  could  be  so  welcome  as  solitude. 
Hence  it  is  by  no  means  probable,  that  in- 
formation of  the  great  change  that  had 
passed  upon  him,  would  be  conveyed  by 
other  persons  to  Ananias.  It  is  worthy  of 
notice,  that,  in  order  to  attain  a  full  con- 


64 


SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY 


[Book  III. 


sciousness  of  his  new  life,  and  to  make  the  ] 
transinon  from  this  intermediate  state  of 
contrition,  to  a  new  life  of  active  exertion  , 
in  communion  with  Christ,  he  was  brought 
into  connexion  with  the  existing  Christiaa! 
church,  by  the  instrumentality  of  one  of  its  j 
members.  In  communion  with  other  be- 
lievers, he  first  obtained  what  he  could  not  j 
find  in  his  solitude.  When  he  prayed  to 
Christ  who  had  appeared  to  him,  that  he 
would  help  him  in  his  distress,  that  he 
would  enlighten  both  his  bodily  and  mental 
eyes ;  it  was  promised  to  him  in  a  vision, 
that  a  well-known  enlightened  man,  be- 
longing to  the  church  at  Damascus,  whom 
he  probably  knew  by  name  and  sight, 
should  be  the  instrument  of  his  spiritual  and 
bodily  restoration.  When  Ananias,  in  obe- 
dience to  a  divine  call,  visited  him,  Paul 
recognised  the  person  to  whom  the  vision 
had  referred  him,  and  hence  felt  the  fullest 
assurance,  that  in  communion  with  him  he 
should  be  made  partaker  of  a  new  and 
higher  principle  of  life.  Ananias  intro- 
duced Paul  to  the  other  Christians  in  the 
city ;  after  he  had  been  strengthened  by 
spending  several  days  in  their  society,  he 
felt  himself  impelled  to  enter  the  syna- 
gogues, and  testify  in  behalf  of  that  cause, 
which  heretofore  he  had  fiercely  perse- 
cuted.* Whether  he  considered  it  best, 
after  bearing  this  first  testimony  among 
the  Jews,  to  allow  its  impression  to  work 
silently  on  their  minds,  without  personally 
attempting  to  enforce  it ;  or  whether  the 
plots  of  the  Jews  induced  him  to  quit  the 
place,  we  are  not  certain  ;t  be  this  as  it 

*  It  is  difficalt  to  consider  iS^spst/  rtvU  in  Acts 
ix.  19,  and  yi/utpxii  iVav*/?  in  the  23d  verse,  as 
equivalent  terms.  Yet  it  cannot  be  proved  from 
these  words,  that  Luke  by  the  latter  meant  to 
make  a  break  in  Paul's  residence  at  Damascus, 
occasioned  by  a  journey  into  Arabia,  but  the  suc- 
cession of  events  as  narrated  in  the  Acts  leads  to 
consider  this  as  most  natural.  The  i/uip^t  Tiik 
merely  express  the  few  days  which  Paul  just  after 
his  baptism  spent  in  the  fellowsliip  of  the  Chris- 
tians at  Damascus.  The  following  phrase,  x:t/ 
iu^foof,  intimates,  that  immediately  after  he  had 
spent  some  days  with  tlie  disciples  he  entered  into 
the  synagogues ;  and  the  »//«/)«;  ijtavai  denote  the 
whole  period  of  Paul's  stay  at  Damascus.  Within 
this  whole  period  of  li^epa/  ixav*/,  of  which  nothing 
more  is  told  in  the  Acts,  we  must  place  Paul's 
journey  into  Arabia,  of  which  we  should  not  have 
known  but  for  the  mention  of  it  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Galatians. 

t  Schrader,  in  his  Chronological  Remarks  on  the 
Life  of  Paul,  has  lately  maintained,  that  the  words 


may,  he  visited  the  neighbouring  parts  of 
Arabia,  where  he  found  opportunities  for 
publishing  the  gospel  among  the  Jews,  who 
were  spread  over  the  country.  He  then 
returned  again  to  Damascus.  Whether 
the  Jews,  whose  anger  he  had  already  ex- 
cited by  his  former  preaching,  as  soon  as 
they  heard  of  his  coming,  endeavoured  to 
lay  hold  of  a  person  who  was  so  capable 
of  injuring  Judaism  ;  or  whether  they  were 
exasperated  by  his  renewed  addresses  in 
their  synagogues,  he  was  obliged  to  con- 
sult his  safety  by  flight,  as  his  life  was 
threatened  by  their  machinations. — So  far 
was  this  man,  who  shunned  no  danger  in 
his  subsequent  career,  though  now  in  the 
first  glow  of  conversion,  a  season  when 
the  mind  is  generally  most  prone  to  extra- 
vagance— so  far  was  he  from  indulging  in 
that  enthusiastic  ardour  which  seeks  and 
craves  for  martyrdom  !*  He  was  let  down 
by  his  friends  in  a  basket,  through  the 
window  of  a  house,  built  against  the  wall 
of  the  city,  that  he  might  escape  unnoticed 
by  the  Jews,  who  were  lying  in  wait  for 
him  at  the  gates.     After  three  years  had 


of  Paul  in  Gal.  i.  16,  must  be  thus  explained  by 
means  of  the  antithesis  ;  he  had  not  been  instruct- 
ed by  men  for  his  apostolic  calling,  but  had  retired 
to  the  neighbouring  district  of  Arabia,  in  order  to 
prepare  himself  in  an  independent  manner,  and 
in  solitude.  But  had  he  meant  to  say  this,  he 
would  scarcely  have  chosen  the  general  designa- 
tion  'Afj/iin,  but  rather  have  substituted  for  it 
'ifiiifAiyv  'Apa/S/^c,  or  simply  'ifm/uov,  by  which  he 
would  have  marked  more  distinctly  the  object  of 
this  d7rtp^i(rbiti.  It  is  psychologically  most  pro- 
bable that  Paul,  after  Ananias  had  visited  him  in 
his  solitude,  and  revived  his  spirit,  would  not  go 
again  into  retirement,  but  rather  would  seek  the 
communion  of  other  believers,  and,  after  he  had 
been  edified  and  strengthened  by  them,  would  feel 
himself  impelled  forthwith  to  bear  his  testimony 
before  those  who  held  his  former  faith.  This  view 
is  also  strongly  confirmed  by  the  passage  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  for  the  connected  sense 
seems  to  be  as  follows :  As  soon  as  God  revealed 
his  Son  to  me,  that  I  might  publish  him  among 
the  Gentiles,  I  published  tiie  Gospel  in  an  inde- 
pendent manner,  according  to  this  revelation.  Paul 
expresses  this  sentiment  both  in  a  positive  and  ne- 
gative form.  I  was  not  entrusted  for  my  calling, 
by  any  h\iman  authority  whatever,  by  none  of  the 
apostles  at  Jerusalem,  but  immediately  travelled 
into  Arabia,  there  to  proclaim  tiie  gospel.  Com- 
pare Auger's  profound  and  acute  inquiry  "  de  tem- 
porum  in  Actis  Apostolorum  ralione."  Lipsise 
1833,  p.  23. 

*  "  The  glorying  in  infirmities,"  i^among  which 
he  reckons  this  flight),  "  to  t»c  as-S-svEiac  ;cat/;^u!r- 
9-a<,"  is  one  feature  in  his  character  which  distin- 
guished him  from  enthusiasts :  2  Cor.  xi.  30. 


Chap.  I.] 


BY  THE  APOSTLE  PAUL. 


thus  expired  from  the  time  of  his  conver- 
sion,* he  resolved,  about  the  year  39, "j" 
once  more  to  return  to  Jerusalem,  that  he 


*  Three  years  after  his  conversion,  namely,  on 
the  supposition  that  the  terminus  a  quo,  the  years 
are  reckoned  in  the  passage  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Galati.ms,  is  the  date  of  his  conversion. 

t  This  circumstance  in  Paul's  life,  furnishes  one 
of  the  few  chronological  marks  for  its  history. 
When  Paul  fled  from  Damascus  Uiree  years  after 
his  conversion,  that  city  was  under  the  government 
of  King  Aretas  of  Arabia  Petrsea,  2  Cor.  xi.  32. 
But  since  Damascus  belonged  to  a  Roman  pro- 
vince, Aretas  must  have  been  in  possession  of  this 
city  under  very  peculiar  circumstances.  Siisskind 
in  his  essay  in  Bengel's  Archiv  1. 2.  p.  314  :  VVurm 
in  his  essay  on  the  Clironology  of  Paul's  life,  in  the 
"Tubinger  Zeitschrift  fur  Theologie,"  1833,  1st 
part,  p.  27;  and  Auger,  p.  161,  agree  in  thinking, 
that  we  are  not  quite  justified  in  admitting  that 
Aretas  was  at  that  time  in  possession  of  Damascus, 
as  it  is  a  conclusion  nowise  favoured  by  other  his- 
torical accounts ;  for  if  Damascus  was  then  under 
the  Roman  government,  the  Ethnarch  of  Aretas 
might  have  ventured  to  place  a  watcii  before  the 
gates  of  the  city,  or,  through  his  influence  with 
the  Roman  authorities,  have  obtained  permission 
for  the  Jews  to  do  this.  Yet  it  is  difficult  to  be- 
lieve, that  if  Damascus  belonged  to  a  Roman  pro- 
vince, the  Arabian  Ethnarch  would  venture  to 
surround  the  city  with  a  watch,  in  order  to  get 
the  Roman  citizen  into  his  power;  or  that  the 
Roman  authorities  would  allow  of  his  doing  so,  or 
at  his  request  expose  a  Roman  citizen  to  the  wrath 
of  the  Jews.  Although  the  history,  in  which  there 
are  besides  so  many  breaks,  does  not  inform  us  of 
such  an  occupancy  of  Damascus,  yet  the  conside- 
ration of  this  passage  favours  this  supposition. 
Now  the  circumstances  by  which  Aretas  might 
have  gained  possession  of  the  city  were  probably 
these.  The  Emperor  Tiberius,  as  the  ally  of  King 
Herod  Agrippa,  whose  army  had  been  defeated  by 
Aretas,  commanded  Vitellius,  the  governor  of  Syria, 
to  get  possession  of  him  either  dead  or  alive.  But 
while  Vitellius  was  preparing  to  execute  these 
orders,  and  various  circumstances  delayed  his  en- 
tering on  the  campaign,  news  arrived  of  the  Em- 
peror's death,  which  took  place  in  March  of  the 
year  37,  and  Vitellius  was  thus  stopped  in  his 
military  movements.  Aretas  miglit  take  advan- 
tage of  this  interval  to  gain  possession  of  the  city. 
But  we  must  not  suppose  that  the  city  thus 
snatched  from  the  Romans  remained  long  in  his 
hands,  and  it  is  probable  that,  as  in  the  second 
year  of  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Caligula,  a.  d. 
38-3.'),  the  aff'airs  of  Arabia  were  settled,  Damas- 
cus also  was  not  left  unnoticed.  If  we  place  the 
flight  of  Paul  from  Damascus  in  39,  then  his 
conversion  must  have  been  in  a.  d.  36,  since  it 
must  have  occurred  three  years  before,  and  we 
also  fix  the  same  date  for  Stephen's  martyrdom. 
From  the  absence  of  chronological  information  re- 
specting the  events  of  those  times,  we  cannot  fix 
with  certainty  the  date  of  Paul's  conversion;  yet 
the  computation  which  places  it  in  a.  d.  36,  has 
this  in  its  favour,  that  it  allows  neither  too  long 
nor  short  a  time  for  the  events  which  took  place 
in  the  Christian  church,  from  the  period  of  Christ's 

9 


might  become  personally  acquainted  with 
Peter,  as  the  individual  who  at  that  time 
maintained  the  highest  reputation  in  the 
new  church,  and  exercised  the  greatest  in- 
fluence in  all  its  concerns.  But  as  he  was 
known  at  Jerusalem  only  as  the  persecu- 
tor, every  one  avoided  him,  till  Barnabas,* 
a  distinguished  teacher  of  the  church,  who,- 
as  a  Heilerrist,  felt  less  a  stranger  to  him, 
and  might  formerly  have  had  some  con- 
nexion with  him,  introduced  him  to  the 
rest.  His  Hellenistic  origin  occasioned  his 
holding  many  conversations  and  disputa- 
tions on  Judaism  and  the  Christian  doc- 
trine with  the  Hellenistic  Jews. 

It  may  be  asked,  whether  Paul  took  the 
same  ground  in  his  controversies  with  his 
countrymen  at  this  early  period,  as  in  later 
times  ;  and  this  is  connected  with  the  mode 
of  the  developement  of  his  Christian  con- 
victions and  doctrinal  views.  When  he 
first  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel, 
did  he  recognise  at  the  same  time  its  inde- 
pendence of  the  Mosaic  law?  To  do  this, 
must  have  been  most  difficult  for  one  who 
had  so  lately  renounced  the  principles  of 
Pharisaism:  for  we  generally  find  that 
others  of  this  sect  who  embraced  Chris- 
tianity, attempted  to  combine  their  former 
tenets  with  those  of  the  gospel.  Ananias, 
the  first  instructor  of  the  apostle,  was  uni- 
versally reverenced  on  account  of  his  legal 
piety  ;  such  an  individual,  therefore,  must 
have  been  very  far  from  wishing  to  eflTect 
a  disruption  of  Christianity  from  the  Mosaic 
ceremonial  law.  At  the  time  of  Paul's 
conversion,  this  was  the  tone  of  sentiment 
universally  prevalent  among  Christians ; 
for  as  we  have  remarked,  it  was  only  after 
the  martyrdom  of  Stephen,  and  owing  to 
the  results  of  that  event,  that  new  light  on 
this  subject  from  various  quarters  gra- 
duaHy  broke  in  upon  them.  But  we  are  not 
justified  in  assuming,  that  the  same  causes 
led  Paul  to  the  views  he  adopted.  We  can- 
not attribute  much  efficacy  to  influences 
from  without,  by  the  communications  of 
doctrines  and  views,  in  the  case  of  a  man 
so  distinguished  for  his  great  independent 


Ascension,  to  the  martyrdom  of  Stephen  and  the 
conversion  of  Paul. 

*  See  page  36.  According  to  an  account,  not 
indeed  sufficiently  authenticated  in  Hypotyposeis 
of  Clemens  Alex,  mentioned  by  Eusebius,  Hist. 
Eccles.  ii.  1,  Barnabas  had  been  one  of  the  seventy 
disciples. 


SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY 


[Book  III. 


peculiarity  of  character.  We  are  compelled 
to  be,lieve  him,  when  he  testifies  so  un- 
doubtingly,  that  he  received  the  gospel,  in 
the  manner  he  was  wont  to  publish  it,  not 
by  human  instruction,  but  only  by  a  com- 
munication of  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  Some 
exception,  however,  must  be  made  in  re- 
ference to  the  historical  records,  containing 
the  discourses  and  precepts  of  Christ ;  with 
these  he  became  acquainted  through  the 
ordinary  channel  of  human  tradition,  and 
we  fiYid  him  accordingly  appealing  on  cer- 
tain occasions  to  such  traditions,  or  to 
words  uttered  by  the  Lord.* 

As  Paul  felt  himself  compelled  to  ex- 
amine, independently  of  others,  the  depths 
of  the  truth  made  known  by  Christ,  he 
must  have  thought  it  a  matter  of  importance 
to  obtain  a  collection  of  the  sayings  of 
Christ,  on  which  all  farther  developements 
of  the  new  doctrine  must  depend,  and  from 
which  they  must  proceed.  We  cannot 
suppose  that  he  would  satisfy  himself  with 
single  expressions  casually  obtained  from 
oral  intercourse  with  the  apostles,  whom  he 
met  so  seldom,  and  for  so  short  a  lime. 
Besides,  he  says  expressly  in  his  Epistle 
to  the  Galatiaus,  that  these  interviews 
with  the  other  apostles  were  of  no  ser- 
vice towards  his  acquiring  a  deeper  in- 
sight into  Christian  doctrines.  We  are 
led  to  the  supposition,  that  he  obtained 
written  memoirs  of  the  life  of  Christ,  or  at 
least,  a  written  collection  of  the  sayings  of 
Christ,  if  such  existed,  or  that  he  compiled 
one  himself.  But  it  is  very  probable  that 
such  a  col  lection,  or  several  such  collections, 
and  written  memoirs  of  Christ's  ministry, 
were  in  existence  ;  for,  however  highly  we 
may  estimate  the  power  of  the  living  word 


*  1  Cor.  XI.  23.  On  this  passage,  Schulz  justly 
remarks,  that  Paul  uses  avo  not  Traga  to  signify 
that  what  he  "  received"  was  not  immedialely  but 
medialehj  from  the  Lord.  What  has  been  said  by 
Olshausen  and  Meier  (on  different  grounds)  against 
this  interpretation,  has  not  induced  me  to  give  it 
up.  The  expression  va^KaCov  utto  tou  nueiov  is 
also  by  no  means  unimportant.  It  was  not  so 
much  the  apostle's  design  to  mark  the  manner  in 
which  this  tradition  came  to  him,  but  only  for  what 
purpose  it  was  given,  to  represent  as  certain  that 
this  was  the  form  in  which  the  Lord  had  institu- 
ted  the  Last  Supper ;  hence  also  the  repetition  of 
the  term  xyg/sc  is  not  improper.  Had  Paul  been 
speaking  of  a  special  revelation,  by  which  this  in- 
formation was  imparted,  he  would  scarcely  have 
BJgnified  It  by  ^r^giAaC-.v  but  rather  by  d^w«x:,^9« 


in  this  youthful  period  of  the  church,  we 
cannot  allow  ourselves  to  forget  that  we 
are  not  speaking  of  the  age  of  rhapsodies, 
but  of  one  in  which — especially  wherever 
Grecian  cultivation  had  found  its  way — 
historical  composition  was  much  practised. 
Might  we  not  expect,  then,  that  some 
memorials  would  be  speedily  committed  to 
writing  of  what  moved  their  hearts,  and  oc- 
cupied their  thoughts  so  intensely ;  although 
a  longer  time  might  elapse  before  any 
one  resolved  to  attempt  a  delineation  of 
the   whole  life  of  Christ?*     Many   allu- 


*  Eu.sebius  narrates  (v.  10),  probably  in  conse- 
quence of  information  derived  from  Pantsenus,  that 
the  apostle  Bartholomew  had  communicated  to  the 
so-called  Indians  to  whom  he  pubhshed  the  gos- 
pel, a  Hebrew  original  document  of  the  Evangeli- 
cal History  drawn  up  by  Matthew,  which  account 
we  are  plainly  not  justified  to  call  in  question. 
This  original  document  may  indeed  be  the  same 
which  Papias  entitles  (Eusebius,  iii.  39)  irvvTct^ig 
tZi  xoyiofi  rod  xv^tov.  And  I  should  by  no  means 
object  to  understanding  this  to  be  a  collection  of 
the  Discourses  of  the  Lord — for  it  is  in  itself  very 
probable  that  such  a  compilation  would  be  early 
made,  as  a  store  of  materials  for  the  developement 
of  Christian  doctrine — if  what  he  had  before  said 
of  Mark's  writings  did  not  intimate  that  he  meant 
both  the  discourses  and  actions  of  Christ ;  for  I 
cannot  with  Schneckenburger,  trace  the  distinc- 
tion, that  Mark  had  compiled  a  report  of  the  dis- 
courses and  actions  of  Christ,  but  Matthew  only 
of  his  discourses.  In  this  case,  Papias  would  have 
laid  the  emphasis  on  hoyt:t,  and  have  said  tZv  xo- 
yim-i  ToZ  icv^iov  ruvret^iv ',  but  now  the  emphasis  rests 
on  the  word  a-wrct^iv,  an  orderly  collection,  not 
mere  insulated  fragments;  {note  to  2d  edition.)  To 
this  3d  edition,  I  must  add,  in  limitation  of  what  I 
have  here  said,  and  of  what  Dr.  Lucke  has  said 
before  me  in  the  "  Studien  und  Kritiken,"  1833, 
p.  501,  certainly  the  emphasis  rests  upon  the  word 
cruvTa^<5,  as  contrasted  with  a  rhapsodical  descrip- 
tion ;  it  may  be  intended  that  Papias  wished  to 
contrast  the  work  of  Mark  as  a  rhapsodical  col- 
lection of  the  actions  and  discourses  of  Christ, 
with  the  work  of  Matthew  as  an  arranged  collec- 
tion of  the  sayings  of  the  Lord  alone.  Lastly,  he 
says  this  only  in  a  secondary  sense  of  Mark.  The 
words  peculiarly  apply  to  Peter,  from  whose  dis- 
courses Mark  must  have  borrowed  the  materials 
and  the  form  of  his  work.     Of  Peter,  he  says,  oc 

uio-TTi^  <7vvra.^iv  tZv  xv^i^icZv  Troicv/uivoc:  Kcyim.  Peter 
had  composed  his  addresses  according  to  the  wants 
of  his  hearers  at  the  time,  and  not  with  the  inten- 
tion of  giving  an  orderly  account  of  the  discourses 
or  sayings  of  Christ.  For  this  reason,  Mark,  who 
drew  all  his  information  from  these  addresses, 
could  compile  nothing  of  that  kind.  The  words 
of  Papias  are  therefore  rather  favourable  than  un- 
favourable to  the  supposition,  that  the  original 
work  of  Matthew  was  only  a  collection  of  the 
sayings  of  Christ,  as  Schleiermacher  maintained. 
As  to  Bartholomew's  taking  such  a  document  with 


Chap.  I.] 


BY  THE  APOSTLE  PAUL. 


67 


sions  to  expressions  of  Christ  in  the  PauUne 
Epistles,  besides  his  direct  quotations  of 
Christ's  words,  point  to  such  a  collection 
of  his  discourses,  of  which  the  apostle 
availed  himself,*  and  probably  Marcion, 
who  owned  no  inspired  authority  besides 
Paul,  had  heard  of  such  a  compilation  of 
the  memoirs  of  Christ,  made  use  of  by  his 
favourite  apostle,  and  attempted  by  his 
criticisms  on  Luke's  writings,  which  were 
not  altogether  to  his  mind,  to  find  out  what 
he  considered  as  Pauline.+  Thus  the 
words  of  Christ  given  by  tradition,  were 
the  foundation  for  the  continued  develope- 
ment  of  Christian  doctrine,  to  which,  inde- 
pendently of  all  other  instructions,  the 
illumination  of  the  Holy  Spirit  led  the 
apostles.  And  we  can  easily  make  it  ap- 
parent, that  many  of  the  deep  truths  ex- 
pressed by  him,  for  example,  in  reference 
to  the  relation  of  the  law  to  the  gospel,  un- 
folded themselves  to  his  view,  from  hints 
pregnant  with  meaning,:}:  given  by  Christ 
himself.§  Nor  can  we  form  any  other 
judgment    respecting  him  as  a    Christian 


him  for  his  mission,  something  similar  may  have 
occurred  with  other  preachers  of  the  gospel, 
whether  Paul  obtained  the  same  document  or  an- 
other. The  Judaizing  tendency  of  the  document 
derived  from  Matthew,  alleged  by  many,  by  no 
means  prevents  me  from  admitting  this;  it  con- 
tains expressions  which,  by  Ebionites  cleaving  to 
the  letter,  might  be  interpreted  according  to  their 
mind ;  but  in  which  Paul,  who  penetrated  deeper 
into  the  spirit,  would  find  an  entirely  different 
idea, — See  Das  Lehen  Jesu,  p.  9,  131,  140. 

*  Das  Lehen  Jesu,  p.  157,  2.38,  241,  474. 

f  "  It  is  certain  that  he  (Marcion)  acknowledged 
only  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  and  an  original  gospel 
which,  by  a  mistake,  he  believed  that  he  had  found 
quoted  by  Paul  as  the  genuine  sources  of  Christian 
knowledge.  But  as  he  proceeded  on  the  fixed  idea, 
that  these  ancient  records  no  longer  existed  in 
their  original  state,  but  had  been  falsified  by  the 
Judaizers,  whose  image  often  haunted  him  like  a 
spectre,  he  attempted  by  means  of  an  arbitrary 
criticism  to  restore  them  to  their  original  form. 
His  supposed  original  gospel  made  use  of  by  Paul, 
was  a  mutilation  of  the  Gospel  of  Luke.  His 
criticism  was  so  far  from  logical,  that  several 
things  were  allowed  to  remain,  which  could  only 
be  brought  into  agreement  with  Marcion's  system 
by  a  forced  interpretation  and  a  violation  of  genuine 
Hermeneutics."  Dr.  Neander  in  his  "  Allgerneine 
Geschichte  der  Chrisllichen  Religion  und  Kirche" 
vol.  i.  p.  802.     [Tr.] 

t  It  will  be  evident  that  I  do  not  mean  to  say, 
what  Christ  himself  possessed  as  the  fulness  of 
meaning;  but  what  presented  itself  to  him  who 
received  it  with  a  susceptible  disposition,  as  a  germ 
of  a  new  spiritual  creation. 

§  Das  Leben  Jesu,  133,  395,  431,  465. 


teacher,  than  that  he,  by  the  Spirit  of 
Christ,  understood  the  words  of  Christ 
made  known  to  him  by  tradition,  in  all 
their  depth  of  meaning,  and  thus  learnt  to 
develope  the  hidden  fulness  of  divine  truth 
which  they  contained. 

Certainly  for  those  who  gradually  past 
over  to  Christianity  from  Pharisaic  Judaism, 
a  consideraiile  time  might  elapse  before  the 
spirit  of  Christianity  could  divest  itself  of 
the  Pharisaic  form.  But  it  was  otherwise 
with  Paul,  in  whom  Pharisaism  had  ex- 
hibited the  most  unsparing  opposition  to 
the  gospel,  and  who,  without  any  such  gra- 
dual transition,  had  been  seized  at  a  criti- 
cal moment  by  the  power  of  the  gospel, 
and  from  being  its  most  violent  enemy,  had 
become  its  most  zealous  confessor ;  that 
Paul  who,  as  he  describes  it  in  the  seventh 
chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  after 
the  sense  of  slavery  had  been  excited  to 
the  utmost  intensity  in  his  bosom,  was  at 
once  transported  into  a  state  of  freedom, 
by  believing  in  the  Redeemer.  The  bonds 
of  Pharisaism  were  in  his  case  loosened 
instantaneously ;  in  his  mind  oppositioa 
against  Pharisaic  Judaism,  took  the  place 
of  opposition  against  the  gospel,  as  he  says 
of  himself  (Philippians  iii.  8),  that  for 
Christ's  sake,  he  had  suffered  the  loss  of 
all  those  things  which  he  once  prized,  and 
all  that  once  appeared  to  him  so  splendid, 
"  he  counted  but  as  dung,"  that  he  might 
win  Christ.  Thus  from  the  beginning,  by 
the  illumination  of  the  Spirit  alone,  and 
according  to  the  guidance  of  Christ's  words, 
he  had  been  taught,  in  all  its  freedom  and 
depth,  the  genius  of  the  gospel  in  relation 
to  Judaism,  without  having  his  views  modi- 
fied by  the  infltuence  of  Peteri*  and  those 

*  That  is,  on  the  supposition  that  the  conver- 
sion of  Cornelius  had  already  taken  place,  which, 
taking  into  account  its  connexion  with  other 
events,  is  most  probable.  The  interest  which  the 
conversion  of  Cornelius  and  his  whole  family  ex- 
cited at  Jerusalem,  and  the  manner  of  Peter's  re- 
ception there,  it  would  not  be  easy  to  explain,  if 
tlicy  had  already  been  made  acquainted  with  the 
effects  of  Christianity  among  the  Gentiles  at  An- 
tioch.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  by  no  means  appa. 
rent  from  the  mission  of  Barnabas  to  Antioch 
(Acts  xi.  22),  that  they  had  still  so  decided  a 
scruple  against  the  reception  of  believing  Gentiles 
into  the  Christian  church.  It  would  agree  very 
well  with  the  disposition  they  manifested  on  that 
occasion,  if  we  suppose  that,  by  the  example  of 
Cornelius  and  his  family,  and  by  the  influence  of 
Peter,  they  had  been  induced  to  give  up  their  de- 
cided opposition.     But  they  might  wish  to  con- 


SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


[Book  III. 


Christians  of  Hellenistic  descent,  who  had 
already  preached  the  gospel  among  the 
Gentiles.  It  was  in  consequence  of  this, 
that  Paul  (since,  like  his  precursor  Stephen, 
he  more  freely  developed  evangelical  truth 
under  this  aspect  in  disputations  with  the 
Hellenists)  e.\cited  so  strongly  the  indigna- 
tion of  the  Jews.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
prospect  opened  to  him  of  a  wider  sphere 
of  action  among  heathen  nations.  As  he 
was  one  day  in  the  Temple,  and  by  prayer 
lifting' up  his  soul  to  the  Lord,  he  was 
borne  aloft  from  earthly  things.  In  a  vi- 
sion he  received  an  assurance  from  the 
Lord,  that  though  he  would  be  able  to  effect 
nothing  at  Jerusalem,  on  account  of  the 
animosity  of  the  Jews,  he  was  destined  to 
carry  the  doctrine  of  salvation  to  other 
nations,  even  in  remote  regions ;  Acts  xxii. 
21.  Accordingly,  after  staying  in  Jerusa- 
lem not  more  than  fourteen  days,  he  was 
obliged  to  leave  it,  through  the  machinations 
of  the  Jews.  He  now  returned  to  his  na- 
tive place.  Tarsus,  where  he  spent  several 
years,  certainly  not  in  inactivity  ;  for  by 
his  labours  the  gospel  was  spread  among 
both  Jews  and  Gentiles  in  Tarsus  and 
throughout  Cilicia  ;  there  is  good  reason 
for  believing,  that  to  him  the  Gentile 
churches,  which  in  a  short  time  we  find  in 
Cilicia,  owed  their  origin.* 


vince  themselves  by  the  investigations  of  an  apos- 
tolic man,  that  every  thing  was  right  in  this  churcli, 
consisting  for  the  most  part  of  Gentile  Christians. 
Even  when  they  had  adopted  more  liberal  views 
on  this  subject,  still  there  might  be  so  much  of 
their  former  feeling  left,  that  they  could  not  place 
the  same  confidence  in  a  church  founded  among 
the  Gentiles  as  in  one  among  the  Jews.  Though 
it  is  possible  that  they  sent  so  able  a  teacher 
thither,  not  from  any  feeling  of  distrust,  but  for 
the  establishment  and  furtherance  of  tiie  work 
already  begun;  and  chose  a  Hellenist  as  better 
fitted  to  publish  the  gospel  among  people  of  Gre- 
cian  descent.  Auger's  remarks,  in  his  work 
already  quoted,  p.  188,  have  occasioned  an  altera- 
tion in  my  former  views. 

*  The  silence  of  the  Acts  respecting  the  labours 
of  Paul  in  Cilicia,  cannot  be  brought  as  evidence 
against  the  fact,  for  the  account  ^it  gives  of  this 
period  has  many  lacuna.  From  the  manner  in 
which  Paul  is  mentioned  as  secondary  to  Barna- 
bas, till  the  time  of  their  first  missionary  journey, 
an  argument  might  be  drawn  for  his  not  hnving 
previously  entered  on  any  independent  sphere  of 
labour.  But  the  case  may  be,  tiiat  though  Paul, 
as  the  younger  and  less  known,  was  at  first  spoken 
of  as  subordinate  to  Barnabas,  the  elder  and  ap. 
proved  publisher  of  the  gospel ;  yet,  by  degrees, 
Paul's  extraordinary  exertions  gave  a  different 
aspect  to  their  relative  position.     In  Jerusalem 


CHAPTER  11. 

THE  CHURCH  AT  ANTIOCH  THE  GENTILE  MOTHER- 
CHURCH,  AND  ITS  RELATION  TO  THE  JEWISH 
MOTHER-CHURCH. 

I]N-  the  mean  time,  as  we  have  already 
remarked,  Christianity  was  propagated 
among  the  Gentiles  by  Hellenist  teachers 
in  Antioch,  the  metropolis  of  Eastern  Ro- 
man Asia.  The  news  of  this  event  excited 
great  interest  among  the  Christians  at  Jeru- 
salem, It  is  true,  the  information  was  not 
received  in  exactly  the  same  manner  as  it 
would  have  been,  if  the  account  of  the 
operation  of  Christianity  among  the  Gen- 
tiles in  the  conversion  of  Cornelius  had  not 
materially  contributed  to  allay  their  preju- 
dices. But  still  a  measure  of  mistrust  was 
prevalent  against  the  Gentile  believers  who 
were  non-observant  of  the  Mosaic  law,  a 
feeling  which,  after  many  repeated  exhibi- 
tions of  the  divine  power  of  the  gospel 
among  Gentile  Christians,  lingered  for  a 
long  time  in  the  majority  of  Jewish  believ- 
ers. On  this  account,  Barnabas,  a  teacher 
who  stood  high  in  the  general  confidence, 
and  who  as  a  Hellenist  was  better  fitted  to 
deal  with  Christians  of  the  same  class,  was 
commissioned  to  visit  the  new  Gentile  con- 
verts. On  his  arrival  he  rejoiced  in  wit- 
nessing the  genuine  effects  of  the  gospel, 
and  used  his  utmost  endeavours  to  advance 
the  work.  The  extensive  prospect  which 
opened  here  for  the  advancement  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  occasioned  his  inviting 
Paul,  who  had  been  active  among  the  Gen- 
tiles in  Cilicia,  to  become  his  fellow-la- 
bourer. One  evidence  of  the  power  with 
which  Christianity  in  an  independent  man- 
ner spread  itself  among  the  Gentiles,  was 
the  new  name  of  Christians  which  was 
here  given  to  believers.  Among  themselves 
they  were  called,  the  Disciples  of  the  Lord, 
the  Disciples  of  Jesus,  the  Brethren,  the 

they  continued  for  a  longer  time  to  assign  the 
priority  to  Barnabas,  as  appears  from  the  apostolic 
Epistle  in  Acts  xv.  25,  a  circumstance  which 
Blcek  very  justly  adduces  as  a  mark  of  the  unal- 
tered  originality  of  this  document;  v.  Sludien  und 
Kritiken,  1836,  part  iv.  p.  1037.  At  all  events, 
one  would  rather  assign  a  date  some  years  later 
to  the  conversion  of  Paul,  (on  which  too,  we  can 
never  come  to  a  decisive  conclusion,)  than  suppose 
that  he  could  spend  several  years  in  his  native 
place  without  exerting  himself  for  ihe  propagation 
of  Christianity, — he  who  solemnly  declares,  that, 
from  the  time  of  his  conversion,  he  felt  so  strongly 
the  impulse  of  an  inward  call  to  preach  the  gospel. 


Chap.  II.] 


CHURCH  AT  ANTIOCH. 


Believers.  By  the  Jews  names  were  im- 
posed upon  them  which  implied  underva- 
luation or  contempt,  such  as  the  Galileans, 
the  Nazarencs,  the  Paupers  ;  and  Jews 
would  of  course  not  give  them  a  name 
meaning  the  adherents  of  the  Messiah. 
The  Gentiles  had  hitherto,  on  account  of 
their  observance  of  the  ceremonial  law,  not 
known  how  to  distinguish  them  from  Jews. 
But  now,  when  Christianity  was  spread 
among  the  Gentiles  apart  from  the  obser- 
vance of  the  ceremonial  law,  its  professors 
appeai-ed  as  an  entirely  new  religious  sect 
(a  genus  tertitmi,  as  they  were  sometimes 
termed,  being  neither  Jews  nor  Gentiles) ; 
and  as  the  term  Christ  was  held  to  be  a 
proper  name,  the  adherents  of  the  new 
religious  teacher  were  distinguished  by  a 
word  formed  from  it,  as  the  adherents  of 
any  school  of  philosophy  were  wont  to  be 
named  after  its  founder. 

Antioch  from  this  time  occupied  a  most 
important  place  in  the  propagation  of  Chris- 
tianity, for  which  there  were  now  two  cen- 
tral points ;  what  Jerusalem  had  hitherto 
been  for  this  purpose  among  the  Jews,  that 
Antioch  now  became  among  the  Gentiles 
Here  first  the  two  representations  of  Chris- 
tianity, distinguished  from  one  another  by 
the  predominance  of  the  Jewish  or  Gentile 
element,  came  into  collision.  As  at  Alex- 
andria at  a  later  period,  the  developement 
of  Christianity  had  to  experience  the  effect 
of  various  mixtures  of  the  ancient  oriental 
modes  of  thinking  with  the  mental  cultiva- 
tion of  the  Grecian  schools,  so  in  this  Ro- 
man metropolis  of  Eastern  Asia,  it  met 
with  various  mixtures  of  the  oriental  forms 
of  religious  belief.  From  Antioch,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  second  century,  proceeded 
the  system  of  an  oriental-anti-Jewish  Gno- 
sis, which  opposed  Christianity  to  Judaism. 

As  there  was  considerable  intercourse 
between  the  two  churches  at  Jerusalem  and 
Antioch,  Christian  teachers  frequently  came 
from  the  former  to  the  latter ;  among  these 
was  a  prophet  named  Agabus,  who  prophe- 
sied of  an  approaching  famine,  which 
would  be  felt  severely  by  a  great  number 
of  poor  Christians  in  Jerusalem,  and  he 
called  upon  the  believers  in  Antioch  to  assist 
their  poorer  bretheren.  This  famine  ac- 
tually occurred  in  Palestine  about  A.  D. 
44.*' 

*  We  cannot  fix  the  exact  time  when  this  fa- 


The  faculty  of  foretelling  a  future  event, 
did  not  necessarily  enter  into  the  New  Tes- 
tament idea  of  a  prophet,  if  we  assume  • 
that  Luke  wrote  from  his  own  standing- 
point.  An  address  fitted  to  produce  a 
powerful  effect  on  an  audience,  one  by 
which  Christians  would  be  excited  to  deeds 
of  beneficence,  would  agree  with  the  marks 
of  a  proph*etic  address  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment sense ;  but  as  in  the  Acts  it  is  ex- 
pressly added,  that  the  famine  foretold  by 
the  prophet  actually  came  to  pass  ;  we  must 
doubtless  admit,  in  this  instance,  that  there 
was  a  prediction  of  an  impending  famine, 
although  it  is  possible  that  the  prophecy  was 
founded  on  the  observation  of  natural 
prognostics. 

The  Christians  at  Antioch  felt  themselves 
bound  to  assist  in  its  temporal,  distress,  that 
church  from  which  they  had  received  the 
highest  spiritual  benefits,  and  probably  sent 
their  contributions  before  the  beginning  of 
the  famine,  by  the  hands  of  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas, to  the  presiding  elders  of  the  church 
at  Jerusalem.  This  church,  after  enjoying 
about  eight  years'  peace,  since  the  persecu- 
tion that  ensued  on  Stephen's  martyrdom, 
was  once  more  assailed  by  a  violent  but 
transient  •  tempest.  King  Herod  Agrippa, 
to  whom  the  Emperor  Claudius  had  granted 
the  government  of  Judea,  affected  great 
zeal  for  the  strict  observance  of  the  ancient 
ritual,*  although  on  many  occasions  he 
acted  contrary  to  it,  on  purpose  to  ingratiate 
himself  with  the  Gentiles,  just  as  by  his 
zeal  for  Judaism,  he  tried  to  attach  the 
Jewish  people  to  himself.  Actuated  by  such 
motives,  he  thought  it  expedient  to  manifest 
hostility  to  the  teachers  of  the  new  doctrine, 
of  whom  he  had  received  unfavourable  re- 


mine  began.  It  is  mentioned  by  Josephus  in  his 
Antiq.  book  xx.  chap.  2  §  5.  It  was  so  great  that 
numbers  died  in  it  from  want.  Queen  Helena  of 
Adiabcne  in  Syria,  a  convert  to  Judaism,  sent  a 
vessel  laden  with  corn,  which  she  had  purchased 
at  Alexandria,  and  with  figs  procured  in  the  island 
of  Cyprus,  to  Jerusalem,  and  caused  tliese  provi- 
sions  to  be  distributed  among  the  poor.  Luke,  in- 
deed,  speaks  of  a  fiimine  tliat  spread  itself  over 
the  whole  otnovfJu'Di,  which  was  not  the  case  with 
this.  To  understand  by  ououfAivn  in  this  passage, 
Palestine  only,  is  not  justified  by  the  New  Testa- 
ment phraseology ;  but,  it  is  possible  that  the  fa- 
mine extended  to  other  parts,  and,  we  must  then 
suppose  the  word  to  be  used  somewhat  rhetorically, 
and  not  with  literal  exactness,  especially  if  we  con- 
sider it  as  spoken  by  a  prophet  come  from  Jeru- 
salem. 

*  Joseplms,  Antiq.  book  xix.  ch.  6  and  7. 


SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


[Book  III. 


ports.  He  caused  James  the  son  of  Zebe- 
dce,  and  a  hrothcr  of  the  apostle  John,  who 
probably,  by  some  particular  act  or  dis- 
course, "had  excited  the  anger  of  the  Jewish 
zealots,  to  be  put  to  death ;  and  during  the 
Passover  in  the  year  44,*  he  cast  Peter  into 
prison,  intending  that  he  should  meet  with 
the  same  fate  after  the  feast.  But  by  the 
special  providence  of  God,  Peter  was  de- 
hvcred  i'rom  prison,  and  the  death  of  the 
king  which  shortly  followed,  once  more 
gave  peace  to  the  church. 

If  Paul  and  Barnabas  arrived  at  Jurusa- 
lem  during  this  disturbed  state  of  things, 
their  stay  was  necessarily  shortened  by  it, 
and  they  could  accomplish  nothing  of  con- 
sequence.f  But  if  we  compare  the  account 
in  the  Acts,  with  the  narrative  of  the  apos- 
tle Paul  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  and 
if  we  assume  that  the  journey  to  Jerusalem, 
which  he  there  mentions  as  the  second,  was 
really  the  second,  this  journey  would  ac- 
quire great  importance.:}:     We  must  then 

*  For  it  was  the  last  year  of  Herod  Agrippa's 
rei^n,  who  held  for  at  least  three  whole  years  the 
sovereignty  of  Judea,  (Josephus,  xix.  8.  2) ;  and, 
therefore,  certainly  reigned  from  the  end  of  Jan- 
uary 41,  to  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Claudius, 
the  end  of  January  44 ;  so  that  only  the  Passover 
of  this  last  year  could  be  intended,  that  wliich  took 
place  after  Herod  had  reigned  three  whole  years. 

t  As  the  words  xcit'  imtvov  tov  xa;gov,  in  Acts 
xii.  1,  cannot  serve  for  fixing  the  exact  date,  the 
coincidence  of  this  journey  of  Paul's  with  the 
events  at  Jerusalem,  and  the  whole  chronology 
founded  upon  it  of  the  apostle's  history,  is  not  ab- 
solutely certain.  Yet  there  is  no  valid  argument 
against  this  arrangement. 

t  IrentEus  adv.  hferes.  Lib.  iii,  c.  13,  seems  to 
consider  it  as  settled  that  tiiis  was  Paul's  third 
journey.  But  what  Teitullian  says  (contra  Mar- 
cion  i.  20),  goes  on  the  supposition  that  it  was  his 
second  journey.  He  alleges  the  same  reason  for 
thinking  so,  as  Keil,  in  his  essay  on  the  subject 
lately  published  in  his  Opuscula ;  that  Paul,  in 
the  first  glow  of  his  conversion,  was  more  violent 
against  Judaism,  but  latterly  his  feelings  towards 
it  were  mollified.  Thus  he  explains  the  dispute 
with  Peter  at  Antioch.  "  Paulus  adliuc  in  gratia 
rudis,  ferventer  ut  adhuc  neophytus  adversus  Ju- 
daismum."  (It  is  contradictory  to  this  supposition 
that  he  allows  Paul  to  have  given  way  to  the  Ju- 
daizers  at  Jerusalem,  in  reference  to  the  circum- 
cision of  Titus,  con.  Marcion,  v.  3) ;  and  it  would 
entirely  correspond  with  the  character  of  Paul  and 
tlie  mode  of  his  conversion,  that,  at  first,  he  should 
engage  in  fiercer  opjiosition  to  the  observance  of 
the  law,  than  that  his  mind  should  gradually  be 
developed  in  that  freer  direction.  Yet  this  suppo- 
sition, as  we  shall  afterwards  show,  is  by  no  means 
supported  by  hislorical  evidence.  What  is  ad- 
vanced by  Wurm,  in  his  essay  already  quoted,  in 
the  Tubingen  "  Zeitschrift  fur  Theologie,"  against 


assume,  that  although  the  conveyance  of 
the  collection  to  Jerusalem  was  the  avowed 
object  and  motive  of  this  journey, — yet 
Paul  himself  had  another  and  more  impor- 
tant end  in  view,  which  probably  induced 
him  to  be  the  bearer  of  the  contributions. 
As  the  strictly  Pharisaical  Jews  held  it  ab- 
solutely necessary  for  the  Gentiles  to  sub- 
mit to  the  whole  ceremonial  law,  and 
particularly  to  circumcision,*  in  order  to 
enjoy  the  blessings  of  theocracy  ;  as  the 
mistrust  of  the  Jewish  Christians  had  al- 
ready, as  we  have  before  remarked,  mani- 
fested itself  against  the  Gentile  converts  ; 
and  as  the  consequences  of  this  state  of 
feeling  might  have  already  appeared  in  the 
church  at  Antioch,  which  stood  in  so  close 
a  connexion  with  the  parent  church  at  Je- 
rusalem ;  it  is  not  at  all   improbable,  that 


my  application  of  the  first  passage  from  Tertullian, 
is  not  correct.  I  have  here  remarked  on  the  con- 
tradiction between  the  two  passages,  and  in  a 
writer  of  Tertullian's  cast  of  mind — highly  as  we 
esteem  the  depth,  fire  and  vigour  of  his  genius — 
such  a  contradiction  is  not  very  surprising. — But 
from  Tertull.  c.  Marcion,  lib.  v.  2,  3,  it  is  by  no 
means  clear,  that  he  considered  the  second  jour- 
ney mentioned  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  as 
the  same  with  that  which  was  followed  by  the  re- 
solutions of  the  apostolic  assembly  at  Jerusalem. 
Tertullian  only  says,  that  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
— whose  credibility  was  not  acknowledged  by  Mar- 
cion— represented  the  principles  on  which  Paul 
acted,  not  differently  from  what  Paul  states  them 
to  be  in  an  Epistle  admitted  as  genuine  by  Mar- 
cion ;  consequently,  the  account  of  Luke,  in  this 
respect,  must  be  credible.  So,  then,  Tertullian,  i. 
9,  by  rudis  Jides  means  the  same  as  in  the  pas- 
sage  first  quoted.  The  rudis  Jides  in  that  passage, 
is  a  faith  still  young  and  not  fully  tried,  which 
hence  could  not  possess  so  independent  an  author- 
ity;  '^  hoc  enim  (the  temporary  concession  in  refe- 
rence to  the  circumcision  of  Titus)  rudi  Jxdei  et 
adhuc  de  legis  observalione  suspensw  (in  reference 
to  which  it  was  still  disputed  whether  they  were 
not  bound  to  the  observance  of  the  law)  compete- 
bat"  namely,  until  Paul  had  succeeded  in  having 
his  independent  call  to  the  apostleship  and  its  pe- 
culiar grounds,  acknowledged  by  the  other  apostles. 
*  A  Jewish  merchant,  named  Ananias,  who  had 
converted  King  Izatcs  of  Adiabene,  the  son  of 
Queen  Helena,  to  Judaism,  assured  him  that  he 
might  worship  Jehovah  without  being  circumcised, 
and  even  sought  to  dissuade  him  from  it,  that  it 
might  not  cause  an  insurrection  of  his  people.  But 
when  anotiier  stricter  Jew,  Eleazur,  came  thither, 
he  declared  to  the  king  that  since  he  acknowledged 
the  divine  authority  of  the  Mosaic  law,  he  would 
sin  by  neglecting  any  of  its  commands,  and  there- 
fore no  consideration  ought  to  prevent  his  compli- 
ancu.  Joseph.  Archffiol.  lib.  xx.  c.  2,  §  4.  And 
such  was  the  opinion  of  the  converts  to  Christian- 
ity from  among  the  Jews',  who,  to  use  the  words 
of  Josephue,  were  (5xg//3«(c  ^i^t  tx  TiiTgw. 


Chap.  II.] 


CHURCH  AT  ANTIOCH. 


71 


Paul  and  Barnabas  felt  it  to  be  their  impe- 
rative duty,  in  order  to  guard  against  a 
dangerous  disagreement,  to  come  to  an 
understanding  with  the  apostles  at  Jerusa- 
lem on  this  subject,  and  to  unite  with  them 
in  establishing  fixed  principles  respecting 
i  .  Yet  in  itself  it  is  more  probable,  that 
such  a  mutual  explanation  took  place  ear- 
l.er,  than  that  it  occurred  at  so  late  a  pe- 
riod,* Such  a  conference  of  Paul  and 
Barnabas  with  the  three  most  eminent  of  the 
apostles,  could  not  well  be  held  at  that  time, 
since  one  of  them  was  cast  into  prison  ; 
but  too  great  an  uncertainty  is  attached  to 
the  dates  of  these  events,  to  render  this 
objection  of  much  weight.  And  it  agrees 
with  the  existing  circumstances  of  the 
church,  that  this  conference  is  represented 
as  a  private  transaction  of  Paul's  with  the 
most  eminent  of  the  apostles  ;t  partly  be- 
cause the  matter  did  not  appear  sufficiently 
ripe  for  a  public  discussion;  partly  because, 
by  the  persecution  set  on  foot  by  King 
Agrippa,  the  intended  public  conference 
might  be  prevented.  By  this  supposition, 
we  therefore  gain  a,  connecting  link  in  the 
history  of  the  transactions  between  the 
Jewish  and  Gentile  converts,  and  thus  the 
two  historical  documents,  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  and  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians, 
serve  to  supply  what  is  necessary  for  the 
completion  of  each.  But,  in  the  first  place, 
the  chronology  of  the  common  reading, 
supported  by  the  authority  of  all  the  manu- 
scripts,:}:   is  irreconcilable  with  this  hypo- 


*  As  Dr.  Paulus  remarks  in  his  Exegetical  Man. 
ual,  i.  1,  p.  238.     - 

t  The  xiT*  i/wv  (Ts,  Gal.  ii.  2,  which  contains  an 
antithesis  to  (Tn^oa-w.  Yet  public  conferences  are 
by  no  means  excluded  ;  for  it  is  not  clear  that  the 
words  kst'  iSiav  follow  what  was  before  said  merely 
as  a  limiting  explanatory  clause.  Paul,  perhaps, 
might  not  except  some  special  topic  of  importance 
from  the  avj&e^nv  ai/To/c  (vviiich  must  principally 
relate  to  his  Christian  brethren  in  Jerusalem), — his 
private  conferences  with  James,  Peter,  and  John  ; 
or  he  might  design  to  notice  only  the  public,  and 
afterwards  the  important  private  conferences,  al- 
together passing  over  the  former.  Compare  Wurm. 
p.  51  ;  Auger,  p.  149. 

t  The  (  lironicon  Paschale  Alexandrinum,  ed, 
Niebuhr,  p.  436,  certainly  forms  an  exception,  ac- 
cording to  which  Paul  took  this  second  journey 
four  years  after  his  conversion ;  and  this  compu- 
tation supposes  the  reading  to  be  Tsj-s-agav  irZv,  in- 
stead of  (TsKstTscTs-.  Such  a  reading  being  assumed, 
we  may  easily  understand  how  lA  was  formed 
from  A.  And  according  to  tiiis  reading,  if  we  re- 
fer it  to  the  second  journey  of  Paul  mentioned  in 
the  Acts,  every  thing  will  readily  agree  with  such 


thesis,  for  we  must  reckon  Paul's  conversion 
to  have  taken  place  fourteen  years  earlier, 
which  would  be  a  computation  wholly  un-  - 
tenable.  And,  secondly,  the  relation  in 
which  Paul,  according  to  the  description  in 
the  Acts,  stood  at  any  given  time  to  Barna- 
bas, the  elder  preacher  of  the  gospel,  will 
not  agree  with  this  view.  For  at  an  earlier 
period,  according  to  the  slight  notices  fur- 
nished us  by  the  Acts,  Paul  appears  in  a 
subordinate  relation,  both  of  age  and  dis- 
cipleship,  to  the  elder  preacher  of  the  gos- 
pel. It  was  not  till  he  undertook  the 
missionary  journey  with  Barnabas  from 
Antioch,  in  which  he  was  the  most  promi- 
nent agent,  that  that  apostolic  superiority 
developed  itself,  which  was  afterwards  ex- 
hibited in  the  transactions  at  Jerusalem. 
Still  we  cannot  consider  this  remark  as 
decisive  of  the  question  ;  for  we  may  feel 
confident  that  such  a  man  as  Paul,  espe- 
cially if  we  grant  his  independent  labours 
in  Cilicia — must  have  come  forward,  even 
before  the  period  of  his  apostolic  superiority, 
with  extraordinary  efficiency  when  the 
occasion  demanded  it. 

Since  there  was  no  deficiency  of  teach- 
ers in  the  church  at  Antioch,  we  may 
presume-  that,  after  the  conversion  of  the 
Gentiles  had  once  begun,  the  publication  of 
the  gospel  would  be  extended  from  Syria  to 
other  heathen  nations.  Barnabas  and  Paul 
had  probably  at  an  early  period  expressed 
their  desire  to  be  employed  in  a  wider 
sphere  for  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles, 
as  Paul  had  been  assured  by  the  Lord  of 
his  appointment  to  carry  the  gospel  to  dis- 
tant nations.  And  as  Barnabas  had  brought 
his  nephew  Mark  with  him  from  Jerusalem 
to  Antioch,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  he  was 
prompted  to  this  step  by  the  prospect  of  a 
more  extensive  field  in  which  he  might  em- 
ploy his  relation  as  a  fellow-labourer.  The 
teachers  who  were  assembled  at  Antioch 
appointed  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  to 
lay  this  matter  before  the  Lord,  and  to  pray 
for  his  illumination  to  direct  them  what  to 
do.  A  firm  persuasion  was  imparted  to 
them  all  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  that  they 


a  computation  ;  only,  if  we  reckon  these  four  years 
from  the  conversicjn  of  St.  Paul,  that  event  must 
be  placed  about  the  year  40.  But  still  it  remains 
uncertain,  whether  the  computation  in  the  Chron- 
icon  Paschale  is  founded  on  a  critical  conjecture, 
or  on  the  authority  of  a  manuscript ;  and,  at  all 
events,  the  opposing  evidence  of  all  manuscripts 
and  quotations  from  the  Fathers  is  too  important. 


72 

ought  to  set  apart  and  send  forth  Barnabas 
and  Paul  to  the  work  to  which  they  were 
called  by  the  Lord.* 


SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY 


[Book  III. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY  FROM  ANTIOCH  BY 
PAUL  AND  BARNABAS. 

AcQOMPANiED  by  Mark,  they  first  visited 
the  island  of  Cyprus,  the  native  country  of 
Barnabas,  whose  ancient  connexion  with  it 
facilitated  the  introduction  of  the  gospel. 
They  traversed  the  island  from  east  to 
west,  from  Salamis  to  Paphos.  In  their 
teaching  they  followed  the  track  which 
history  had  marked  out  for  them,  that 
method  by  which  the  gospel  must  spread 
itself  among  the  heathen.  As  the  Jews,  in 
virtue  of  their  connexion  with  the  theocratic 
developement,and  of  the  promises  entrusted 
to  them,  had  the  first  claim  to  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  Messiah  ;t  as  they  were 

*  There  is  no  necessity  for  our  supposing  that 
the  whole  narrative  of  a  second  journey  of  Paul  to 
Jerusalem  for  conveying  t!ie  collection  arose  from 
a  misunderstanding;  and  there  is  less  probability 
of  this,  because  Luke,  when  he  mentions  this  jour- 
ney a  second  time,  states  that  they  had  then 
brought  Mark  with  them  from  Jerusalem.  The 
object  for  which  Paul  mentions  his  journey  to 
Jerusalem,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  by  no 
means  required  the  mention  of  a  journey  so  unim- 
portant in  reference  to  the  main  subject  of  that 
epistle.  See  the  remarks  in  the  sequel  on  the 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians. 

t  TrpZTov  'loLitTi/ai,  Rom.  i.  16,  compared  with 
John  iv.  22.  The  credibility  of  what  is  related  in 
the  Acts  on  this  and  other  occasions,  respecting 
the  manner  in  which  Paul  turned  to  the  Gentiles, 
immediately  after  the  ill  reception  which  he  met 
with  from  the  Jews  assembled  in  the  synagogue, 
would  be  shaken,  if  Dr.  Bauer  were  correct  in  his 
assertion,  (see  his  Essay  on  the  Object  and  Occa- 
sion of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  in  the  Tubingen 
Zeilschrift  fiir  T/ieologie,  1836,  part  iii.  p.  101), 
that  the  author  of  tiie  Acts  did  not  give  a  faithful 
relation  of  objective  facts,  but  modified  them  ac- 
cording to  his  peculiar  views  and  design  ;  that  this 
is  to  be  explained  from  the  apologetical  design  with 
which  he  maintains  the  position,  that  the  gospel 
reached  the  Gentiles  only  through  the  criminality 
and  unbelief  of  the  Jews.  Tliis  is  connected  with 
Bauer's  idea  of  an  anti-pauline  party,  consisting 
of  persons  who  took  offence  at  the  Pauline  uni- 
versalism  (his  preaching  the  gospel  both  to  Jews 
and  Gentiles),  and  whicii  had  its  seat  at  Rome. 
For  this  party,  such  an  apologetic  representation 
of  Paul's  ministry  must  be  designed.  We  miglit 
be  allowed  to  cast  such  a  suspicion  on  the  repre- 
sentations  in  the  Acts,  if  any  thing  artificial  was 


in  a  state  of  the  greatest  preparation,  and 
places  already  existed  among  them  for  the 
purposes  of  religious  instruction  ;  it  was  on 

to  be  found  in  them,  any  thing  not  corresponding 
to  what  might  be  expected  from  the  circumstances 
of  the  times.  But  if  the  line  of  conduct  ascribed 
to  the  apostle,  and  its  consequences,  appear  alto- 
gether natural  under  the  circumstances,  it  docs 
not  appear  how  we  can  be  justified  in  deducing 
the  repetition  (of  Paul's  mode  of  acting)  grounded 
in  the  nature  of  the  tiling,  not  from  that,  but  from 
the  subjective  manner  of  the  narrator.  Now,  in 
all  the  cities  where  synagogues  existed,  they  form- 
ed the  most  convenient  places  for  making  known 
the  gospel,  when  Paul  was  not  disposed  to  appear 
in  the  public  market-places  as  a  preacher.  Here 
he  found  the  proselytes  assembled,  who  formed  a 
channel  of  communication  with  the  Gentiles.  And 
in  the  passage  quoted  from  the  Epistle  to  the  Ro- 
mans, the  principle  is  stated  according  to  which 
the  Jews  had  the  first  claim  to  the  publication  of 
the  gospel.  Love  to  his  own  people  produced  the 
earnest  desire  to  effect  as  much  as  possible  for 
their  salvation,  along  with  his  calling  as  an  apostle 
of  the  Gentiles,  Rom.  xi,  13.  That  I  have  brought 
forward  this  from  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  which 
Bauer  has  made  use  of  as  a  proof  of  the  existence 
of  such  an  apologetic  interest,  is  not  on  my  part 
a  mere  petitio  principii ;  for  I  cannot  in  any  way 
reconcile  it  with  tlie  character  of  the  apostle,  that 
he  could  express  such  principles  and  such  desires 
merely  from  motives  of  expediency.  But  it  was 
natural  that  he  should  turn  away  from  the  great 
mass  of  the  carnally-minded  Jews,  if  he  found 
only  here  and  there  individuals  among  them  of 
susceptible  dispositions,  and  devote  himself  to  the 
Gentiles  alone.  It  does  not  follow  from  this,  tliat 
his  call  to  the  apostleship  among  the  heathen  was 
determined  merely  by  accidental  circumstances; 
for  if  he  found  a  greater  number  of  Jews  in  a  city 
disposed  to  believe,  yet  his  other  calling  would  not 
thereby  have  been  frustrated  ;  but  among  the  con- 
verted Hellenistic  Jews,  who  were  more  closely 
related  to  those  who  were  Greeks  by  birth  or  edu- 
cation, he  would  have  found  assistance  for  esta- 
blishing the  Christian  church  among  the  Gentiles. 
And  when,  after  so  many  painful  experiences,  he 
had  little  hopes  of  success  among  the  Jews,  still 
he  could  not  give  up  the  attempt  to  do  something 
for  his  countrymen,  if  by  any  means  he  might 
save  some  ;  especially  since  he  could  so  well  unite 
this  with  the  interests  of  his  calling,  and  could  find 
no  more  convenient  and  unostentatious  method  of 
paving  his  way  to  the  Gentiles.  And  does  not  the 
peculiar  mixture  in  the  churches  of  Gentile-Chris- 
tians,  the  influence  of  Judaizers  upon  them,  give 
evidence  of  their  origination?  Ronn  xi.  12  will 
also  establish  this  point.  And  that  the  author  of 
the  Acts  has  given  a  narrative  consistent  with 
facts  and  the  actual  state  of  things,  is  shown  by 
this,  that,  when  describing  the  entrance  of  Paul  at 
Athens,  he  does  not  repeat  the  same  method  of 
proceeding,  but  represents  him  as  acting  in  a  dif- 
ferent manner,  adapted  to  the  local  peculiarities. 
Throughout  the  Acts,  I  cnn  perceive  no  traces  of 
any  thing  but  an  historical  object,  which  the  author 
has  pursued  according  to  the  means  of  information 
within  his  reach. 


Chap.  III.] 


BY  PAUL  AND  BARNABAS. 


73 


these  accounts  natural  that  the  apostles 
should  first  enter  the  synagogues,  and  the 
proselytes  of  the  gate,  whom  they  here 
met  with,  afTorded  them  the  most  con- 
venient point  of  transition  from  the  Jews  to 
the  Gentiles.  In  Paphos,  they  found  in 
the  Proconsul  Sergius  Paulus,  a  man  dis- 
satisfied with  all  that  philosophy  and  the 
popular  religion  could  offer  for  his  religious 
wants,  and  anxious  to  receive  every  thing 
which  presented  itself  as  a  hew  communi- 
cation from  heaven;  hence,  he  was  eager 
to  hear  what  Paul  and  Barnabas  announced 
as  a  new  divine  doctrine.  But,  owing  to 
that  sense  of  religious  need,  unsatisfied  by 
any  clear  knowledge,  he  had  given  ear  to 
the  deceptive  arts  of  an  itinerant  Jewish 
Goes.  Barjesus.  These  Goetse  were  in 
succeeding  times*  the  most  virulent  oppo- 
sers  of  Christianity,  because  it  threatened 
to  deprive  them  of  their  domination  over 
the  minds  of  men  ;f  and  for  the  same 
reason,  this  man  took  the  utmost  pains  to 
hinder  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  and  to 
prejudice  the  Proconsul  against  it.  But 
Paul,  full  of  holy  indignation,  declared  with 
divine  confidence,  that  the  Lord  would 
punish  him  with  the  loss  of  that  eyesight 
which  he  only  abused,  by  attempting  with 
his  arts  of  deception,  to  stop  the  progress 
of  divine  truth.  The  thi-eatening  was  im- 
mediately fulfilled  ;  and  by  this  sensible 
evidence  of  the  operation  of  a  higher  power, 
the  Proconsul  was  withdrawn  from  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Goes,  and  rendered  more 
susceptible  of  divine  instruction. 

Thence  they  directed  their  course  farther 
northward;  passed  over  to  Pamphylia,  and 
along  the  borders  of  Phrygia,  Isauria,  and 
Pisidia,and  made  a  longer  stay  at  the  con- 
siderable city  of  Antioch:}:  (which  as  a  bor- 


*  On  this  account  it  was  not  at  all  uncommon 
for  such  sorcerers  to  find  access  to  men  of  the 
highest  rank.  Thus  Lucian  narrates,  that  the 
most  distinguished  men  in  Rome  most  eagerly 
inquired  after  the  prophecies  of  a  sorcerer,  Alex- 
ander of  Abonateiehos,  in  Pontus,  who  acquiied 
great  notoriety  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Marcus 
Aurelius  ;  among  the  zealous  adherents  of  Alexan- 
der, he  mentions  especiilly  an  eminent  Roman 
statesman,  Rutilianus,  of  whom  he  says — lr>ip  ta 

fxtv  dXAa   KctXOC   Kit  d^a&sc   nAt  iv  TTOKKdU^  TT^n^iirt 

iotZv.    Lucian.  Alexand.  §  30. 

t  Of  which  the  Alexander  mentioned  in  the 
preceiling  note  is  an  example. 

t  To  distinguish  it  from  the  Asiatic  metropolis, 
it  is  called  'AvTWVe<*  yrfoc  Xliri^tx. 

10 


der-city,  was  at  different  periods  reckoned  as 
belonging  to  different  provinces),  in  order 
to  allow  time  for  making  known  the  gospel. 
Paul's  discourse  in  the  synagogue  is  a 
specimen  of  the  peculiar  wisdom  and  skill 
of  the  great  apostle  in  the  management  of 
men's  dispositions,  and  of  his  peculiar  an- 
tithetical mode  of  developing  Christian 
truth.  He.sought  first  to  win  the  attention 
and  confidence  of  his  hearers,  by  remind- 
ing them  how  God  had  chosen  their  fathers 
to  be  his  people,  and  then  gave  an  outline 
of  God's  dealing  with  them,  to  the  times  of 
David,  the  individual  from  whose  posterity, 
according  to  the  promises,  the  Messiah  was 
to  spring.  After  the  introduction  he  came 
to  the  main  object  of  his  address,  to  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  Messiah,  and  to  what  he 
had  effected  for  the  salvation  of  mankind. 
Then  turning  to  the  Jews  and  proselytes 
present,  he  proceeded  to  say,  that  for  them 
this  announcement  of  salvation  was  de- 
signed, since  those  to  whom  it  was  first 
proposed,  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem,  and  their 
rulers,  had  been  unwilling  to  receive  it ; 
they  had  not  acknowledged  the  Messiah, 
nor  understood  the  prophecies,  which  they 
heard  read  every  Sabbath-day  in  their 
synagogues.*  Yet,  while  in  their  blind* 
ness,  they' condemned  the  Messiah  to  death, 
they  could  not  retard  the  fulfilment  of  the 
prophecies,  but  against  their  design  and 
will,  contributed  to  it;  for  after  he  had 
suffered  all  things  which  according  to  the 
predictions  of  the  prophets  he  was  to  suffer, 
he  rose  from  the  dead.  By  faith  in  him 
they  could  obtain  forgiveness  of  sins  and 
justification,  which  they  could  never  have 
obtained  by  the  law.f     And  after  announc- 


*  Only  using  milder  expressions,  Paul  here  says 
the  same  things  of  the  blindnets  of  the  Jews, 
which  he  often  says  in  stronger  and  more  severe 
language  in  his  Epistles,  accusing  them  of  obdu- 
racy. 

t  To  justify  my  views  of  this  passage,  I  must 
make  a  few  remarks  on  the  right  interpretation  of 
Acts  xiii.  39.  I  cannot  so  understand  it  as  if  the 
apostle  meant  to  say — Through  Christ  men  obtain 
forgiveness  of  all  sins,  even  of  those  of  which  for- 
giveness could  not  be  obtained  through  the  law. 
The  a[)Ostle  certainly  knew  only  one  forgiveness 
of  sins  and  one  justification;  and  he  used  the 
term  ttuvtidv  only  to  mark  the  completeness  of  the 
removal  of  guilt,  as  the  idea  of  Jixmoj-vri  presup- 
poses this ;  but  the  preceding  Tnvrcev,  to  refer  the 
relative  pronoun  by  a  kind  of  logical  attraction  to 
this  term  of  universality,  rather  than  to  the  whole 
idea  of  Six-xia^iwui,  which  he  had  especially  in 
view.     What  Meyer  says  in  his  commentary  in 


SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY 


74 

ing  this  promise  to  them,  Paul  closed  with 
a  threatening  warning  to  unbelievers.  This 
discodrse,  uttered  with  all  the  impressive- 
ncss  of  firm  faith,  and  yet  evincing  so 
much  tenderness  towards  the  Jews,  made 
at  first  a  favourable  impression  upon  them, 
and,  in  the  name  of  the  whole  assembly, 
they  requested  him  to  expound  his  doctrine 
more  fully  on  the  next  Sabbath.*     Such 

defence  of  the  common  interpretation,  does  not 
convince  me.  "  Paul,"  he  remarks,  "  specifies  one 
part  of  the  universal  c'-^sj-k  a^agT/aiv  as  particu- 
larly worthy  of  notice,  but  this  does  not  at  all 
injure  the  unity  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins  and  jus- 
tification."  I  do  not  perceive  how  Paul,  from  his 
point  of  view,  could  render  one  special  part  more 
prominent  than  another ;  I  know  indeed  of  no  sin 
from  which  a  man  could  be  jus-tified  on  the  stand- 
ing-point of  the  law ;  in  Paul's  mind  there  could 
be  here  no  difference  whatever.  The  peculiarly 
Pauline  style  of  carrying  out  the  opposition  be- 
tween faith  and  the  law  here  appears  in  the 
germ. 

*  If,  in  Acts  xiii.  42,  we  take  juitol^u  in  its  usual 
acceptation,  we  must  understand  the  passage  thus  : 
Paul  and  Barnabas  were  requested  to  explain  the 
Christian  doctrine  to  them  during  the  week  be- 
tween this  and  the  next  Sabbath,  therefore  before 
the  next  celebration  of  the  Sabbath.  Such  a  request 
would  be  very  suitable,  if  we  understand  it  as  that 
of  individuals  who  wished  to  hear  discourses  on 
the  doctrine  in  their  private  circles  during  the 
week.  But  it  does  not  appear  so  proper  as  a  wish 
expressed  by  the  whole  congregation  at  the  syna- 
gogue. We  should  most  naturally  refer  it  to  the 
Gentiles,  and  on  that  account  must  consider  the 
reading  t*  jS-vh  in  the  42d  verse  as  correct,  though 
it  has  the  appearance  of  a  gloss.  Also  the  word 
a-oL^^^Toi  in  the  Acts  is  never  used  in  the  sense  of 
a  week;  for  the  phrase  fxt^t.  tr-xfi^^.Tm  cannot 
brought  as  a  voucher  for  this  meaning.  But  if  we 
understand  to  ^era^u  o-st/S/^ctTov,  of  the  next  Sab. 
bath,  all  will  be  clear;  and  a  comparison  with 
verse  44  favours  this  interpretation,  which  is  also 
sanctioned  by  the  ancient  glosses  and  scholia  in 
Griesbach  and  Matthai.  From  the  earlier  Greek 
writers,  it  is  certainly  difficult  to  find  an  authority 
for  this  meaning  of  ^sra^i;,  but  not  from  the  later. 
In  Plutarch's  Instiluta  Laconica,  c.  42,  /Aira^u 
occurs  twice  in  this  sense,  and  especially  in  the 
second  passage,  to/c  /uiTsi^v  M«ksJ'ov/xok  ^a^imvtiv 
("  the  Macedonian  kings  after  Philip  and  Alexan- 
der,") for  it  cannot  be  otherwise  understood  ;  and 
so  likewise  in  Josephus,  De  Bello  Jud.  lib.  v.  c,  4, 
§  2,  where,  after  speaking  of  David  and  Solomon, 
he  says,  tZi  (xith^xj  toutui  /iu.^ixia)v,  which  can 
only  mean,  "  the  kings  after  these." — I  consider 
the  words  sx,  tSc  <ri/vctya>yii:  tZv  lou^mctv  and  the 
words  Ts  i^vK  as  glosses  founded  on  a  misunder- 
standing; but  I  cannot,  with  Kuinocl,  take  the 
whole  of  the  verse,  so  strongly  accredited  as 
genuine,  to  be  only  a  gloss.  What  is  said  in  this 
verse,  may  be  considered  as  marking  tiie  vivid 
representation  of  an  event  by  an  eye-witness.  As 
Paul  and  Barnabas  were  going  away  before  the 
whole  of  the   congregation   had   separated,   they 


[Book  III. 


was  the  impression  made  by  his  words  on 
the  assembly  in  general.     But  there  were 
many  among  the  Jews   present,   and    es- 
pecially the   proselytes,  who    were    more 
deeply  affected  than  the  rest  by  the  power 
of  truth,  and  who  longed  after  the  redemp- 
tion announced  by  Paul.     They  could  not 
wait  till   the   next  Sabbath,  but  hastened 
after  Paul,  who   had  left    the    synagogue 
with  Barnabas  ;  they  informed  them  of  the 
impressions  they   had   received,  and    ear- 
nestly requested   more  ample  instruction. 
Paul   and   Barnabas  consequently  availed 
themselves  of  many  opportunities  to  explain 
the  divine  doctrine  in  private  houses  during 
the  course  of  the  week,  and  likewise   to 
make  it  known  among  the  Gentiles.  Hence, 
by  the  next  Sabbath,  the  new  doctrine  of 
salvation   had    obtained  notoriety  through 
the  whole  city,  and  a  multitude  of  the  Gen- 
tile inhabitants  flocked  to  the  synagogue  in 
order  to  hear  Paul's  discourse.     This  was 
a  spectacle  sufficient  to  stir  up  the  wrath  of 
the  Jews,  who  where  filled  with  spiritual 
pride,  and  a  delusive  notion  of  their  superi- 
ority as  members  of  the  ancient  theocracy, 
and  hence  this  discourse  of  Paul's  was  not 
heard  with  the  same  favourable  disposition 
and  calmness  as  the  first.     He  was  inter- 
rupted  by   violent  contradictions   and  re- 
proaches.    He  then  declared  to  them,  that 
since  they  were  not  disposed  to  receive  the 
salvation  announced  to  them,  and  excluded 
themselves  from  it  to  their  own  condemna- 
tion, the  preachers  of  the  gospel  had  dis- 
charged their  obligations,  and  would  now 
turn  to  the  Gentiles,  who  had  shown  them- 
selves disposed  to  receive  their  instructions, 
and  that  the  gospel  was  designed  to  be  a 
fountain  of  light  and  salvation  to  nations  in 
the   uttermost  parts   of  the  earth.     Thus 
Paul  and  Barnabas  left  the  synagogue  with 
the  believing  Gentiles,  and  a  suitable  cham- 
ber in  the  dwelling  of  one  of  their  number, 
probably  was  the  first  place  of  assembling 
for    the   church     that    was    now    formed. 
Christianity  spread  itself  through  the  whole 
circumjacent   district;  but  the  Jews  con- 
trived, by  means  of  the  female  proselytes 
belonging  to  the  most  respectable  families 


were  requested  by  the  elders  of  the  synagogue  to 
repeat  their  addresses  on  the  next  Sabbath.  But 
after  the  whole  congregation  had  separated,  many 
individuals  ran  after  them  to  open  their  hearts  to 
them  more  unreservedly. 


Chap.  III.] 


BY  PAUL  AND  BARNABAS. 


75 


in  the  citj^,*  and  their  influence  on  their 
husbands,  to  raise  a  persecution  against 
Paul  and  Barnabas,  so  that  they  were 
obliged  toleave  the  place.  They  proceeded  to 
the  city  of  Iconium,  about  ten  miles  to  the 
East  ,•  in  Lycaonia,t  where  they  had  access 
to  both  Jews  and  Gentiles.  But  by  the  in- 
fluence of  the  hostility  disposed  among  the 
former,  who  also  here  had  gained  over  to 
their  side  a  part  of  the  people  and  the 
magistrates,  they  were  driven  from  this 
city  also.  They  now  betook  themselves  to 
other  cities  in  the  same  province,  and  first 
tarried  in  the  neighbouring  towns  of  Lystra. 
As  in  this  place  there  was  no  synagogue, 
and  scarcely  any  Jews  dwelt  in  it ;  they 
could  make  known  the  gospel  only  by 
entering  into  conversation:]:  in  places  of  pub- 
lic resort,  and  thus  leading  persons  to  reli- 
gious subjects ;  gradually  small  groups 
were  formed,  which  were  increased  by 
many,  who  were  attracted  by  curiosity  or 
interest  in  the  subject  of  conversation.  Paul 
was  one  day  thus  instructing  in  divine  truth 
a  company  who  had  gathered  round  him, 
when  a  man  who  had  been  lame  from  his 
birth,  and  probably  was  used  to  sit  for  alms 
in  a  thoroughfare  of  the  city,  listened  to 
him  with  great  attention.  The  Divine  in 
the  appearance  and  discourse  of  Paul  deeply 
impressed  him,  and  caused  him  to  look  up 
with  confidence  as  if  he  expected  a  cure 
from  him.  When  Paul  noticed  this,  he 
said  to  him  with  a  loud  voice,  "  Stand  up- 
right on  thy  feet ;"  and  he  stood  up  and 
walked.§ 

This  sight  attracted  a  still  larger  crowd, 
and  the  credulous  people  now  esteemed 
the  two  apostles  to  be  more  than  men, — 

*  Here  as  at  Damascus  (and  other  instances 
might  be  mentioned)  Judaism  found  most  accept- 
ance with  females,  as  Christianity  did  afterwards. 

t  In  other  times  it  was  considered  as  belonging 
to  Phrygia  or  Pisidia. 

t  A  frequent  practice  of  modern  missionaries  in 
Asia. 

§  Only  lie  will  feel  compelled  to  believe  this 
who  acknowledges  the  new  divine  powers  of  life, 
which  through  Christ  have  been  introduced  to  the 
human  race.  But  whoever  is  not  entangled  in  a 
mechanical  view  of  nature,  whoever  acknowledges 
the  power  of  Spirit  over  nature,  and  a  hidden  dy- 
namic connexion  between  soul  and  body — to  such 
a  person  it  cannot  appear  wholly  incredible  that 
the  immediate  impression  of  a  divine  power  ope- 
rating on  the  whole  internal  being  of  man  should 
produce  results  of  altogether  a  different  kind  from 
remedies  taken  out  of  the  stores  of  the  ordinary 
powers  of  nature. 


gods,  who  came  down  in  human  form  to 
confer  benefits  on  men.  A  belief  of  this 
kind,  deeply  seated  in  the  human  breast, 
and  proceeding  from  the  undeniable  feeling 
of  the  connexion  of  the  human  race  with 
God,  was  spread  from  ancient  times  among 
the  heathen,*  and  at  that  period  was  much 
increased  by  the  existing  religious  ferment.. 
Now  in  this  city  Zeus  was  worshipped  as 
the  founder  of  cities,  as  the  originator, 
guide,  and  protector  of  civilization,!  as  the 
founder  and  protector  of  this  city  in  parti- 
cular (Zsjg  'jtoXisvs,  iroXiov-xos),  and  a  temple 
at  the  entrance  of  the  city  was  dedicated 
to  him.:}:  Accordingly  the  people  imagined 
that  their  tutelar  deity,  Zeus  himself,  had 
come  down  to  them ;  and  as  Paul  was 
foremost  in  speaking,  and  possessed — as 
we  may  conclude  from  his  Epistles,  and 
his  speech  at  Athens — a  peculiarly  power- 
ful address,  and  a  high  degree  of  popular 
eloquence,  he  was  taken  for  Hermes,  while 
Barnabas  his  senior,  who  perhaps  had 
something  imposing  in  his  appearance, 
was  believed  to  be  Zeus.  The  people 
made  their  remarks  to  one  another  on 
these  strangers  in  the  old  Lycaonian  dia- 
lect, so  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  not 
aware  of  their  drift,  and  were  therefore 
quite  unprepared  for  the  result.  The  news 
of  the  appearance  of  these  supposed  divi- 
nities quickly  reached  the  temple,  and  a 
priest  came  with  oxen,  which  were  gene- 
rally sacrificed  to  Zeus,  and  with  garlands 
to  adorn  them,  to  the  gates  of  the  city  ;§ 


*  The  Homeric  S-so;  ^uvoktiv  Io/xotsc  nxxotfaLTroicri, 

riatVTOiO/  TlKi^O\TiQ,  i7riO-T^ay'^ai7l  TTOXi^'X^.    Od.  g.  485. 

t  As  Aristides  in  his  discourse  sic  A/*  says,  that, 
as  Zeus  is  the  creator  and  giver  of  all  good  things, 
he  is  to  be  worshipped  under  manifold  titles  accord- 
ing to  these  various  relations.      IlavS-'  i(7-a  auToc 

iU^f  /Aiya.kA  nut  S«Vt5  TrgSTSVTit  ivo/uaTO.. 

X  Libanius  Crrt^  tZv  lesp-v,  ed.  Reiske,  vol.  ii.  p. 
158^  remarks,  that  cities  were  built  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  temples,  hence  frequently  the 
buildings  nearest  the  walls  were  ancient  temples ; 
as  in  the  Middle  Ages,  the  site  of  towns  was  often 
determined  by  that  of  the  churches  and  religious 
houses,  and  as  in  our  own  times  in  the  South  Sea 
Islands,  settlements  are  formed  near  the  residence 
of  the  missionaries,  which  gradually  become  vil- 
lages and  towns. 

§  The  word  ttv^^Zvh,  Acts  xiv.  13,  as  no  other 
term  is  added,  may  be  most  naturally  understood 
of  the  city  gates,  not  of  the  door  of  the  house,  in 
which  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  staying  ;  in  the 
latter  case,  the  plural  would  hardly  have  been  used. 
The  i^iTrnSntritv  in  verse  14  can  prove  nothing;  for 
it  might  easily  be  omitted  to  state  whether  they 
heard  of  what  had  happened  while  in  their  lodg- 


76 


SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


[Book  III. 


whether  he  wished  to  sacrifice  to  Zeus 
before,  the  gate  for  the  welfare  of  the  city  ; 
or  intended  to  bring  the  animals  to  Paul's 
residence,  and  there  to  perform  the  sacri- 
fice, but  before  he  had  entered  the  gates,- 
Paul  and  Barnabas  hastened  thither,  full 
of  consternation,  as  soon  as  they  disco- 
vered the  object  of  these  preparations. 
They  rent  their  garments — a  customary 
sign  among  the  Jews  of  abhorrence  for 
whatever  outraged  the  religious  feelings — 
and  I'ushed  among  the  crowd.  Paul  ex- 
claimed, "  What  do  ye  !  We  are  men  like 
yourselves ;  we  are  come  hither  for  this 
very  purpose,  that  you  may  turn  from 
these  who  are  no  gods,  to  the  living  God, 
the  Almighty  Creator  of  the  universe,  who 
hitherto  has  allowed  the  nations  of  the 
earth  to  try  their  own  experience  how  far 
they  can  attain  in  the  knowledge  of  reli- 
gion by  the  powers  of  their  own  reason, 
but  who  yet  has  not  left  himself  without 
witnesses  among  them,  by  granting  them 
all  good  things  from  heaven,  and  supply- 
ing them  with  those  gifts  of  nature  which 
contribute  to  the  preservation  of  life  and  to 
their  general  well-being."* 

Even  by  such  an  appeal  it  was  difficult 
to  turn  the  people  from  their  purpose.  Yet 
this  impression  on  the  senses,  so  powerful 
for  a  short  time,  soon  passed  away  from 
men  who  were  not  afiected  internally  by 
the  power  of  truth.  The  Jews  from  Ico- 
nium  succeeded  in  instigating  the  greater 
part  of  the  people  against  Paul.  He  was 
stoned  in  a  popular  tumult,  and  dragged 
out  of  the  city  for  dead.  But  while  the 
believers  from  the  city  were  standing  round 
him  and  using  means  for  his  restoration, 
he  arose  strengthened  by  the  power  of 
God  ;  and  after  spending  only  the  re- 
mainder of  that  day  at  Lystra,  departed 
with  Barnabas  to  the  neighbouring  town 
of  Derbe.  When  they  had  proclaimed  the 
gospel  there  and  in  the  neighbourhood,t 


ing,  and  now  hastened  to  the  gates,  or  that  they 
were  at  that  time  near  the  gates.  Perhaps  Luke 
himself  had  no  exact  information  on  these  points. 

*  The  sense  of  benefits  received  should  have 
been  the  means  of  lending  men  to  the  Giver. 
From  a  perversion  of  this  sense  arose  systems  of 
natural  religion,  to  which  the  immcdinte  revela- 
tion of  God  opposed  itself— appealing  to  that  ori- 
ginal but  misunderstood  and  misdirected  sense. 

t  The  TTtpi^m^'ii:  evidently  means  only  the  places 
lying  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  these  two 
towns,  certainly  not  a  whole  province,  and  least 


they  again  visited  those  towns  in  which 
they  had  propagated  the  faith  on  this 
journey,  and  which  through  persecutions 
they  had  been  obliged  to  leave  sooner  than 
they  wished ;  they  endeavoured  to  esta- 
blish the  faith  of  the  new  converts,  and 
regularly  organized  the  churches.  They 
then  returned  by  their  former  route  to 
Antioch. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  DIVISION  BETWEEN  THE  JEWISH  AND  GENTILE 
CHRISTIANS  AND  ITS  SETTLEMENT. THE  INDEPEN- 
DENT DEVELOPEMENT  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHURCH. 

While  in  this  manner  Christianity 
spread  itself  from  Antioch,  the  parent- 
church  of  the  Gentile  world,  and  that  great 
revolution  began,  which  has  continued  ever 
since  to  work  its  way  among  the  nations, 
a  division  threatened  to  break  out  between 
the  two  parent-churches,  those  two  central 
points  from  which  the  kingdom  of  God 
began  to  extend  itself.  It  was  a  great 
crisis  in  the  history  of  the  church  and  of 
mankind.  The  hidden  contrarieties  were 
destined  to  come  forth  in  order  to  be  over- 
come by  the  power  of  Christianity  and  re- 
conciled with  one  another.  The  question 
was,  in  fact,  whether  the  gospel  would 
succeed  not  only  then,  but  through  all 
future  ages. 

There  came  to  Antioch  many  strictly 
pharisaical-minded  Christians  from  Jerusa- 
lem, who,  like  the  Eleazar  we  have  already 
mentioned,  assured  the  Gentiles  that  they 
could  not  obtain  any  share  in  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  its  blessedness  without  circum- 
cision, and  entered  into  a  controversy  with 
Paul  and  Barnabas  on  the  views  they  held 
on  this  subject.  The  church  at  Antioch 
resolved  to  send  a  deputation  to  Jerusalem 
for  the  settlement  of  this  dispute,  and  their 
choice  naturally  fell  on  F'aul  and  Barnabas, 
as  the  persons  who  had  been  most  active  in  the 
propagation  of  the  gospel  among  the  Gen- 
tiles. Paul  had,  besides,  a  special  reason 
which  would  have  determined  him  to  under- 
take the  journey  without  any  public  com-, 


of  all,  from  its  geographical  position,  the  province 
of  Galatia.  Hence  the  supposition  that  Paul  in 
this  first  missionary  journey  preached  the  gospel 
to  the  Galatians  is  proved  to  be  untenable. 


Chap.  IV.] 


DEVELOPEMENT  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHURCH. 


77 


mission.  It  appeared  now  the  fittest  time 
for  explaining  himself  to  the  apostles  re- 
specting the  manner  in  which  he  pubh'shed 
the  gospel  among  the  heathen,  in  order  to 
bring  into  distinct  recognition  their  unity 
of  spirit  amidst  their  diversity  of  method — 
(as  the  latter  was  necessary  through  the 
diversity  of  their  spheres  of  action) — and 
to  obviate  all  those  contrarieties  by  which 
the  consciousness  of  that  essential  unity 
could  be  disturbed.  He  felt  assured  by 
divine  illumination,  that  an  explanation  on 
this  subject  was  essential  for  the  well-being 
of  the  church.  The  proposal  to  send  such 
a  deputation  to  Jerusalem  probably  origi- 
nated with  himself.  He  went  up  to  Jeru- 
salem* in  the  year  50,  in  order  (as  he 
himself  tells  us  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Gala- 
tians),  partly  for  private  interview  with  the 
most  eminent  of  the  apostles ;  partly  to 
render  an  account  in  public  before  the  as- 
sembled church  of  his  conduct  in  publish- 
ing the  gospel,  that  no  one  might  suppose 
that  all  his  labours  had  been  in  vain,  but 
might  learn  that  he  preached  the  same 
gospel  as  themselves,  and  that  it  had  been 
effective  with  divine  power  among  the  Gen- 
tiles. He  took  with  him  a  converted  youth 
of  Gentile  descent,  Titus  (who  afterwards 
became  his  chief  associate  in  preaching), 
in  order  to  exhibit  in  his  person  a  living 
example  of  the  power  of  the  gospel  among 
the  heathen. 

Before  a  public  consultation  was  held  at 
Jerusalem,  there  were  many  private  con- 
ferences.f  The  most  important  result  was, 
that  after  Paul  had  given  a  full  account  to 
the  apostles,:}:  James,  Peter,  and  John,  of 


*  On  the  supposition  that  Paul,  in  his  Epistle 
to  the  Galatians,  reckons  fourteen  years  from  his 
conversion,  and  that  this  took  pluce  in  the  year  36. 
About  six  years  would  have  passed  since  his  re- 
turn from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch. 

t  We  have  already  remarked,  that  though  Paul, 
in  his  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  particularly  men- 
tions his  private  conferences  with  the  most  emi- 
nent apostles,  yet  in  doing  so,  he  by  no  means 
excludes  other  public  discussions.  Indeed,  it  is 
self-evident,  that  Paul,  before  this  subject  was  dis- 
cussed in  so  large  an  assembly,  had  agreed  with 
the  apostles  on  the  principles  that  were  to  be 
adopted.  Nor  would  he  in  an  assembly  composed 
of  such  a  variety  of  characters,  bring  forward 
every  thing  which  might  have  passed  in  more 
private  communications. 

t  The  order  in  which  the  three  apostles  are 
mentioned  is  not  unimportant.  The  reading  ac- 
cording to  which  James  stands  first,  is  without 
doubt  the  true  one ;  the  other  must  have  been  de- 


his  method  of  publishing  the  gospel  to  the 
Gentiles  and  of  the  fruit  of  his  labours, 
they  acknowledged  the  divine  origin  of  his 
apostleship,  instead  of  presuming  to  dictate 
to  him  as  his  superiors.  They  agreed  that 
he  should  continue  to  labour  independently 
among  the  heathen,  making  only  one  sti- 
pulation, that,  as  heretofore,  the  Gentile 
churches  should  continue  to  relieve  the 
temporal  wants  of  the  poor  Christians  at 
Jerusalem.  In  the  private  circles  also,  in 
which  Paul  and  Barnabas  recounted  what 
God  had  effected  by  their  preaching  among 
the  Gentiles,  their  accounts  were  received 
with  joyful  interest.  But  some  who  had 
passed  over  to  Christianity  from  the  Pha- 
risaic school,  now  came  forward  and  de- 
clared that  it  was  necessary  that  the  Gen- 
tiles should  receive  circumcision  along  with 
the  gospel,  and  that  they  could  acknow- 
ledge them  as  Christian  brethren  only  on 
this  condition,  and  therefore  insisted  that 
Titus  should  be  circumcised.  But  Paul 
strenuously  maintained  against  them  the 
equal  privileges  of  the  Gentiles  in  the  king- 
dom of  God,  and  that  by  faith  in  the  Re- 
deemer they  had  entered  into  the  same 
relation  towards  God  as  the  believing  Jews: 
for  this  reason,  he  would  not  give  way  to 
them  in  reference  to  Titus,  for  this  would 
have  been  interpreted  by  the  Pharisaic 
Jewish  Christians  as  a  concession  of  the 
principle  for  which  they  contended.* 

As  these  objections  gave  rise  to  much 
altercation,  it  was  thought  necessary  that 


rived  from  the  custom  of  giving  Peter  the  primacy 
among  the  apostles.  But  the  priority  is  given  to 
James,  because  he  was  most  esteemed  by  the 
Jewish  Christians,  who  were  strict  observers  of 
the  Mosaic  Law,  and  stood  at  the  head  of  tlie 
church  at  Jerusalem,  while  Peter  by  his  inter- 
course with  the  Gentiles  and  Gentile  Christians, 
was  in  some  degree  estranged  from  that  party. 

*'The  reading  which  omits  ol?  ou^i  in  Gal.  ii.  5, 
would  suppose,  on  the  contrary,  a  concession  of 
Paul  in  this  case,  but  which,  under  the  existing 
circumslances,  would  be  wholly  inconsistent  with 
the  character  of  the  apostle.  This  peculiar  read- 
ing of  the  old  Latin  church,  evidently  proceeded 
in  part  from  the  difficulty  of  the  construction  for 
the  Latin  translation,  and  partly  from  the  percep- 
tion of  a  supposed  contradiction  between  the  con- 
duct of  Paul  with  Titus,  and  his  conduct  with 
Timothy,  and  likewise  from  opposition  to  Marcion. 
That  in  the  Greek  church,  which,  in  consequence 
of  the  principle  of  the  oIkovo/ui^  predominating  in 
if,  must  have  been  much  disposed  to  such  a  read- 
ing, no  trace  of  it  can  be  found,  proves  how  very 
much  the  authority  of  the  manuscripts  is  against 
it. 


I& 


SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


[Book  III. 


the  subject  should  be  discussed  in  a  con- 
vention" of  the  whole  church  ;  but  this 
was  afterwards  changed  into  a  meeting  of 
chosen  delegates.*  At  this  meeting,  after 
much  discussion,  Peter  rose  up,  to  appeal 
to  the  testimony  of  his  own  experience. 
They  well  knew — he  said — that  God  had 
long  beforef  chosen  him,  to  bring  the  Gen- 
tiles to  faith  in  the  gospel  ;  and  since  God 
who  seeth  the  heart,  had  communicated  to 
them  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  the  same  manner 
as  to,  the  believers  from  among  the  Jews, 
he  had  by  this  act  testified  that  in  his  eyes 
they  were  no  longer  impure,  after  he  had 
purified  their  hearts  by  faith  in  the  Re- 
deemer; they  were  now  as  pure  as  the  be- 
lieving Jews,  and  hence  in  the  communi- 
cation of  spiritual  gifts,  God  had  made  no 
diflx3rence  between  them.  How  then  could 
they  venture  to  question  the  power  and 
grace  of  God,  as  if  he  could  not  without 
the  law  admit  the  Gentiles  to  a  participa- 
tion of  salvation  in  the  kingdom  of  God  ? 
"Why  would  they  lay  a  yoke  on  believers, 
which  neither  they  nor  their  fathers  had 
been  able  to  bear  ?  By  "  a  yoke"  Peter 
certainly  did  not  mean  the  outward  ob- 
servance of  ceremonies  simply  as  such, 
for  he  himself  still  observed  them,  and  did 
not  wish  to  persuade  the  Jewish  Christians 
to  renounce  them.  But  he  meant  the  out- 
ward observance  of  the  law,  as  far  as  it 
proceeded  from  its  internal  dominion  over 
the  conscience,  so  as  to  make  justification 
and  salvation  dependent  upon  it ;  whence 
arose  the  dread  of  putting  their  salvation 
in  jeopardy  by  the  slightest  deviation  from 
it ;  and  that  tormenting  scrupulosity  which 
invented  a  number  of  limitations,  in  order, 
by  self-imposed  restraint,  to  guard  against 
every  possible  transgression  of  the  law. 
As  Peter  understood  the  term  in  this  sense, 
he  could  add,  "  But  we  also  by  faith  in 
Jesus  as    our  Redeemer  have  been  freed 


*  The  whole  church  was  far  too  numerous,  to 
allow  of  all  its  memhers  meeting  for  consultation ; 
but  tliat  they  took  a  part  in  the  deliberations,  ap- 
pears  inferrible  from  the  words  cruv  6mi  tm  iKKXntrtu, 
Acts  XV.  22.  The  epistle  to  the  Gentile  Christians 
was  written  in  the  name  not  merely  of  the  elders 
of  the  church,  but  of  all  the  Christian  brethren. 
Also  the  words  Trav  to  ttamS-oc,  Acts  xv.  12,  favour 
this  interpretation. 

t  Peter's  words,  a(p''  tifjit^Zv  dg;tit/a)v,  are  of  some 
value  for  a  chronological  purpose,  since  they  evi- 
dently show,  that  between  the  holding  of  this  as- 
sembly and  the  conversion  of  Cornelius,  to  say  the 
least,  a  tolerable  length  of  time  must  have  elapsed. 


from  the  yoke  of  the  law,  since  we  are  no 
longer  bound  to  it  as  a  means  of  justifica- 
tion ;  for  we,  as  well  as  the  Gentiles,  be- 
lieve that  we  shall  obtain  salvation  through 
the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

These  words  of  Peter  made  a  deep  im- 
pression on  many,  and  a  general  silence  fol- 
lowed. After  a  while,  Barnabas,  who  had 
for  years  been  highly  esteemed  by  this 
church  rose,  and  then  Paul.  In  addition 
to  the  facts  reported  by  Peter  which  testi- 
fied the  operation  of  the  Divine  Spirit 
among  the  Gentiles,  they  mentioned  others 
from  their  own  experience,  and  recounted 
the  miracles  by  which  God  had  aided  their 
labours.  When  the  minds  of  the  assembly 
were  thus  prepared,  James*  came  forward, 
who,  on  account  of  his  strict  observance  of 
the  law,  was  held  in  the  greatest  reverence 
by  the  Jews,  and  in  whose  words,  therefore, 
the  greatest  confidence  would  be  placed. 
He  brought  their  deliberations  to  a  close, 
by  a  proposal  which  corresponded  to  his 
own  peculiar  moderation  and  mildness,  and 
was  adapted  to  compose  the  existing  dif- 
ferences. Referring  to  Peter's  address,  he 
said  that  this  apostle  had  shown  how  God 
had  already  received  the  Gentiles,  in  order 
to  form  a  people  dedicated  to  his  service. 
And  this  agreed  with  the  predictions  of  the 
prophets,  who  had  foretold  that  in  the  times 
when  the  decayed  theocracy  was  to  be 
gloriously  revived,  the  worship  of  Jehovah 
would  be  extended  also  among  the  Gentiles. 
Accordingly,  what  had  recently  occurred 
among  the  Gentiles  need  not  excite  their 
astonishment.  God  who  effected  all  this, 
was  now  fulfilling  his  eternal  counsel,  as 
he  had  promised  by  his  prophets.  Since, 
therefore,  by  this  eternal  counsel  of  God, 
the  Gentiles  \vere  to  be  incorporated  into 
his  kingdom  by  the  Messiah,  let  them  not 
dare  to  do  any  thing  which  might  obstruct 
or  retard  the  progress  of  this  work.  They 
ought  not  to  lay  any  unnecessary  burdens 
on  the  converted  Gentiles.  They  should  en- 
join nothing  more  upon  them  than  absti- 
nence from  meat  offered  to  idolsf   or  of 


*  The  question  whether  this  was  the  son  of  Al- 
phaeus,  or  another  person,  must  be  left  for  future 
e.xamination. 

t  Wiiat  remained  of  the  flesh  of  animals  used 
in  sacrifice,  was  partly  used  by  those  who  present- 
ed the  sacrifice  at  their  own  meals,  (especially  if 
they  were  festive  in  honour  of  the  gods),  and  part- 
ly  disposed  of  in  the  market.  The  eating  of  what 
were  called  Q'^)^  ^HD?  ^'^^  regarded  by  the 


Chap.  IV.] 


DEVELOPEMENT  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHURCH. 


79 


animals  strangled,  from  blood  and  from 
unchastify.*  But  as  to  believers  from 
among  the  Jews,  no  such  special  injunc- 
tions were  needed  for  them.  They  already 
knew  what  they  were  to  practise  as  Jews ; 
for  in  every  city,  where  Jews  resided,  the 
law  of  Moses  was  read  on  the  Sabbath-days 
in  the  Synagogues,  Acts  xv.  21. f  The 
concluding  words  were  adapted  to  pacify 
the  Jews  on  account  of  freedom  from  the 
Mosaic  law  allowed  to  the  Gentile  Chris- 
tians. 

The  resolutions  passed  on  this  occasion 
had  for  their  object,  to  reduce  by  mutual 
approximation  the  opposition  existing  be- 
tween the  Jewish  and  Gentile  Christians. 
The  observance  of  these  ordinances  by  the 
latter,  would  tend  to  lessen  and  by  degrees 


Jews  with  the  greatest  detestation.     Pirke  Avoth. 
ch.  iii.  §  3. 

*  Most  of  these  points  belonged  to  the  seven 
precepts,  to  the  observance  of  which  men  were 
bound  before  the  giving  of  the  Mosaic  law,  which 
God  gave  to  the  sons  of  Noah,  and  to  the  obser- 
vance of  which,  the  Proselytes  of  the  Gate  bound 
themselves.  Vid.  BuxtorJ  lexicon  Talmudkum  et 
Rabbinicum  sub  voce  "^jl^ 

t  It  appears  to  me  entirely  impossible,  so  to  un- 
derstand the  words  in  Acts  xv.  21  (as  they  have 
been  understood  by  the  latest  expositors,  Meyer 
and  Olshausen),  as  containing  a  reason  for  what 
had  been  said  before.  This  assembly  required  no 
reason  why  they  should  impose  so  much,  but  only 
why  they  should  impose  no  more  on  the  Gentile 
Christians.  Also  from  the  form  of  the  clauses  in 
v.  19  and  20,  if  such  a  reference  existed,  we  should 
expect  to  find  a  reason  of  this  kind,  namely  for  the 
fxn  7rdiiiW)(\w.  These  words,  too,  taken  in  their 
obvious  sense,  cannot  contain  the  positive  reason 
for  the  issuing  of  these  injunctions;  for  that  Moses 
was  read  in  the  synagogue  every  Sabbath-day, 
should  rather  serve  as  the  foundation  of  a  require- 
ment for  the  observance  of  the  whole  law.  But 
in  verse  21,  the  emphasis  is  on  the  word  Maa-iic, 
and  in  that  is  concealed  an  antithesis  to  that  which 
is  given  as  the  standing-point  for  the  converts  from 
heatiienism.  But  as  to  what  concerns  the  Jews, 
those  who  xeish  to  observe  the  law,  we  need  to  say 
nothing  new  to  them,  for  they  can  hear  every  Sab- 
bath in  the  Synagogue  what  Moses  requires  of 
them.  It  cannot  be  our  intention,  while  we  pre- 
scribe 710  more  than  this  to  the  converts  from 
heathenism,  to  diminish  the  reverence  of  the  Jews, 
for  the  Mosaic  law.  Chrysostom  adopts  very  nearly 
this  interpretation,  by  following  the  natural  con- 
nexion of  the  passage.  Horn.  33,  §  2,  xa/  Ivet  ,«« 
T/c  iy^vTrviyni^,  SttTi  ^«  Mtyifafo/c  to.  aiira.  i7ria-ri\- 
Xo^sv ;  iTDtyctyi  Xfymv,  and  he  explains  the  words  v. 
21,  tout'  £3-t<  Ma'£r«c  ctiirolr  StiAtyiTUt  <7u\ii^Zc.  It 
gives  me  pleasure  to  agree  with  Dr.  Schnecken- 
burger  in  my  view  of  this  passage  ;  see  his  excel- 
lent remarks,  in  his  work  before  quoted,  on  the 
Acts,  p.  23, 


to  destroy,  the  aversion  with  which  native 
Jews  were  wont  to  regard  as  im])ure  men 
who  had  been  brought  up  as  idolaters ;  it 
might  assist  us  in  forming  correct  notions 
of  their  feelings  to  compare  (though  the 
cases  are  not  exactly  parallel)  the  relation 
of  the  offspring  of  a  nation  where  Chris- 
tianity has  long  been  established  to  the 
newly  corfverted  Christians  from  modern 
heathenism.  But  if  the  believing  Jews 
could  not  bring  themselves  to  overcome 
their  prejudices  against  the  believing  Gen- 
tiles as  uncircumcised,  it  would  be  so  much 
more  difficult  to  bring  such  persons  closer 
to  them,  if  they  did  not  at  all  observe  what 
was  required  of  the  usual  Proselytes,  and 
renounce  what  from  the  Jewish  standing- 
point  appeared  closely  connected  with  idola- 
try, and  the  impure  life  of  idolaters.  And 
as  these  ordinances  would  serve  on  the  one 
hand  to  bring  Gentile  Christians  nearer  to 
Jewish  Christians ;  so,  on  the  other  hand, 
they  might  contribute  to  withdraw  the  for- 
mer more  from  the  usual  heathenish  mode 
of  living,  and  guard  them  against  the  pol- 
lution of  heathenish  intercourse  and  indul- 
gences. The  experience  of  the  next  cen- 
tury teaches  us,  how  even  the  misunder- 
standing, which  made  out  of  these  ordi- 
nances a  positive  law  applicable  to  all  ages  of 
the  Church,*  might  in  this  direction,  work 
for  good.     Viewing  the  transaction  in  this 


*  In  the  first  ages.  Christians  were  distinguished 
by  not  venturing  to  eat  any  of  the  things  forbidden 
in  this  injunction.  But  when  the  early  undiscrimi- 
nating  opposition  against  heathenism  had  ceased, 
a  more  correct  view  was  taken,  which  Augustine 
has  beautifully  developed.  "  (Apostoli)  elegisse 
mihi  videntur  pro  tempore  rem  lacilem  et  nequa- 
quam  observantibus  onerosam,  in  qua  cum  Israel- 
itis  etiam  gentis  propter  angularem  ilium  lapidem 
duos  in  se  condentem  aliquid  communiter  obser- 
varent.  Transacto  vero  illo  tempore,  quo  ill!  duo 
parietes,  unus  de  circumcisione,  alter  de  pra?putio 
venientes,  quamvis  in  angulari  lapide  concordarent, 
tamen  suis  quibusdam  proprietatibus  distinctius 
eminebant,  ac  ubi  ecclesia  gentium  talis  etfecta 
est,  ut  in  ea  nullus  Israelita  carnalis  appareat,  quis 
jam  hoc  Christianus  observat,  ut  turdas  vel  minu- 
tiores  aviculas  non  adtingat,  nisi  quarum  sanguis 
effusus  est,  aut  leporem  non  edat,  si  manu  a  cer- 
vice  percussus  nuUo  cruento  vulnere  occisus  est? 
Et  qui  forte  pauci  tangere  ista  formidant  a  caeteris 
irridentur,  ita  omnium  animos  in  hac  re  tenuit  sen- 
tcntia  vcritatis."  Matt.  xv.  11.  Augustin  c.  Fau- 
stum  Manich.  lib.  xxxii.  c.  1.3.  The  opposite  view, 
it  is  true,  was  maintained  in  the  Greek  Church,  in 
which  the  injunction  of  abstinence  from  blood  and 
from  animals  strangled  was  confirmed  by  the  Se- 
cond Trullanian  Council,  in  the  year  692. 


80 


SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


[Book  III. 


light,  it  is  indeed  surprising  that  to  ordi- 
nances merely  disciplinary,  and  intended 
for  only  one  particular  period,  and  for  per- 
sons under  certain  peculiar  relations,  the 
command  against  unchastity  binding  in  all 
ages,  and  relating  to  an  objectively  moral 
point,  should  be  annexed.  But  the  connex- 
ion in  which  this  prohibition  appears  fur- 
nishes the  best  explanation  of  the  cause  and 
design  of  its  introduction.  Ilonsia  is  men- 
tioned in  connexion  with  the  other  points, 
on  aocount  of  the  close  connexion  in  which 
it  appeared  to  the  Jews  to  stand  with  idola- 
try;  for  in  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment they  were  accustomed  to  see  idolatry 
and  unchastity  every  where  placed  together; 
excesses  of  this  class  were  really  connected 
with  many  parts  of  idolatry;  and  the  strict 
idea  of  chastity  in  a  comprehensive  sense 
formed  the  standing-point  of  natural  re- 
ligion. It  is  introduced  here  not  as  a 
special  moral  precept  of  Christianity ;  in 
that  case,  it  would  not  have  been  so  insu- 
lated as  a  positive  command,  but  would 
rather  have  been  deduced  from  its  connex- 
ion with  the  whole  of  the  Christian  faith 
and  life  as  we  find  it  in  the  Apostolic  Epis- 
tles. Here  it  is  introduced  as  a  part  of  the 
ancient  Jewish  opposition  to  every  thing 
•which  appeared  connected  with  idolatry, 
and  this  opposition  was  now  to  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  new  Christian  Church. 

Although  these  injunctions  had  a  precise 
object,  and  doubtless  attained  it  in  some 
measure,  yet  we  cannot  conclude  with  cer- 
tainty, that  James  had  a  clear  perception 
of  it  in  all  its  extent,  when  he  proposed 
this  middle-way.  As  the  persons  who 
composed  this  assembly  acted  not  merely 
according  to  the  suggestions  of  human 
prudence,  but  chiefly  as  the  organs  of 
a  higher  spirit  that  animated  them,  of  a 
higher  wisdom  that  guided  them,  it  would 
follow,  that  their  injunctions  served  for  cer- 
tain ends  in  the  guidance  of  the  church, 
which  were  not  perfectly  clear  to  their  own 
apprehension.  Even  James  himself  does 
not  develope  the  motives  which  determined 
him  to  propose  such  a  measure.  In  this 
assembly  there  was  no  occasion,  as  we 
have  before  remarked,  to  mention  the  prin- 
ciples, but  merely  to  develope  the  reason, 
why  no  more  than  this,  and  not  the  whole 
law,  should  be  imposed  on  Christians;  and 
this  reason  accordingly,  he  deduced  from 
what  he  and  the  other  apostles  recognised 


as  the  central  point  of  the  Christian  faith. 
Possibly  James,  without  any  distinct  views 
and  aims,  only  believed  that  something 
must  be  done  for  the  Gentile  Christians, 
(who  were  to  be  acknowledged  as  members 
of  God's  kingdom,  with  equal  privileges,  in 
virtue  of  their  faith  in  Jehovah  and  the 
Messiah,)  to  bring  them  nearer,  as  it  re- 
garded their  outward  mode  of  life,  like  the 
Proselytes  of  the  Gate,*  to  Judaism  and 
the  Jews.f 

But  although  it  was  not  necessary  in  this 
public  assembly,  to  develope  in  a  positive 
manner  the  motives  for  framing  these  in- 
jimctions,  we  are  certainly  not  to  assume, 
that  the  apostles  left  the  decision  of  the 
principles,  on  which  they  meant  to  act 
towards  Gentile  Christians,  to  the  delibera- 
tions of  this  meeting ;  but  as  we  have  be- 
fore remarked,  most  probably  brought  for- 
ward only  what  seemed  to  them  in  their 
private  conference  best  adapted  for  their 
object;  in  that  consultation  it  was  neces- 
sary to  discuss  the  motives  for  these  in- 
junctions, and  the  objects  which  it  was  pro- 
posed to  attain  by  them ;  for  in  relation  to 
what  Paul  desired — that  to  those  among  the 
Gentiles,  who  acknowledged  Jesus  as  the 
Messiah,  nothing  further  should  be  pre- 
scribed— a    conciliatory    measure    of  this 


*  I  mean  only  analogous  regulations ;  for  had 
there  been  simply  a  transference  of  such  as  were 
enjoined  to  the  Proselytes  of  the  Gate,  it  would 
have  been  sufficient  to  require  of  the  Gentile 
Christians,  among  whom  many  Proselytes  of  the 
Gate  might  be  found,  that  they  should  submit  to 
all  the  regulations  wiiich  had  hitherto  been  ob- 
served by  persons  of  that  class. 

t  Luther,  who  was  far  from  the  restricted,  un- 
natural notion  of  inspiration,  and  the  slavish  adhe- 
rence to  the  letter,  maintained  by  the  theologians 
of  the  17th  century,  says,  in  reference  to  this  pro- 
posal of  James  (vol.  viii.  p.  1042  of  Waleh's  edi- 
tion),  "  that  the  Holy  Spirit  allowed  St.  James  to 
make  a  false  step."  But  even  if  James  had  not 
before  him  the  higher  object  for  the  guidance  of 
the  church,  this  ought  not  to  be  called  a  false 
step,  in  relation  to  the  peculiar  standing-point 
which  he  took  in  the  historical  developement  of 
primitive  Christianity ;  for  he  was  appointed  by 
the  Lord  of  the  church  to  occupy  the  intermediate 
standing-point  which  was  to  connect  the  Old  Tes- 
tament with  the  independent  developement  of  the 
New,  and  from  which  he  presented  the  new  spirit 
of  the  gospel  in  the  form  of  the  Old  Testament. 
It  becomes  us,  when  we  are  considering  the  joint 
labours  of  the  apostles,  to  observe  attentively  the 
whole  scheme  of  organic  historical  developement, 
in  which  each  member  takes  iiis  appropriate  sta- 
tion, and  all  are  designed  to  be  complements  to 
one  another. 


Chap.  IV.] 


DEVELOPEMENT  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHURCH. 


81 


kind  must  have  been  accompanied  by  a 
statement  of  the  principle  on  which  it  was 
founded.  And  as  we  must  acknowledge  in 
James  the  power  of  the  Christian  spirit, 
that  he  subordinated  to  the  interests  of 
Christianity  his  attachment  to  Judaism  and 
the  forms  of  the  ancient  theocracy ;  so  in 
Paul,  who  was  so  zealous  for  the  indepen- 
dence of  Christianity  and  of  the  Gentile 
churches,  we  must  recognjse  a  zeal  tem- 
pered by  Christian  wisdom,  which  yielded 
to  a  measure  of  accommodation  determined 
by  circumstances.* 

The  resolutions  adopted  on  this  occasion 
were  now  communicated  to  the  Gentile 
churches  in  Syria  and  Cilicia,t  in  an  epistle 
drawn  up  in  the  name  of  the  assembly; 
and  two  persons  of  good  repute  in  the 
church,  perhaps  members  of  the  Presby- 
tery at  Jerusalem,  Barirabas  and  Silas 
(Silvanus),  were  chosen  as  bearers  of  it, 
who  were  to  accompany  Paul  and  Barna- 
bas, and  counterwork  the  intrigues  of  their 
Judaizing  opponents.  We  will  here  insert 
this  short  epistIe,probably  dictated  by  James 
himself,  and  the  earliest  public  document 
of  the  Christian  church  known  to  us.:};  It 
is  as  follows  :  "  The  Apostles  and  Elders, 
and  Brethren, §  send  greeting  to  the  brethren 


*  Luiher  beautifully  remarks,  in  the  passage 
above  quoted,  "  Therefore  tliey  agree  that  James 
should  prescribe,  and  since  their  consciences  are 
left  free  and  unfettered,  that  they  think  is  enough 
for  them  ;  they  were  not  so  envious  as  to  wish  to 
quarrel  about  a  little  thing,  provided  it  could  be 
done  without  damage." 

+  The  injunctions  were  designed,  it  is  true,  for 
all  Gentile  Christians,  but  the  epistle  was  address- 
ed only  to  the  churches  specified  in  it,  becau^se  in 
these  the  dispute  had  first  of  all  arisen,  and  be- 
cause they  must  have  been  respected,  as  parent 
churches  among  the  Gentiles,  with  which  the 
later  formed  Asiatic  churches  would  connect  them- 
selves. Hence  also  Paul,  in  Gal.  i.  21,  as  a  gene- 
ral  description  of  the  sphere  of  his  labours,  men- 
tions only  tli€  v.xiy.^'v^  Tiic  2ug/*c  »«/  Tiiic  K<x«/ac. 

t  The  style  of  this  document  (marked  by  sim. 
plicity  and  extreme  brevity),  testifies  its  originality. 
Had  the  author  of  the  Acts  set  himself  to  compose 
such  an  epistle,  and  attempted  to  assume  the  situa- 
tion of  the  writer,  it  would  have  been  a  very  dif- 
ferent composition.  And  hence  we  may  draw  a 
conclusion  relative  to  the  discourses  given  in  the 
Acts. 

§  According  to  the  reading  adopted  by  Lach- 
mann,  it  would  be,  "  The  Apostles  and  Presbyters, 
Christian  brethren,"  they  wrote  as  brethren  to 
brethren.  This  reading  is  strongly  supported. 
We  can  hardly  deduce  its  origin  from  hierarchi- 
cal influences,  which  would  have  excluded  the 
church  from  such  consultations  and  decisions ;  its 
antiquity  is  too  great,  for  we  find  it  in  Irenaeus, 

11 


which  are  of  the  Gentiles  in  Antioch,  and 
Syria,  and  Cilicia.*  Forasmuch  as  we 
have  heard,  that  certain  which  went  out  . 
from  us,  have  troubled  you  with  words, 
saying  ye  must  be  circumcised,  and  keep 
the  law,  to  whom  we  gave  no  such  com- 
mandment :  It  seemed  good  unto  us  being 
assembled  together,!  to  send  chosen  men 
unto  you^  with  our  beloved  Barnabas  and 
Paul, — men  that  have  hazarded  their  lives 
for  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
We  have  therefore  sent  Judas  and  Silas, 
who  shall  also  tell  you  the  same  things  by 
mouth.:}:     For  it  seemed  good  to  us,  under 


iii.  12,  14.  It  is  also  equally  against  the  hierarohi-. 
cal  spirit  for  the  apostles  and  presbyters  to  write 
to  the  brethren  as  brethren.  And  it  may  be  easily 
explained,  how  it  happened  that  since,  from  the 
introductory  words  of  Luke,  they  expected  an 
epistle  from  the  whole  church,  it-  seemed  neces- 
sary to  distLriguish  the  brethren  from  the  apostles, 
and  presbyters,  and  hence  probably  the  words  »a} 
o«  were  inserted.  Yet  since,  in  Acts  xv.  22,  the 
whole  church  is  mentioned  in  connexion  with  the 
apostles  and  presbyters,  we  might  expect  in  the 
epistk  itself  a  distinct  reference  to  the  church ; 
the  e|  ifAm  also  of  verse  24  (for  these  anonymous 
complainers  could  hardly  belong  to  the  presbyters 
of  the  church)  appears  to  assume  this.  The  first 
Kti  Of,  verse  24,  must  have  occasioned  the  omission, 
of  the  second. 

*  The  ^5«g€/v  here  wants  the  sv  xug/«i,  which  is 
so  common  in  the  Pauline  Epistles ;  but  it  deserves 
notice  that,  as  a  salutation  only,  this  ;t'"g«''  i* 
found  in  the  Epistle  of  James. 

t  The  words  yiWfxi^^K  IfAobufxii^ov,  I  do  not  un- 
derstand with  Meyer,  "being  unanimous,"  but, 
"when  we  were  met  together;"  as  ofxo^v/uaS'av 
often  denotes  in  the  Acts,  not,  "  of  one  mind,"  but^ 
"  together,"  as  in  v.  46.  We  may  see  from  the 
Alexandrian  version,  and  Josephus  (Antiq.  xix.  9, 
§  1),  how  the  change  of  meaning  has  been  formed. 

t  The  explanation  of  this  passage,  Acts  xv.  27, 
is  in  every  way  difficult.  If  we  refer  to.  n^ra.  to 
what  goes  before,  the  sense  will  be, — they  will  an- 
nounce to  you  the  same  things  that  Barnabas  and 
Paul  have  announced  to  you.  So  I  understood  the 
words  in  the  first  edition  of  this  work.  The  words 
Six  xoyov  are  not  exactly  against  this  interpretation ; 
for' though  these  words  contained  the  reference  to 
what  followed  in  writing,  they  might  be  thus  con- 
nected with  them ;  namely,  as  we  now  in  writing 
also  express  the  same  principles.  But  since  men- 
tion is  not  made  before  of  the  preaching  of  Bar- 
nabas and  Paul,  and  we  must  therefore  supply 
something  not  before  indicated,  and  since  the 
words  Six  Koyou  contain  a  reference  to  what  fol- 
lows, and  therefore  not  nuTciyyikXiiv,  but  air'j.yyi\~ 
xeiv  is  here  used,  I  now  prefer  the  other  interpre- 
tation, although  in  this  case  likewise,  it  is  difficult 
to  supply  what  is  necessary.  In  Irenseus  we  find 
a  reading  which  presents  the  sense  required  by 
the  connexion  in  a  way  that  removes  all  difficul- 
ties, but  must  be  considered  as  an  exposition;  t«i> 
yv/»fA»v  ^fjiZv,  instead  of  t*  durtt,  aimuntiantes  nos- 
tram  sententiam,  Iren.  iii.  12,  14. 


82 


SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


[Book  III. 


the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,*  to  lay 
upon  you  no  greater  burden  than  these 
necessary  things — that  ye  abstain  from 
meats  offered  to  idols,  and  from  blood,  and 
from  things  strangled,  and  from  unchastity ; 
from  which,  if  ye  keep  yourselves,!  ye~ 
shall  do  well.     Fare  ye  well." 

We  may  conclude  from  this  epistle,  that 
those  who  had  raised  a  controversy  in  the 
Antiochian  church,  had  appealed  to  the 
authority  of  the  apostles  and  presbytery. 
Perhaps  they  represented  themselves  as 
delegates  of  the  church  at  Jerusalem, — as 
this  was  afterwards  made  of  importance 
by  the  adversaries  of  Paul — but  they  were 
not  acknowledged  as  such.  We  see  how 
important  it  was  for  the  apostles  to  accredit 
Paul  and  Barnabas  as  faithful  preachers  of 
the  gospel,  and  to  give  a  public  testimony 
to  their  agreement  in  spirit  with  them. 
Yet  we  cannot  help  remarking  the  brevity 
of  the  epistle — the  want  of  a  pouring  forth 
of  the  heart  towards  the  new  Christians  of 
an  entirely  different  race — the  absence  of 
the  developement  of  the  views  on  which 
the  resolutions  passed  were  founded.  The 
epistle  was  without  doubt  dictated  in  haste, 
and  must  be  taken  only  for  an  official 
document,  as  the  credentials  of  an  oral 
communication.  But  they  depended  more 
on  the  living  word,  than  on  written  charac- 
ters. Hence,  while  the  written  communi- 
cation was  so  brief,  they  sent  living  organs 
to  Antioch,  who  would  explain  every  thing 
more  fully  according  to  the  sense  of  this 
meeting. 

Thus  Paul  and  Barnabas,  having  hap- 
pily attained  their  object  at  Jerusalem,  re- 
turned to  the  Gentile  Christians  at  Antioch 
with  these  pledges  of  Christian  fellowship. 


*  In  the  explanation  also  of  Acts  xv.  28,  I  de- 
part,  and  with  greater  confidence,  from  my  former 
view.  Agreeably  to  the  manner  in  wliich  Sonilv  is 
every  where  placed  with  the  dative  of  the  person 
as  the  subject,  I  cannot  help  so  understanding  it 
with  the  words  taj  ayut>  7rviuf/.aTt,  especially  since, 
if  it  meant  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  according  to  the 
New  Testament  idiom,  we  should  expect  b  to  be 
prefixed.  It  is  tliercfore  slated  first,  it  has  so 
pleased  the  Holy  Spirit — then,  we  as  his  organs 
have  resolved.  Although  the  affair  was  deter. 
rnined  according  to  both,  it  was  important  to  men. 
tion  first,  that  this  resolution  was  not  formed  ac- 
cording  to  human  caprice,  but  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
so  willed  it.  I  translate  in  the  text,  not  verbally, 
but  according  to  the  sense. 

+  The  expression  in  Acts  xv.  29,  sf  m  J'mth^oZv. 
TIC  wt/Towc,  is  remarkably  similar  to  that  in  James 


i.27 


,  aa-TTiKov  totuTcv  rx^ny  a^ro  toi^  koo-juou 


and  accompanied  by  the  two  delegates. 
Barnabas  took  also  his  nephew  Mark  with 
him  from  Jerusalem,  to  be  an  assistant  in 
the  common  work.  He  had  formerly  ac- 
companied them  on  their  first  missionary 
travels  in  Asia,  but  had  not  remained  faith- 
ful to  his  vocation  ;  giving  way  to  his  feel- 
ings of  attachment  for  his  native  country, 
he  had  left  them  when  they  entered  Pam- 
phylia.  At  Jerusalem,  Barnabas  met  with 
him  again,  and  perhaps  by  his  remon- 
strances, brought  him  to  a  sense  of  his 
former  misconduct,  so  that  he  once  more 
joined  them. 

This  decision  of  the  Apostolic  Assembly 
at  Jerusalem,  forms  an  important  era  in 
the  history  of  the  apostolic  church.  The 
first  controversy  which  appeared  in  the 
history  of  Christianity,  was  thus  publicly 
expressed  and  presented  without  disguise  ; 
but  it  was  at  the  same  time  manifested, 
that,  by  this  controversy,  the  unity  of  the 
church  was  not  to  be  destroyed.  Although 
so  great  and  striking  a  difference  of  an 
outward  kind  existed  in  the  developement 
of  the  church  among  the  Jews  and  of  that 
among  the  Gentiles,  still  the  essential  unity 
of  the  church,  as  grounded  on  real  com- 
munion of  internal  faith  and  life,  continued 
undisturbed  thereby,  and  thus  it  was  mani- 
fest that  the  unity  was  independent  of  such 
outward  differences  :  it  became  henceforth 
a  settled  point,  that  though  one  party  ob- 
served and  the  other  party  neglected  cer- 
tain outward  usages,  yet  both,  in  virtue  of 
their  common  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Re- 
deemer, had  received  the  Holy  Spirit  as 
the  certain  mark  of  their  participating  in 
the  kingdom  of  God.  The  controversy 
was  not  confined  to  these  outward  differ- 
ences ;  but,  as  we  might  conclude  from 
the  peculiar  nature  of  the  modes  of  think- 
ing among  the  Jews,  which  mingled  itself 
with  their  conceptions  of  Christianity,  it 
involved  several  doctrinal  differences.  The 
latter,  however,  were  not  brought  under 
discussion  ;  those  points  only  were  touched 
which  were  most  palpable,  and  appeared 
the  most  important  from  the  Jewish  stand- 
ing-point of  legal  observances.  While  they 
firmly  held  one  ground  of  faith, — faith  in 
Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  and  a  consciousness 
of  fellowship  in  the  one  spirit  proceeding 
from  him, — they  either  lost  sight  altogether 
of  these  differences,  or  viewed  them  as  very 
subordinate,   in   relation   to   the   points  of 


Chap.  V.J 


USAGES  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHRISTIANS. 


83 


agreement,  the  foundation  of  the  all-com- 
prehending kingdom  of  God.  At  a  later 
period,  these  differences  broke  out  with 
greater  violence,  when  they  were  not  over- 
powered by  the  energy  of  a  Christian  spirit 
progressively  developed,  and  insinuating 
itself  more  deeply  into  the  prevalent  modes 
of  thinking.  Even  by  this  wise  settlement 
of  the  question,  so  serious  a  breach  could 
not  be  repaired,  where  theoperation  of  that 
Spirit  was  wanting  from  whom  this  settle- 
ment proceeded.  As  those  who  were  ad- 
dicted to  Pharisaism  were,  from  the  first, 
accustomed  to  esteem  a  Christianity  amal- 
gamated with  complete  Judaism,  as  alone 
genuine  and  perfect,  and  rendering  men 
capable  of  enjoying  all  the  privileges  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  it  was  hardly  possible 
that  these  decisions  could  produce  an  entire 
revolution  in  their  mode  of  thinking  ;  whe- 
ther it  was  that  they  looked  upon  the  deci- 
sions of  the  assembly  at  Jerusalem  as  not 
permanent,  or  that  they  explained  them 
according  to  their  own  views  and  interests, 
as  if  indeed,  though  they  had  not  com- 
manded the  observance  of  the  law  to  Gen- 
tile Christians,  they  were  designed  to  inti- 
mate that  it  would  be  to  their  advantage, 
if  voluntarily,  and  out  of  love  to  Jehovah, 
they  observed  the  whole  law.  And  as 
they  had  not  hesitated,  before  that  as- 
sembly was  called  at  Jerusalem,  to  appeal 
to  the  authority  of  the  apostles,  although 
they  were  by  no  means  authorized  to  do 
so,  they  again  attempted  to  make  use  of 
this  expedient,  of  which  they  could  more 
readily  avail  themselves  on  account  of  the 
great  distance  of  most  of  the  Gentile 
churches  from  Jerusalem.* 

*  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  might  lead  us  to 
suppose,  if  we  could  not  compare  its  statements 
with  the  Pauline  Epistles,  that  the  division  be- 
tween the  Jewish  and  Gentile  Christians  had  been 
completely  healed  by  the  decision  of  the  apostolic 
assembly ;  but  we  know  that  the  reaction  of  the 
Judaizing  party  against  the  freedom  of  the  Gentile 
Christian  church,  very  soon  broke  out  afresh,  and 
that  Paul  had  constantly  to  combat  with  it.  In 
this  silence  of  the  Acts,  I  cannot  find  the  slightest 
trace  of  an  apologetical  tendency  for  Paul,  against 
the  Judaizers ;  in  that  case,  I  should  rather  have 
expected  the  Author  would  have  mentioned  these 
subsequent  disturbances,  and  have  opposed  to  them 
these  decisions.  Nor  can  I  think  an  intentional 
silence  probable  in  relation  to  the  events  of  a  period 
so  deeply  agitated  by  religious  concerns.  The 
Acts  generally  says  nothing  of  the  inward  dcve- 
lopement  of  the  Christian  church;  hence  it  is 
silent  on  so  many  other  things  which  we  would 
gladly  know. 


Thus  we  have  here  the  first  example  of 
an  accommodation  of  differences  which 
arose  in  the  developement  of  the  church,- 
an  attempt  to  effect  a  union  of  two  con- 
tending parties  ;  and  we  here  see  what  has 
been  often  repeated,  that  union  can  only 
be  attained  where  it  proceeds  from  an  in- 
ternal unity  of  Christian  consciousness ; 
but  where  the  reconciliation  is  only  ex- 
ternal, the  deeply-seated  differences,  though 
for  a  brief  period  repressed,  will  soon  break 
out  afresh.  But  what  is  of  the  greatest 
importance,  we  here  behold  the  seal  of 
true  Catholicism  publicly  exhibited  by  the 
apostles,  and  the  genuine  apostolic  church. 
The  existence  of  the  genuine  catholic 
church,  which  so  deeply-seated  a  division 
threatened  to  destroy,  was  thereby  secured. 

We  are  now  arrived  at  a  •  point  of  time 
in  which  the  Gentile  church  assumed  a 
peculiar  and  independent  form  ;  but  before 
we  trace  its  farther  spread  and  develope- 
ment in  connexion  with  the  labours  of 
Paul,  let  us  first  glance  at  the  constitution 
of  the  church  in  this  new  form  of  Christian 
fellowship.* 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH,  AND   THE   ECCLE- 
SIASTICAL USAGES  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHRISTIANS. 

The  forms  under  which  the  constitution 
of  the  Christian  community  at  first  deve- 
loped itself,  were,  as  we  have  before  re- 
marked, most  nearly  resembling  those 
which  already  existed  in  the  Jewish  church. 
But  these  forms,  after  their  adoption  by 
Jewish  Christians,  would  not  have  been 
transferred  to  the  Gentile  churches,  if  they 
had  not  so  closely  corresponded  to  the 
nature  of  the  Christian  community  as  to 
furnish  it  with  a  model  for  its  organization. 
This  peculiar  nature  of  the  Christian  com- 
munity distinguished  the  Christian  church 
from  all  other  religious  associations,  and 
after  Christianity  had  burst  the  fetters  of 


*  We  have  in  the  Acts  no  pragmatical  repre- 
sentation of  history,  but  it  is,  like  Luke's  Gospel, 
compiled  from  a  comparison  of  separate  accounts. 
Wherever  we  find  a  pragmatism,  it  proceeds  not 
from  the  historical  art  of  the  writer,  but  is  a  prag- 
matism founded  in  the  history  itself,  which  he 
composed  according  to  the  documents  lying  before 
him. 


84 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


[Book  III. 


Judaism,  showed  itself  among  the  free 
and  self-subsistent  churches  of  the  Gentile 
Christians.  Since  Christ  satisfied  once 
for  all  that  religious  want,  from  the  sense 
of  which  a  priesthood  has  every  where 
originated, — since  he  satisfied  the  sense  of 
the  need  of  mediation  and  reconciliation, 
so  deeply  seated  in  the  consciousness  of 
the  separation  from  God  by  sin,  there  was 
no  longer  room  or  necessity  for  any  other 
mediation.  If,  in  the  apostolic  epistles, 
the  OLd  Testament  ideas  of  a  priesthood,  a 
priestly  cultus  and  sacrifices  are  applied  to 
the  new  economy,  it  is  only  with  the  de- 
sign of  showing,  that,  since  Christ  has  for 
ever  accomplished  that  which  the  priest- 
hood and  sacrifices  in  the  Old  Testament 
prefigured,— all  who  now  appropriate  by 
faith  what  he  effected  for  mankind,  stand 
in  the  same  relation  with  one  another  to 
God,  without  needing  any  other  mediation, 
— that  they  are  all  by  communion  with 
Christ  dedicated  and  consecrated  to  God, 
and  are  called  to  present  their  whole  lives 
to  God  as  an  acceptable,  spiritual  thank- 
offering,  and  thus  their  whole  consecrated 
activity  is  a  true  spiritual,  priestly  cultus. 
Christians  forming  a  divine  kingdom  of 
priests.  Rom.  xii.  1  ;  1  Pet.  ii.  9.  This 
idea  of  the  general  priesthood  of  all  Chris- 
tians, proceeding  from  the  consciousness  of 
redemption,  and  grounded  alone  in  that, 
is  partly  stated  and  developed  in  express 
terms,  and  partly  presupposed  in  the  epi- 
thets, images,  and  connparisons,  applied  to 
the  Christian  life. 

As  all  believers  were  conscious  of  an 
equal  relation  to  Christ  as  their  Redeemer, 
and  of  a  common  participation  of  commu- 
nion with  God  obtained  through  him ;  so 
on  this  consciousness,  an  equal  relation  of 
believers  to  one  another  was  grounded, 
which  utterly  precluded  any  relation  like 
that  found  in  other  forms  of  religion,  sub- 
sisting between  a  priestly  caste  and  a  people 
of  whom  they  were  the  mediators  and  spi- 
ritual guides.  The  apostles  themselves 
were  very  far  from  placing  themselves  in 
a  relation  to  believers  which  bore  any  re- 
semblance to  a  mediating  priesthood ;  in 
this  respect  they  always  placed  themselves 
on  a  footing  of  equality.  If  Paul  assured  the 
church  of  his  intercessory  prayers  for 
them,  he  in  return  requested  their  prayers 
for  himself  There  were  accordingly  no 
such  persons  in  the  Christian  church,  who. 


like  the  priests  of  antiquity,  claimed  the 
possession  of  an  esoteric  doctrine,  while 
they  kept  the  people  in  a  state  of  spiritual 
pupilage  and  dependence  on  themselves, 
as  their  sole  guides  and  instructors  in  re- 
ligious matters.  Such  a  relation  would 
have  been  inconsistent  with  the  conscious- 
ness of  an  equal  dependence  on  Christ, 
and  an  equal  relation  to  him  as  partici- 
pating in  the  same  spiritual  life.  The  first 
Pentecost  had  given  evidence,  that  a  con- 
sciousness of  the  higher  life  proceeding 
from  communion  with  Christ  filled  all  be- 
lievers, and  similar  effects  were  produced 
at  every  season  of  Christian  awakening 
which  preceded  the  formation  of  a  church. 
The  apostle  Paul,  in  the  4th  chapter  of  his 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  points  out  as  a 
common  feature  of  Judaism  and  Heathen- 
ism in  this  respect,  the  condition  of  pupil- 
age, of  bondage  to  outward  ordinances. 
He  represents  this  bondage  and  pupilage 
as  taken  away  by  the  consciousness  of  re- 
demption, and  that  the  same  spirit  ought 
to  be  in  all  Christians.  He  contrasts  the 
heathen  who  blindly  followed  their  priests, 
and  gave  themselves  up  to  all  their  arts 
of  deception,  with  true  Christians,  who, 
by  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  became  the 
organs  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  could  hear 
the  voice  of  the  living  God  within  them ; 
I  Cor.  xii.  1.  He  thought  that  he  should 
assume  too  much  to  himself,  if,  in  relation 
to  a  church  already  grounded  in  spiritual 
things,  he  represented  himself  only  as 
giving  ;  for  in  this  respect  there  was  only 
one  general  giver,  the  Saviour  himself,  as 
the  source  of  all  life  in  the  church,  while 
all  others,  as  members  of  the  spiritual  body 
animated  by  him  the  Head,  stood  to  each 
other  in  the  mutual  relation  of  givers  and 
receivers.  Hence  it  was,  that,  after  he 
had  written  to  the  Romans  that  he  longed 
to  come  to  them  in  order  to  impart  some 
spiritual  gift  for  their  establishment,  he 
added,  lest  he  should  seem  to  arrogate 
too  much  to  himself,  "  that  is,  that  I  may 
be  comforted,  together  with  you,  by  the 
mutual  faith  both  of  you  and  me ;"  Rom. 
i.  12. 

Christianity,  on  the  one  hand,  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  the  common  higher  princi- 
ple of  life,  gave  to  the  church  a  unity, 
more  sublime  than  any  other  principle  of 
union  among  men,  destined  to  subordinate 
to  itself,  and  in  this  subordination  to  level, 


Chap.  V.] 


USAGES  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHRISTIANS. 


85 


all  the  varieties  founded  in  the  developement 
of  human  nature.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
nnental  peculiarities  were  not  annihilated 
by  this  divine  life ;  since,  in  all  cases,  it 
followed  the  laws  of  the  natural  develope- 
ment of  man,  but  only  purified,  sanctified, 
and  transformed  them,  and  promoted  their 
freer  and  more  complete  expansion.  The 
higher  unity  of  life  exhibited  itself  in  a 
multiplicity  of  individualities^  animated  by 
the  same  spirit,  and  forming  reciprocal 
complements  to  each  other  as  parts  of  one 
vast  whole  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  Con- 
sequently, the  manner  in  which  this  divine 
life  manifested  its  efficiency  in  each,  was 
determined  by  the  previous  mental  indivi- 
duality of  each.  The  apostle  Paul  says, 
indeed,  "  But  all  these  worketh  that  one 
and  selfsame  Spirit,  dividing  to  every  man 
severally  as  he  ^^^7/,"  1  Cor.  xii.  11  ;  but  it 
by  no  means  follows,  that  he  supposes  an 
operation  of  the  Divine  Spirit  totally  un- 
conditional. In  this  passage,  he  is  simply 
opposing  an  arbitrary  human  valuation, 
which  would  attribute  a  worth  to  only  cer- 
tain gifts  of  grace,  and  refused  to  acknow- 
ledge the  manifoldness  in  their  distribution. 
The  analogy  to  the  members  of  the  human 
body,  of  which  the  apostle  avails  himself, 
betokens  the  not  arbitrary  but  regulated 
developement  of  the  new  creation  in  a 
sanctified  natural  order ;  for  it  is  evident 
from  this  analogy,  that  as,  among  the 
members  of  the  human  body,  each  has  its 
determinate  place  assigned  by  nature,  and 
its  appropriate  function,  so  also  the  divine 
life,  in  its  developement,  follows  a  similar 
law,  grounded  on  the  natural  relations  of 
the  individualities  animated  by  it.  From 
what  has  just  been  said,  we  are  prepared 
for  rightly  understanding  the  idea  of  cha- 
risma, so  very  important  for  the  history  of 
the  developement  of  the  Christian  life,  and 
of  the  constitution  of  the  Christian  church 
in  the  fi.rst  ages.  In  the  apostolic  age,  it 
denoted  nothing  else  than  the  predominant 
capability  of  an  individual  in  which  the 
power  and  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  that 
animated  him  was  revealed  ;*  whether  this 
capability  appeared  as  something  commu- 
nicated in  an  immediate  manner  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  or  whether  it  was  already  ex- 
isting in  the  individual   before  his   conver- 


*  The  ipunemo-ii:  tou  7tnvy.ATo:  peculiar  to'  each 
person. 


sion,  which  animated,  sanctified,  and  raised 
by  the  new  principle  of  life,  would  contri- 
bute to  one  common  and  supreme  object, 
the  inward  and  outward  developement  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,  or  the  church  of 
Christ.*  That  which  is  the  soul  of  the 
whole  Christian's  life,  and  forms  its  inward 
unity,  the  faith  working  by  love,  can  never 
appear  as  a  particular  charism  ;  for  as  this 
it  is  which  forms  the  essence  of  the  whole 
Christian  disposition,  so  it  is  this  which 
must  govern  all  the  particular  Christian 
capabilities  ;  and  it  is  because  they  are  all 
regulated  by  this  common  principle  of  the 
Christian  disposition,  that  the  particular 
capabilities  become  charisms  ;  1  Cor.  xiii. 
That  by  which  the  developed  natural 
endowment  becomes  a  charism,  and  which 
is  common  to  all,  is  always  something  ele- 
vated above  the  common  course  of  nature, 
something  divine.  But  the  forms  of  mani- 
festation in  which  this  higher  principle  exhi- 
bited itself,  were  marked  by  a  diversity,  ac- 
cording as  it  was  the  result  of  an  original 
creative  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  making 
use  of  the  course  of  nature  and  evincing  its 
presence  by  some  immediate  effect  (though 
even  here  a  hidden  connexion  might  exist 
between  the  natural  peculiarities  of  the  in- 
dividual and  such  a  special  acting  of  the 
Holy  Spirit) ;  these  are  charisms  which  in 
the  New  Testament  are  called  (Juvafisig, 
rfTjfjLsra,  TS^ara  ;  or  the  manifestations  might 
be  deduced  from  the  developement  of  natural 
talents  under  the  animating  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  The  first  kind  of  charisms 
belong  more  to  the  peculiar  operation  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  apostolic  age,  that 
peculiarly  creative  epoch  of  Christianity 
on  its  first  appearance  in  the  world  ;  the 
second  kind  belonged  to  the  operation  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  through  all  succeeding  ages 
of  the  church,  by  which  human  nature,  in 

*  The  word  most  generally  used,  whereby  (since 
Paul  has  used  it  in  this  sense)  is  sig-nified,  all  that 
concerns  the  internal  advancement  of  the  kingdom 
of  God — whether  in  reference  to  the  church  in 
general,  or  to  individuals — is  otKoSofxilv.  This  use 
of  the  word  arises  from  the  practice  of  comparing 
the  Christian  life  of  the  whole  church,  and  its  in- 
dividual members,  to  a  building,  a  temple  of  God, 
which  is  built  on  the  foundation  on  which  this 
building  necessarily  rests,  1  Cor.  iii.  9  and  10,  and 
is  in  a  state  of  continual  progress  towards  com- 
pletion. On  this  progressive  building  of  the  tem- 
ple of  God,  both  in  general  and  individually,  see 
the  admirable  remarks  in  Nitzch's  Observalionea 
ad  theolugiam  practicamfelicivs  excolendam.  Bonn, 
1831,  p.  24. 


86 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


[BooKin. 


its  essential  qualities  and  its  whole  course 
of  developement,  will  be  progressively  pene- 
trated and  transformed.  These  two  forms 
of  charism  admit  therefore  of  being  clearly- 
distinguished,  as  they  were  manifested  in 
the  apostolic  church.  The  gifts  by  which 
such  effects  were  produced  in  the  visible 
world,  which  could  not  proceed  from  the 
existing  powers  and  laws  of  nature,  the  gift 
of  5jva(xsif ,  and  one  still  more  definite,  that 
of  curing  diseases,  the  p^a^itfixa  /afxaTwv,  are 
mentioned  as  special  gifts ;  1  Cor.  xii.  9, 
10.  Yet  these  gifts  are  only  ranked  with 
others ;  we  find  no  division  of  gifts  into 
two  classes,  extraordinary  and  ordinary, 
supernatural  and  natural ;  for  we  contem- 
plate the  apostolic  church  from  the  right 
point  of  view,  only  when  we  consider  the 
essential  in  all  these  gifts  to  be  the  super- 
natural principle,  the  divine  element  of  life 
itself. 

The  charisms  which  appeared  in  the 
apostolic  church,  may  be  most  naturally 
divided  into  such  as  relate  to  the  further- 
ance of  the  kingdom  of  God  or  the  edifi- 
cation of  the  church  by  the  word,  and  such 
as  relate  to  the  furtherance  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  by  other  kinds  of  outward*  agency. 
As  to  the  first  class,  a  distinction  may  be 
made,  founded  on  the  relation  in  which  the 
mental  self-activity  developed  in  the  various 
powers  of  the  soul  and  their  performances 
bears  to  the  inworking  of  the  Holy  Spirit : 
in  proportion  as  the  immediate  force  of  in- 
spiration predominated  in  the  higher  self- 
consciousness  (the  vouff  or  ■7i'v£u(ji,a)  and  the 
lower  self-consciousness  (the  -^^x^)  *he 
medium  of  the  soul's  intercourse  with  the 
outward  world,  retired;  or  as  the  commu- 
nications of  the  Divine  Spirit  were  received 
during  the  harmonious  co-operation  of  all 
the  powers  of  the  soul,  and  developed  and 
applied  by  the  sober  exercise  of  the  under- 
standing.! Hence  the  gradations  in  the 
charisms  of  which  we  have  already  spoken, 
the  charism  oC  yXuggaig  XaksTv  of  "T^o- 
cpsTEusiv  and  of  SiSa(fxakia.  Men  who  were 
prepared  by  the  early  cultivation  of  the  in- 
tellect, and  the  aptitude  for  mental  commu- 
nication by  means  of  it,  hence  knew  how 
to  develope   and    communicate  in    logical 


*  Compare  1  Peter  iv.  11. 

+  Wo  can  here  make  use  of  what  Synesius  in 
his  Dion  says  of  tlic  relation  of  the  /^M^uef.,  of  the 
a^JMa  /unviicov,  of  the  ^tcpogHTov,  to  the  formation  of 
the  fxt<T>i  Ka.u7ria-rctTiii.>i  cTuvayuic. 


consecutiveness  what  the  illumination  of  the 
Divine  Spirit  revealed  to  their  higher  self- 
consciousness.  The  SiSacfxaXoi  are  there- 
fore teachers  possessed  of  Christian  know- 
ledge (yvwrfig)  who  had  gained  it  by  means 
of  a  self-activity  animated  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  through  the  developement  and  ela- 
boration of  truth  known  in  the  divine  light. 
The  prophet,  on  the  contrary,  spoke,  as  he 
was  carried  away  by  the  power  of  inspira- 
tion suddenly  seizing  him,  an  instantaneous 
elevation  of  his  higher  self-consciousness, 
according  to  a  light  that  then  gleamed  upon 
him,  (an  u'n'oxakv-^.is.)  The  prophet  might 
be  distinguished  from  the  SiSarfxakog  in  re- 
ference to  his  mental  peculiarity  and  for- 
mation, by  the  predominance,  in  general, 
of  the  feelings  and  intuitive  perceptions 
over  the  activity  of  the  understanding.  Yet 
the  two  charisms  were  not  always  found 
separate  in  different  persons.  TheSiSadxcxXog 
in  many  a  moment  of  inspiration  might 
become  a  i:^ocpriTr\g.  The  prophet  might 
pronounce,  under  the  influence  of  inspira- 
tion, some  impressive  address,  to  awaken, 
to  admonish,  to  warn,  or  to  console  the 
assembled  believers ;  or  make  appeals  to 
those  who  were  not  yet  decided  in  the  faith, 
by  which  he  alarmed  their  consciences  and 
thus  opened  their  hearts  for  the  instructions 
of  the  SiSa(fxa\os.  It  is  evident  what  in- 
fluence the  power  of  inspired  discourse 
operating  on  the  heart  must  have  had  for 
the  spread  of  the  gospel  during  this  period. 
Persons  who  wished  for  once  to  inform 
themselves  respecting  what  occurred  in 
Christian  assemblies,  or  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  Christian  doctrine,  of 
whose  divine  origin  they  were  not  yet  con- 
vinced, sometimes  came  into  the  assemblies 
of   the   Church.*      On   these    occasions, 


*  The  aTTim;,  1  Cor.  xiv.  24,  means  a  person 
not  yet  a  believer,  but  yet  not  unsusceptible  of 
faith,  the  Jnftdelis  vegative.  Such  a  one  might 
be  awakened  to  believe  by  the  7r^c<p>t'rua.,  The 
ciw/o-Toc,  1  Cor.  22,  is  an  obstinate  unbeliever,  wholly 
unsusceptible  of  faith,  and  hence  utterly  unsuscep- 
tible of  the  influence  of  the  wgo?»TS/ot,  an  infidelis 
privative.  For  such  persons  there  could  be  no 
awakening,  but  only  condemnatory  a->t/uiin.  I  am 
not  induced  by  what  Meier  has  said,  in  liis  Com- 
mentary on  the  1st  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  to 
give  up  this  interpretation.  The  connexion  makes 
it  absolutely  necessary,  to  give  a  different  meaning 
to  a^T/o-Toc  in  1  Cor.  xiv.  23  and  24,  from  what  it 
bears  in  v.  22,  and  the  collocation  of  iSiZtui  and 
iTTta-Tci  confirms  this  explanation.  The  iSimTctt  were 
those  who  knew  only  a  little  of  Christianity,  the 


Chap.  V.l 


USAGES  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHRISTIANS. 


87 


Christian  men  came  forward  who  testified 
of  the  corruption  of  human  nature,  and  of 
the  universal  need  of  redemption,  with 
overpowering  energy  ;  and,  from  their  own 
reHgious  and  moral  consciousness,  appealed 
to  that  of  others,  as  if  they  could  read  it. 
The  heathen  felt  his  conscience  struck,  his 
heart  was  laid  open,  and  he  was  forced  to 
acknowledge,  what  hitherto  he  had  not  been 
willing  to  believe,  that  the  power  of  God 
was  with  this  doctrine  and  dwelt  among 
these  men ;  1   Cor.  xiv.  25r.     If  the  con- 

dTTia-rct  those  who  had  not  yet  attained  to  faith,  and 
as  not  believing,  were  akin  to  the  class  mentioned 
in  V.  22,  but  distinguished  from  them  by  the  direc- 
tion of  their  disposition,  and  its  relation  to  be- 
lieving, inasmuch  as  they  were  not  in  the  position 
of  decided  enmity  to  Christianity.  The  fact  of 
their  attending  Christian  assemblies,  bore  evidence 
of  their  seeking  after  truth,  that  there  was  at  least 
the  germ  of  susceptibility.  A  person  of  this  class 
came  to  the  Christian  assemblies,  in  order  to  learn, 
whether  it  was  really  a  matter  worth  attending  to, 
"accensus  inquirere  quid  sit  in  causa,"  as  Tertul- 
lian  says.  The  train  of  thought  is  as  follows  :  V. 
21,  God  speaks  by  people  using  a  strange  language 
(the  revelation  of  his  judgment)  to  the  Jews,  who 
would  not  listen  to  the  prophets  speaking  to  them 
in  their  own  language  ;  v.  22,  Thus  the  unintelli- 
gible tongues  are  for  signs  (signs  of  merited  divine 
judgments,  condemnatory  signs)  not  for  believers, 
(which  idea  is  amplified  in  verses  23,  24,  in  order 
to  be  applied  to  those  who  are  susceptible  of  faith, 
whose  minds  are  somewhat  moved  to  believe);  but 
for  unbelievers  (by  which  is  here  indicated  what 
is  absolutely  contrary  to  believing — the  standing- 
point  of  those  who  have  obstinately  rejected  the 
opportunities  of  attaining  faith).  But  prophecy  is 
not  for  the  unbelieving  (in  consequence  of  the  con- 
trariety of  their  disposition),  but  for  believers.  This 
generaJ  position,  that  not  the  gift  of  unintelligible 
tongues,  but  prophecy  speaking  intelligibly  to  them, 
was  designed  for  such,  the  apostle  lays  down  in  v. 
23,  as  an  inference  from  what  he  had  said  before. 
But  instead  of  taking  an  example  from  those  who 
already  belonged  to  the  church  as  decided  believers, 
he  takes  the  example  of  such  who  were  in  their 
progress  towards  believing;  since  in  these  the  truth 
of  what  they  had  asserted  was  more  strikingly  evi- 
dent, and  show  how  many  such  persons  might  be 
won  by  prophecy,  while  on  the  contrary,  the  sight 
of  an  assembly  in  which  they  heard  nothing  but 
ecstatic  unintelligible  discourses  must  operate  in- 
juriously upon  them  ;  in  the  latter  case,  they  would 
feel  themselves  compelled  to  suppose  that  there  was 
nothing  in  Christianity  but  delusion  and  cntliusi- 
asm.  But  if  the  same  unbelievers  were  intended 
in  verse  23  as  in  verse  22,  then  for  such  even  the 
discourses  of  the  prophets  would  be  nothing  that 
could  profit  them,  since  there  was  no  point  of  con- 
nexion in  their  dispositions.  To  them  even  what 
they  heard  spoken  by  the  prophets,  would  appear 
nothing  but  enthusiasm.  It  would  be  a  punish- 
ment merited  by  them,  to  be  addressed  in  unintel- 
ligible language,  since  they  would  not  understand 
— they  should  not  understand. 


nected  addresses  of  the  SiSacfxaXos  tended  to 
lead  those  further  into  a  knowledge  of  the 
gospel  who  had  already  attained  to  faith, 
or  to  develope  in  their  minds  the  clearer 
understanding  of  what  they  had  received 
by  faith ;  the  w^o^7]TSia  served  rather  to 
awaken  those  to  faith  who  were  not  yet  be- 
lievers, or  to  animate  and  strengthen  those 
who  had  attained  to  faith,  to  quicken  afresh 
the  life  of  faith.  On  the  contrary,  in  the 
yXuddaig  XaksTv,  the  elevated  consciousness 
of  God  predominated,  while  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  external  world  vanished.  To 
a  person  who  expressed  himself  in  this 
manner,  the  medium  of  communication 
between  the  external  world  and  his  deeply 
moved  interior,  was  altogether  wanting. 
What  he  uttered  in  this  state  when  carried 
away  by  his  feelings  and  intuitions,  was 
not  a  connected  address  like  that  of  a  St- 
Saffxakog,  nor  was  it  an  exhortation  suited 
to  the  circumstances  of  other  persons  (-Tfaga- 
xXritfi^),  like  that  of  the  prophets  ;  but  with- 
out being  capable  in  this  situation  of  taking 
notice  of  the  mental  state  and  necessities  of 
others,  he  was  occupied  solely  with  the  re- 
lation of  his  own  heart  to  God.  His  soul 
was  absorbed  in  devotion  and  adoration. 
Hence  prayer,  singing  the  praises  of  God, 
testifying  of  the  mighty  acts  of  God,  were 
suited  to  this  state.*  Such  a  person  prayed 
in  the  Spirit ;  the  higher  life  of  the  mind 
and  disposition  predominated,  but  the  intel- 
ligent developement  was  wanting.f     Since 


*  As  various  kinds  of  religious  acts  might  pro. 
ceed  from  this  state  of  mind,  (as  for  instance  ttpo- 
a-iij^i^d-xt  and  ■^AXXdv),  the  plural  yxooa-a-ai  and  the 
phrase  ^sv«  yhma-fraiv  are  used. 

f  At  all  events  it  is  certain  that  in  1  Cor.  xiv. 
14,  TrviVfxaTi  7rg^(j(Tiv)(_i'7^At,  ■^.a.Khitv,  is  equally  with 
yKocTj-v  xctxiiv,  opposed  to  tw  vol  or  S'tu.  tvj  vooc  \dL- 
\uv,  and  it  is  certain  that  the  latter  means — to  de- 
liver something  through  the  medium  of  thinking, 
in  a  form  proceeding  from  a  sound  consciousness. 
But  it  may  be  disputed — which  yet  decides  nothing 
respecting  the  subject  as  a  whole — whether  Trveti/ux. 
in  this  whole  section  is  a  designation  of  the  ec- 
static state,  as  one  in  which  the  excitation  pro- 
duced by  the  Divine  Spirit,  the  immediate  action 
of  inspiration  predominates,  and  the  human  self- 
activity  is  repressed  ;  or  whether  by  this  name  de- 
notes a  peculiar  internal  power  of  human  nature, 
the  power  of  higher  intuition,  which  in  such  states 
alone  is  developed  and  active.  Verses  15  and  16, 
would  favour  and  justify  no  other  interpretation 
than  the  former.  But  according  to  verse  14, 
though  this  interpretation  is  not  impossible,  there 
are  some  difficulties;  for  here  by  the  rcnvfj-n.  must 
be  denoted  the  inspiration  eflfected  by  the  Spirit, 
as  something  dwelling  in  the  soul,  and  blended 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


[Book  III. 


he  formed  a  peculiar  language  for  himself, 
from  his  own  individual  feelings  and  intui- 
tions, he  was  deficient  in  the  ability  to  ex- 
press himself  so  as  to  be  understood  by  the 
majority.  Had  the  apostle  Paul  held  the 
y'hliddaiz  XaXfiv  to  be  something  quite  en- 
thusiastic and  morbid,  neither  advantageous 
for  the  Christian  life  of  the  individual  nor 
for  the  furtherance  of  the  Christian  life  in 
others,  he  certainly  (so  liberally  as  he 
always  acknowledged  what  was  good  in 
the  churches  to  whom  he  wrote  before  he 
blamed  what  was  evil)  would  never  have 
allowed  himself  to  designate  by  the  name 
of  a  charism,  an  imperfection  in  th6  Chris- 
tian life,  and  never  could  he,  in  this  case, 
have  said  of  himself  that  he  thanked  God 
that  he  spake  in  more  tongues  than  all  of 
them.  On  the  contrary,  from  the  view 
here  developed  of  this  charism,  it  is  evident 
that,  in  this  extraordinary  elevation  of 
mind,  he  recognised  an  operation  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  a  special  gift  of  grace;  and 
there  is  also  an  internal  probability  that 
that  apostle,  who  rose  to  the  highest  point 


with  the  subjective.  Instead  of  saying,  I  pray  in 
inspiration,  Paul  would  say,  My  spirit  {that  in  me 
which  is  one  with  the  Spirit  acting  within  me) 
prays.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  this  interpreta- 
tion has  something  harsh,  which  is  not  found  in 
the  second,  if  by  wti-j/j.^  we  understand  that  high- 
est power  of  the  soul,  which  in  those  highest  mo- 
ments of  the  inner  life,  is  active  as  the  organ  for 
the  influences  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  It  cannot  at 
least  be  decisive  against  this  interpretation,  that 
Paul  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  generally  de- 
signates  the  higher  spiritual  nature  of  man,  by 
the  term  viyc ;  for  this  need  not  prevent  his  apply- 
ing the  same  name  to  a  more  limited  idea  in  an- 
other connexion;  the  voZi  =  to  voouv,  the  discursive 
faculty  of  thought,  in  distinction  from  the  higher 
faculty  of  intuition,  which  is  more  receptive,  by 
surrendering  itself  to  the  Divine  Spirit.  It  is 
worthy  of  remark,  and  assists  in  forming  a  right 
judgment  of  the  various  charisms  in  relation  to 
Christianity,  that  in  the  sense  assigned  to  the 
yxu77^ii;  ^.sL^fTv,  we  may  find  something  analogous 
in  the  juavi:i,  the  ivbou^icfJ/AOi;  of  tl)c  heathen  /wav- 
T/f,-  on  the  contrary,  in  the  M<t7K-xxi:t  is  presented 
a  characteristic  of  Christianity,  the  religion  of 
sober-mindedness;  as  Christianity  is  the  religion 
of  freedom  of  mental  self-activity,  (in  opposition 
to  mere  passivity),  and  of  harmonious  mental 
developement.  Hence  also  the  danger  that — 
when  a  one-sided  over-valuation  of  the  y}.a>(rir-tii 
AstAtii'  gained  ground,  and  there  was  a  defect  in 
Christian  watchfulness  and  sobriety,  as  in  hea- 
thenism, the  excitement  of  mere  natural  feeling 
might  injuriously  mingle  itself  with  the  move- 
ments of  the  divine  life — as  was  the  case  in  Mon- 
tanism,  in  which  we  may  observe  appearances 
akin  to  somnambulism. 


of  the  interior  Christian  life,  who  could 
depose  to  having  received  so  many  oTrTarfiai 
and  difoxaXv-^SiS  xugiou,  who  had  heard 
things  unutterable  in  any  tongue  of  men — 
had  often  been  in  circumstances  correspond- 
ing to  the  yXwCrfaig  XaXsTv.  But  it  was 
consonant  with  that  wisdom  which  always 
took  account  of  the  interests  of  all  classes 
in  the  Church,  that  he — although  he  recog- 
nised the  value  of  these  temporary  eleva- 
tions for  the  whole  of  the  Christian  life,  by 
which  it  was  enabled  to  take  a  wider  range 
— left  the  manifestations  of  such  moments 
to  the  private  devotions  of  each  individual, 
and  banished  them  from  meetings  for 
general  edification  ;  that  he  valued  more 
highly  those  spiritual  gifts,  which  gave 
scope  for  the  harmonious  co-operation  of  all 
the  powers  of  the  soul,  and  contributed  in 
the  spirit  of  love  to  the  general  edification  ; 
and  that  he  dreaded  the  danger  of  self-de- 
ception and  enthusiasm,  where  the  extra- 
ordinary manifestations  of  the  Christian 
life  were  overvalued,  and  where  that — 
which  only  was  of  worth  when  it  arose 
unsought  from  the  interior  developement  of 
life, — became  an  object  of  anxious  pursuit 
to  many  who  were  thus  brought  into  a 
state  of  morbid  excitement.  Hence  he 
wished,  that  in  those  highest  moments  of 
inspiration  which  attended  the  yXuggoA; 
XaXsiv,  every  one  would  pour  out  his  heart 
alone  before  God ;  but  that  in  the  assem- 
blies of  the  Church  these  manifestations  of 
devotion,  unintelligible  to  the  majority, 
might  be  repressed ;  or  only  be  exhibited, 
when  what  was  thus  spoken  could  be  trans- 
lated into  a  language  intelligible  to  all. 

In  these  charisms  we  may  also  distin- 
guish the  gift  of  a  productiveness  of  religious 
intuition  excited  and  animated  by  the  Divine 
Spirit ;  and  the  gift  which  enabled  a  person 
to  explain  or  to  pass  judgment  upon  what 
others  communicated  by  means  of  their 
charism  in  the  state  of  higher  inspiration, 
the  faculty  of  interpreting  or  of  judging, 
animated  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  the  s^jxTivsia 
yXwrftfaij  and  the  Siax^Kfis  'TrvtujxaTwv.  The 
Christian  life  was  permitted  freely  to  de- 
velope  and  express  itself  in  the  church. 
Whoever  felt  an  inward  impulse,  might 
venture  to  speak  in  the  Christian  assem- 
blies ;  but  sound  discretion  ought  to  accom- 
pany inspiration,  and  might  be  considered 
as  a  mark  of  its  being  genuine.  No  one 
was  to  wish  to  be  the  sole  speaker ;  or  to 


Chap.  V.] 


USAGES  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHRISTIANS. 


89 


interiTipt  others  in  speaking ;  1  Cor.  xiv. 
30-3r.  IlTaul  considered  such  injunctions 
to  be  necessary,  it  is  apparent  that  he  by 
no  means  recognised  in  the  prophets  of  the 
church,  pure  organs  of  the  Divine  Spirit, 
in  whom  the  divine  and  the  human  might 
not  easily  be  confounded.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  churches  were  to  be  guarded 
against  the  excesses  of  such  a  mixture  and 
the  delusions  which  prevailed,  when  human 
impurity  was  looked  upon  as  a  suggestion 
of  the  Divine  Spirit, — by  exercising  a  trial 
of  spirits,  for  which  a  special  gift  was 
granted  to  individuals.  As  for  the  St8oi.<f- 
xaXof,  in  whom  the  reflective  activity  of  the 
understanding  predominated,  the  gift  of 
trying  spirits  was  not  required  so  much  to 
accompany  his  addresses  ;  for  since  in  him 
the  critical  power  was  developed  and  active, 
and  he  was  habituated  to  discuss  Christian 
truths  with  a  sober  judgment,  he  was  able 
to  judge  himself.  But  the  less  a  prophet 
in  the  moments  of  inspiration  was  able  to 
observe,  to  examine,  and  to  judge  himself, 
the  greater  was  the  danger  of  confounding 
the  divine  and  the  human,  and  so  much 
the  more  necessary  was  it,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent this,  for  others  to  apply  a  scrutiny. 
On  this  account,  it  was  ordered  that  the 
operations  of  the  prophetical  gift  were  at- 
tended by  an  extraordinary  endowment  in 
certain  persons  of  trying  the  spirits,  a 
critical  power  animated  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
The  design  of  this  gift  was  certainly  not 
merely  to  decide  who  was  a  prophet  and 
who  was  not ;  but  chiefly  for  the  purpose 
of  distinguishing  in  the  addresses  of  those 
who  stood  up  as  inspired  speakers  in  the 
Christian  assemblies,  between  what  pro- 
ceeded from  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  what 
did  not  proceed  from  that  source ;  so  Paul, 
on  this  point,  recommended  the  church  to 
try  every  thing  communicated  by  the  pro- 
phets, and  required  them  to  separate  the 
good  from  the  bad;  1  Thess.  v.  21.  And 
as  the  prophets  did  not  pretend  to  be  infal- 
lible, but  were  conscious  of  their  liability 
to  error,  they  submitted  themselves  to  the 
judgment  of  the  church,  or  of  their  organs 
appointed  for  the  purpose,  and  thus  were 
preserved  from  the  self-delusion  of  pride, 
that  fruitful  source  of  enthusiasm. 

In  the  charism  of  StSadxaXta.,  there  ap- 
pears again  to  have  been  a  difference,  ac- 
cording as  any  one  had  an  ability  for  de- 
veloping the  truth  in  its  theoretic  elements, 

12 


or  in  its  application  to  the  various  relations 
of  life ;  the  one  was  Xo/o^  yvucfsug,  the 
other  Xoyos  docpias.* 

But  though  the  terms  yvudi?  and  rfoqjia 
are  thus  distinguished ;  it  by  no  means  fol- 
lows, that  in  every  passage  where  tfogjia  is 
mentioned  in  reference  to  Christianity,  it  is 
used  in  the  same  restricted  sense,  and  al- 
ways with  a  reference  to  this  distinction. 
We  find  .both  used  as  synonymous,  cer- 
tainly without  any  implied  reference  to  such 
a  distinction  of  practical  and  theoretical ; 
Coloss.  ii.  3.  Thus  Paul  in  the  first 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  under  the  name 
of  a  "koyos  (fcxpiag,  describes  the  more  ample 
developement  of  Christian  truth,  in  relation 
to  the  first  elements  of  Christian  knowledge, 
the  common  foundation  of  Christian  con- 
sciousness in  all  believers,  and  in  contrast 
with  the  philosophy  of  the  Grecian  schools. 
He  knew  nothing  higher  than  the  doctrine 
of  Jesus  Christ  the  Crucified  as  the  founda- 
tion of  salvation,  and  whatever  pretended 
to  be  superior  to  this,  appeared  to  him  a 
mere  deception.  He  says,  that  in  the  pub- 
lication of  the  divine  counsels  respecting 
the  salvation  brought  by  Christ  to  mankind, 
all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge 
were  hidden;  Coloss.  ii.  3;  but  still  the 
agency  of  reason  enlightened  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  was  necessary  to  bring  these  hidden 
treasures  to  light,  to  educe  and  develope 
this  divine  philosophy.  Consequentl)'-,  there 
would  be  vai'ious  degrees  of  knowledge  to 
be  developed,  and  various  corresponding 
kinds  of  instruction.     Paul  indeed  speaks 


*  2o<|)/a  principally  denoted  a  practical  power 
of  the  judgment,  corresponding  to  the  idea  of  wis- 
dom or  prudence ;  while  yvaia-t;,  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament and  contemporary  writings,  was  used  for 
the  theoretical,  the  more  profound  knowledge  of 
religion;  compare  1  Cor.  xiii.  2.  When  Meier 
says  that  the  distinction  between  theoretical  and 
practical  does  not  correspond  to  the  nature  of 
inspired  discourse,  it  appears  to  me  that  this  ob- 
jection is  not  valid :  for  inspiration  in  that  univer- 
sal sense,  which  is  here  treated  of,  the  animating 
by  the  Divine  Spirit,  from  whom  all  charisms  pro- 
ceed, could  not  be  wanting  to  any  kind  of  discourse 
in  the  church.  But  yet  a  different  gift  resulting 
from  animation  by  the  common  higher  principle 
of  life  would  be  required,  wlien  a  person  delivered 
a  discourse  on  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  faitli, 
and  when  he  spoke  of  objects  that  called  for  the 
exercise  of  Christian  prudence,  on  the  collisions 
between  Christianity  and  the  existing  social  rela- 
tions, and  matters  relating  to  tlie  outward  guidance 
of  the  churcli.  The  difference  is  here  necessarily 
grounded  in  the  nature  of  the  object,  and  of  the 
human  mind. 


90 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


[Book  III. 


of  a  wisdom  which  he  could  deliver  only 
among  "them  that  are  perfect;"  1  Cor.  ii. 
6  ;*  but  by  that  wisdom,  he  did  not  mean 
givinf^  ,new  explanations  respecting  the 
divine  wisdom  to  be  added  from  without, 
something  distinct  from  the  gospel  as  uni- 
versally announced,  a  tradition  that  was  to 
be  divulged  in  a  smaller  circle  of  disciples. 
But  he  meant  the  unfolding  those  treasures 
of  knowledge  contained  in  the  saving  doc- 
trine which  was  announced  to  all,  and 
which  would  be  brought  to  light  by  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  mental  faculties,  in  proportion 
as  they  received  and  developed  the  objects 
of  Christian  knowledge.  "  The  perfect," 
in  the  language  of  Paul,  are  not  those  who 
possessed  a  higher  intellectual  culture,  in- 
dependent of  the  Christian  faith  ;  but  those 
whose  whole  inner  life  having  been  purified 
and  transformed  in  a  high  degree  by  the 
vital  principle  of  Christianity,  are  rendered 
capable  of  deeper  Christian  intelligence,  by 
a  disposition  more  refined  from  all  selfish 
and  sensual  elements.  In  proportion  as 
the  Jewish  or  heathenish  spirit,  (and  to  the 
latter  belonged  the  one-sided  speculative 
tendency,  the  docpiav  (^tjtsTv,  the  arrogant 
wisdom  of  the  philosophical  schools,)  still 
predominated  among  Christians,  they  were 
unsusceptible  of  such  knowledge,  and  of 
such  a  kind  of  instruction.  In  like  man- 
ner, in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  "  the 
strong  meat"  of  the  perfect  (of  riper  Chris- 
tians), is  distinguished  from  the  first  ele- 
ments of  Christian  knowledge,  which  were 
presupposed  as  the  general  foundation. 

Let  us  now  proceed  from  those  gifts 
which  relate  to  the  ministry  of  the  word, 
to  that  class  which  relates  to  other  kinds  of 
outward  activity,  for  the  advancement  of 
the  kingdom  of  God.  Here  again  we  must 
distinguish  between  those  in  which,  as  in 
SiSadxaKm,  a  peculiar  capability  founded  in 
human  nature,  and  developed  and  applied 
according  to  its  usual  laws,  was  rendered 
effective,  under  the  influence  of  a  new 
divine  principle  of  life;  and  those  in  which 


*  I  cannot  help  considering  that  interpretation 
of  these  words  as  the  simplest  and  most  agreeable 
to  tlic  connexion,  according  to  which,  not  merely 
a  difference  grounded  on  tlic  various  relations  of 
one  divine  doctrine  to  the  various  peculiar  states 
of  the  men  who  receive  it,  (inasmuch  as  the  divine 
doctrine  is  indeed  wisdom,  but  appears  to  he  what 
it  is— wisdom— only  to  genuine  believers,  to  the 
perfect)  is  signified ;  but  also  an  objective  differ- 
ence  of  instruction. 


the  natural  human  developement  was  put 
in  the  background,  and  what  was  more 
purely  divine  became  prominent,  similai'ly 
to  the  yXuddatg  XaXsiv  and  the  *^oq37]TSusiv. 
To  the  former  belong  the  gifts  of  church 
government,  the  ■xci^i(f^a  xu/3s^vy)rfswg  or  tou 
lipoid  TOM  0.1,  and  the  gifts  for  various  services, 
which  were  required  in  administering  the 
concerns  of  thechurch,as  distributing  alms, 
tending  the  sick,  &c.,  the  p^agio'fji.a  (Jiaxoviag 
or  ccvTiXy)4.?w? ;  1  Cor.  xii.  28:  Rom.  xii. 
7.  To  the  second  division  belongs  es- 
pecially the  gift  of  working  miracles,  and 
performing  cures.  The  charism,  from 
which  these  two  modes  of  miraculous  opera- 
tion proceed,  considered  in  its  essential 
nature,  appears  to  be  ladng ;  1  Cor.  xii.  9  ; 
xiii.  2  ;  Matthew  xvii.  20.  For  the  term 
■TritfTij  in  this  connexion  cannot  denote 
Christian  faith  in  general,  the  disposition 
common  to  all  Christians;  but  must  neces- 
sarily relate  to  something  peculiar.  In- 
deed, as  seems  to  follow  from  the  relation 
of  ■TntfT;^  to  these  two  modes  of  operation, 
in  which  a  peculiar  power  of  the  will  over 
nature  manifests  itself,  and  as  is  confirmed 
by  what  is  predicated  of  yndTig  in  1  Cor. 
xiii.  2.  "  If  I  had  faith  so  that  I  could 
move  mountains,"  i.  e.  could  render  what 
appeared  impossible,  possible  by  the  power 
of  religious  conviction  working  on  the 
Will, — the  term  ■tfitfrij  evidently  denotes  the 
practical  power  of  the  will  animated  and 
elevated  by  faith.  But  with  this  variety  in 
the  manifestations  of  the  charisms,  still  he 
who  laboured  in  the  power  of  the  church, 
agreed  with  the  worker  of  miracles,  in  the 
consciousness  that  all  that  he  effected  was 
only  by  the  power  of  God  granted  to  him ; 
1  Peter  iv.  11. 

Although,  as  we  have  shown,  in  virtue 
of  these  spiritual  gifts  imparted  to  indivi- 
duals, according  to  their  various  peculiari- 
ties, no  one  could  exercise  a  decidedly  one- 
sided influence  on  the  church,  but  all  with 
reciprocal  activity  co-operated  for  the  same 
object,  under  the  influence  of  one  head, 
animating  the  whole  in  all  its  manifold 
members,  Eph.  iv.  16  ;  yet  it  by  no  means 
followed  that  all  guidance*  of  the  church 


*  Wc  cannot,  in  this  place,  allow  the  view 
brought  forward  by  Bauer,  to  pass  unnoticed,  that 
in  the  genuine  Pauline  Epistles,  no  trace  can  bo 
found  of  distinct  employments  and  offices  for  the 
guidance  and  government  of  the  church.  The 
passage  in  Romans  xii ,  in  which  the  distinctions 


Chap.  V.] 


USAGES  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHRISTIANS. 


91 


by  human  instrumentality  was  excluded  ; 
but  only  that  these  specially  guiding  instru- 


in  the  various  charisms  are  pointed  out,  certainly 
shows  how  fluctuating  every  thing  was  at  that 
time,  and  how  little  those  charisms  will  assist  us 
as  to  the  meaning  of  the  later  church-ofRces  cor- 
responding to  them.  In  that  passage,  it  is  striking 
to  notice  how  Paul,  in  the  8th  and  9th  verses, 
passes  from  the  charisms  which  seem  to  relate  to 
particular  offices,  to  the  mention  of  Christian  vir- 
tues which  concerned  every  believer ;  at  the  end 
of  verse  8,  the  iXiiv  forms  the  point  of  transition, 
and  even  before  that,  fAiTA^iSov^  does  not  necessarily 
relate  to  any  official  duty.  Thus  the  view  we  are 
led  to  form  of  the  original  constitution  of  the 
churciies  among  Gentile  Christians,  as  they  ex- 
isted in  the  apostolic  age, — that  it  was  entirely 
democratic,  is  also  one  of  the  distinguishing  marks 
between  the  churches  of  Gentile  and  those  of  Jew- 
ish origin.  The  case  appears  to  be  thus.  All  the 
affairs  of  the  churches  were  still  transacted  in  an 
entirely  public  manner,  so  that  every  deliberative 
meeting  of  the  church  resembled  a  strictly  popular 
assembly.  But  it  happened  of  course,  that  although 
no  definite  offices  were  instituted,  to  which  certain 
employments  were  exclusively  attached,  yet  each 
one  occupied  himself  with  those  matters  for  which 
he  possessed  a  peculiar  charism;  those  who  had 
the  gift  of  teaching,  generally  attended  to  teaching, 
— those  who  possessed  the  gift  of  church  govern- 
ment, occupied  themselves  with  the  duties  ])crtain- 
ing  to  it.  Thus,  in  every  meeting  of  the  church, 
there  was  a  division  among  its  members  of  the  va- 
rious business,  in  proportion  to  the  peculiar  cha- 
risms of  individuals,  yet  without  the  institution  of 
any  definite  church-offices.  In  favour  of  this  view, 
it  might  further  be  alleged,  that,  when  Paul  (I  Cor. 
vi.)  speaks  of  a  matter  belonging  to  church  govern- 
ment, the  settling  of  litigations,  he  does  not  recom- 
mend  their  committing  this  business  to  persons 
who  held  a  distinct  office  of  governing,  whose  con- 
cern in  that  case  it  would  have  been ;  but  speaks 
of  the  church  as  a  body,  before  whose  tribunal  such 
disputes  ought  to  be  brougiit  to  a  decision.  "Is 
there  not  one  wise  man  among  you  (he  asked)  who 
can  settle  such  matters  ?"  Therefore,  such  wise 
persons  must  be  taken  from  the  midst  of  the  church, 
(or,  in  other  words,  those  who  had  the  gift  of  church 
government),  to  undertake  the  settlement  of  these 
disputes  by  means  of  their  peculiar  charism,  in- 
stead of  its  being  referred  to  any  particular  office, 
which  perfectly  agrees  with  the  views  we  have 
stated.  But  this  view,  which  indeed  may  be  formed 
from  such  passages,  though  not  necessarily  found- 
ed upon  them,  is  decidedly  opposed  by  others.  Paul, 
in  1  Cor.  xvi.,  says,  that  the  family  of  Stephanas, 
as  the  first  Christian  family  in  Achaia,  devoted 
themselves  to  the  service  of  the  Christian  church, 
i.  e.  its  members  declared  themselves  ready  to  un- 
dertake church  offices ;  consequently,  we  may  sup- 
pose that,  at  the  founding  of  the  church,  such  of- 
fices were  instituted.  That  this  is  his  meaning,  is 
confirmed  by  the  16th  verse,  where  Paul  exhorts 
the  church  to  obey  such  (therefore  rulers  of  the 
church),  and  all  their  fellow-labourers.  Further, 
in  1  Thess.  v.  12,  he  speaks  of  such  who  laboured 
for  the  church,  presided  over  them,  and  admonish, 
ed  them.    Love  to  them  as  overseers  on  account  of 


ments,  exercised  no  exclusive  authority, 
did  not  separate  themselves  from  connex- 
ion with  the  whole  living  organization, 
formed  by  a  free  reciprocal  action  of  the 
individual  members,  nor  dared  to  violate 
their  relation  to  the  other  members,  as 
equally  serving  the  same  head,  and  the 
same  body.  There  was  indeed  for  this 
guidance  a  peculiar  talent  inspired  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  j^a^itJ'fxa  xu/DS^vT^rfecAjg.  It  was 
this  that  fitted  a  person  for  the  office  of 
presiding  over  the  church.  The  name  of 
presbyter,  by  which,  as  we  have  before  re- 
marked, this  office  was  first  distinguished, 
was  transferred  from  the  Jewish  synagogue 
to  the  Christian  church.  But  when  the 
church  extended  itself  farther  among  Hel- 
lenic Gentiles,  with  this  name  borrowed 
from  the  civil  and  religious  constitution  of 
the  Jews  another  was  joined,  which  was 
more  allied  to  the  designations  of  social 
relations  among  the  Greeks,  and  adapted 
to  point  out  the  official  duties  connected 


their  laborious  calling  is  particularly  enjoined ; 
and  thus  the  exhortation  to  peace  with  one  another 
concludes,  since  the  division  in  the  church  would 
especially  injure  their  proper  relation  to  these  over- 
seers of  the  church,  and  the  want  of  becoming  love 
and  reverence  towards  them  would  also  injuriously 
operate  against  the  unity  of  the  church.  When 
Paul,  in  Romans  xvi.  1,  mentions  a  deaconess,  it 
is  certainly  presupposed  that  there  were  also  dea- 
cons and  presbyters  in  such  a  church.  When  in 
Eph.  iv.  11,  he  names  pastors  and  teachers  next  to 
apostles  and  prophets,  and  indeed  after  the  men- 
tion of  charisms  as  the  heavenly  gifts  bestowed  by 
Christ,  we  must  infer  that,  among  these  pastors 
and  teachers,  there  were  those  who  exercised  dis- 
tinct offices,  and  that,  in  general,  certain  offices 
corresponded  to  certain  charisms.  We  intention- 
ally pass  over  Philippians  i.  1,  a  passage  which  can 
be  decisive  only  for  those  who,  like  myself,  are  con- 
vinced of  the  genuineness  of  the  epistle.  Also,  when 
Luke,  Acts  xiv.  23,  narrates  that  Paul,  on  his  first 
missionary  journey,  appointed  presbyters  in  the 
new  churches,  this  is,  in  my  opinion,  certain  his 
torieal  evidence,  since  I  must  consider  the  feuspi 
cioa  that,  in  this  work,  a  later  ecclesiastical  point 
of-view  has  been  transferred  to  earlier  and  differ 
ently  formed  church-relations  as  absolutely  with 
out  foundation.  But  from  the  existing  relations  of 
the  churches,  among  which  there  was  not  in  the 
same  sense,  as  in  later  times,  a  clergy  distinguished 
from  the  laity,  it  is  evident,  how,  in  Romans  xii.  7, 
along  with  the  charisms  connected  with  specific 
offices,  those  might  be  named  which  were  not  so 
connected ;  and  how  Paul  could  pass  on  from  par- 
ticular charisms  to  general  Christian  virtues.  At- 
tention to  the  poor  and  sick,  which  belonged  to 
the  special  business  of  deacons,  was  yet  something 
in  which  others  could  be  employed,  besides  those 
on  whom  it  officially  devolved.  See  Rothe  in  the 
work  before  quoted,  p.  189. 


92 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


[Book  III. 


with  the  dignity  of  presbyters.*  The  name 
S'XKfxoiroi  denoted  overseers  over  the  whole 
of  the  church  and  its  collective  concerns  ; 
as  in  Attica  those  who  were  commissioned 
to  organize  the  states  dependent  on  Athens, 
received  the  title  of  sifi(fM'Kot,'\  and  as  in 
general  it  appears  to  have  been  a  frequent 
one,  for  denoting  a  guiding  oversight  in 
the  public  administration.:]:  Since  then, 
the  name  s-n'itfxo'n'oj,  was  no  other  than  a 
transference  of  an  original  Jewish  and 
Hellenistic  designation  of  office,  adapted  to 
the  social  relations  of  the  Gentiles  ;  it  fol- 
lows, Ihat  originally  both  names  related 
entirely  to  the  same  office,  and  hence  both 
names  are  frequently  interchanged  as  per- 
fectly synonymous.  Thus  Paul  addresses 
the  assembled  presbyters  of  the  Ephesian 
Church,  whom  he  had  sent  for  as  s^irfxc^ou^.^ 
So  likewise  in  1  Timothy  iii.  1,  the  office 
of  the  presbyters  is  called  STTirfxc^ii,  and 
immediately  after  (verse  8)  the  office  of 
deacon  is  mentioned  as  the  only  existing 
church-office  besides  ;  as  in  Philip,  i.  1. 
And  thus  Paul  enjoins  Titus  to  appoint 
presbyters,  and  immediately  after  calls  them 
bishops.  It  is,  therefore,  certain  that  every 
church  was  governed  by  a  union  of  the 
elders  or  oversecrs|l   chosen  from  among 

*  The  apostle  Peter,  in  his  first  Epistle  (v.  1,  2,) 
certainly  distinguishes  this  dig-nity  by  the  name 
Trgif^uTigoi,  but  the  duties  connected  with  it,  by 
the  term  iTriTKOTruv  =  Troifxcitiitiv. 

t  Otherwise  called  a^fj.oa-Tcti.  Schol.  Aristoph. 
Av.  (1023)  cL  TTn^  'A^nv-titDV  iU  T«c  vTrmoov;  ttokh; 

TTd  xai  <f yx=tK8c  ix.ciMvvro,  oDc  o»  Aaxwec  'Ag/xoa-Ta.; 

X  Cic.  ad  Atticum.  vii.  ep.  11.  Vult  me  Pom- 
pcjus  esse  quem  tota  hoec  Campana  et  maritima 
era  habeat  jTr/fl-iioTov,  ad  quam  delectus  et  summa 
negotii  referatur.  In  a  fragment  of  a  work  by 
Arcndius  Charisius  de  muneribus  civilihus  Epis- 
copi  qui  proesunt  pani  ct  ca3teris  venalibus  rebus, 
qu!C  civitatum  populis  ad  quotidianum  victum  usui 
sunt. "   Digest,  lib.  iv.  Tit.  iv.  leg.  18,  §  7. 

§  Acts  XX.  17  and  28.  If  we  believed  ourselves 
justified  in  supposing  that  among  them,  there 
were  not  merely  tlie  overseers  of  the  Ephesian 
church,  but  also  those  of  other  churches  in  Lesser 
Asia,  it  might  be  said,  that  by  tlicse  st/o-kovtcuc 
only  the  presidents  of  the  presbyteries  are  intend 
ed.  But  the  other  passages  in  Paul's  epistles,  are 
against  such  a  distinction,  and  Luke,  who  applies 
this  address  only  to  the  -overseers  of  Ihc  Ephesian 
church,  in  so  doing,  shows  that  he  considered  the 
terms  cT/o-jtoToc  and  5rgs5-j8uT«goj  as  perfectly  sy- 
nonymous. 

II  I  must  here  again  explain  myself  in  reference 
to  the  first  organization  of  the  churches  among  the 
Gentile  Christians,  contrary  to  the  view  maintain- 
ed  by  Kist  and  Bauer,  that  originally  very  few 


themselves,  and  we  find  among  them  no 
individual  distinguished  above  the  rest  who 
presided  as  a  j:)/w?^?«  inter  pares,  though, 
probably,  in  the  age  immediately  succeed- 
ing the  apostolic,  of  which  we  have  unfor- 
tunately so  few  authentic  memorials,  the 
practice  was  introduced  to  apply  to  such 
an  one  the  name  of  s-tidxoifog  by  way  of 
distinction.*  We  have  no  information  how 
the  office  of  president  in  the  deliberations 
of  presbyters  was  held  in  the  apostolic 
age.  Possibly  this  office  was  held  in  rota- 
tion— or  the  order  of  seniority  might  be 
followed — or,  by  degrees,  one  individual 
by  his  personal  qualifications  gain  such  a 
distinction ;  all  this,  in  the  absence  of  in- 
formation must  be  left  undetermined ;  one 
thing  is  certain,  that  the  person  who  acted 
as  president  was  not  yet  distinguished  by 
any  particular  name. 

churches  had  formed  themselves  vmder  individual 
overseers,  and  that  their  form  of  government  from 
the  beginning  was  monarchical.  According  to 
Bauer,  the  overseers  as  such  in  reference  to  their 
peculiar  office,  were  iTria-KOTrot,  and  only  when 
spoken  of  as  united  and  forming  a  College,  they 
were  called  Trp^r^wn^oi.  In  Acts  xiv.  23,  we 
are  told,  that  Paul  appointed  presbyters  for  the 
churches,  formed  in  the  different  cities,  that  is,  in 
eacli  church  a  college  of  presbyters.  If,  with 
Bauer,  we  understand,  that  the  plurality  of  pres- 
byters is  to  be  taken  collectively,  and  for  each 
church  only  one  presbyter  was  appointed,  this 
would  be  inconsistent  with  Acts  xx.  17,  where  it 
is  said,  that  Paul  sent  for  the  presbyters  of  the 
church  at  Ephesus,  which  implies  that  a  plurality 
of  presbyters  presided  over  one  church;  or  the 
word  iKx.Xiia-1^,  which  in  the  passage  first  quoted  is 
understood  of  a  single  church,  must  be  here  arbi- 
trarily taken  to  signify  several  churches  collec- 
tively—certainly  quite  contrary  to  the  phraseology 
of  the  apostolic  age,  according  to  which,  the  word 
SKKA»!r/x  signifies,  cither  the  whole  Christian 
church,  the  total  number  of  believers,  forming  one 
body,  under  one  head,  or  a  single  church  or  Chris- 
tian society.  In  that  case,  the  plural  TaJv  Ix-itxninm 
must  necessarily  have  been  used.  Acts  xx.  28, 
also  implies,  that  over  each  church  a  plurality  of 
presbyters  presided.  And  thus,  we  must  also  ex- 
plain Titus  i.  5,  wliich  explanation  (of  the  appoint- 
ment of  several  presbyters  in  each  city)  is  also 
most  favoured  by  the  language  there  used.  I  can 
discover  no  other  difference  between  the  ^rgsr/Surs- 
go/  and  cria-KOTrot  in  the  apostolic  age,  than  that  the 
first  signifies  the  rank,  the  second  the  duties  of  the 
office,  whether  the  reference  is  to  one  or  more. 

*  Perhaps  an  analogy  may  be  found,  in  the 
fact  (if  it  were  so),  that  one  among  the  Jewish 
presbyters  was  distinguished  by  the  name  of 
Archisynagogos ;  or  the  names  '^^iTSvre^oi  and 
a^;^i^vvxyiiiyoi  may  bear  the  same  relation  to  each 
oilier,  as  7r^i(r0v'ri^ot  and  iTn^noTroi,  the  first  name 
denoting  the  rank,  the  second  the  nature  of  the 
office,  a^^ovTH  TiJc  <ruva.ya!yi)% 


Chap.  V.] 


USAGES  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHRISTIANS. 


93 


The  government  of  the  church  was  the 
peculiar  office  of  such  overseers  ;  it  was 
their  business  to  watch  over  the  general 
order, — to  maintain  the  purity  of  the  Chris- 
tian doctrine  and  of  Christian  practice, — 
to  guard  against  abuses — to  admonish  the 
faulty — and  to  guide  the  public  delibera- 
tions;  as  appears  from  the  passages  in  the 
New  Testament  where  their  functions  are 
described.  But  their  government  by  no 
means  excl  uded  the  participation  of  the  whole 
church  in  the  management  of  their  common 
concerns,  as  may  be  inferred  from  what  we 
have  already  remarked  respecting  the  na- 
ture of  Christian  communion,  and  is  also 
evident  from  many  individual  examples  in 
the  Apostolic  Church,  The  whole  church 
at  Jerusalem  took  part  in  the  deliberations 
respecting  the  relation  of  the  Jewish  and 
Gentile  Christians  to  each  other,  and  the 
epistle  drawn  up  after  these  deliberations 
was  likewise  in  the  name  of  the  whole 
church.  The  Epistles  of  the  apostle  Paul, 
which  treat  of  various  controverted  eccle- 
siastical matters,  are  addressed  to  whole 
churches,  and  he  assumes  that  the  decision 
belonged  to  the  whole  body.  Had  it  been 
otherwise,  he  would  have  addressed  his 
instructions  and  advice  principally,  at  least, 
to  the  overseers  of  the  church.  When  a 
licentious  person  belonging  to  the  church 
at  Corinth  was  to  be  excommunicated,  the 
apostle  considered  it  a  measure  that  ought 
to  proceed  from  the  whole  society  ;  and 
placed  himself  therefore  in  spirit  among 
them,  to  unite  with  them  in  passing  judg- 
ment ;  1  Cor.  V.  3-5.  Also,  when  discours- 
ing of  the  settlement  of  litigations,  the 
apostle  does  not  affirm  that  it  properly  be- 
longed to  the  overseers  of  the  church  ;  for 
if  this  had  been  the  prevalent  custom,  he 
would  no  doubt  have  referred  to  it ;  but 
what  he  says  seems  to  imply  that  it  was 
usual  in  particular  instances  to  select  arbi- 
trators from  among  the  members  of  the 
church  ;  1  Cor.  vi.  5. 

As  to  what  relates  to  the  edification  of 
the  church  by  the  Word,  it  follows  from 
what  we  have  before  remarked,  that  this 
was  not  the  exclusive  concern  of  the  over- 
seer of  the  church ;  for  each  one  had  a 
right  to  express  what  affected  his  mind  in 
the  assembly  of  the  brethren  ;  hence  many 
did  not  sufficiently  distinguish  between 
what  was  fit  only  for  their  own  chamber, 
where  every  man  might  freely  pour  forth 


his  heart  before  God,  and  what  was  suita- 
ble for  communicating  publicly, — an  error 
censured  by  Paul,  as  we  noticed  in  speak- 
ing of  the  gift  of  tongues.* 

Only  the  female  members  of  the  church 
were  excepted  from  this  general  permis- 
sion. The  fellowship  of  a  higher  life  com- 
municated by  Christianity,  extended  itself 
to  the  relation  between  husband  and  wife-; 
and  the  unity  to  which  human  nature 
aspires  according  to  its  original  destination 
was  realized  in  this  quarter,  as  in  every 
other  respect  by  Christianity.  But  since 
whatever  is  founded  on  the  laws  of  nature 
is  not  injured  by  Christianity,  but  only 
animated  afresh,  sanctified,  and  refined ; 
so  also  in  this  higher  fellowship  of  life, 
which  ought  to  unite  husband  and  wife, 
the  latter  retains  her  becoming  place  ac- 
cording to  the  natural  destination  of  her 
sex.  Mental  receptivity  and  activity  in 
family  life  were  recognised  in  Christianity 
as^corresponding  to  the  destiny  of  woman, 
and  hence  the  female  sex  are  excluded 
from  delivering  public  addresses  on  reli- 
gious subjects  in  the  meetings  of  the 
church  ;t  1  Cor.  xiv.  34 ;  1  Timothy 
ii.  12. 


*  It  has  been  maintained,  indeed,  that  this 
licence  in  the  apostolic  church  was  extended  only 
to  those  who  appear  as  prophets  in  the  Christian 
assemblies.  But  from  such  special  cases  a  gene- 
ral licence  is  not  to  be  inferred,  for  those  men  as 
teachers,  armed  with  divine  authority,  and  speak- 
ing in  God's  name,  might  on  that  account  be  na- 
turally excepted  from  common  rules.  See  Mo- 
sheim's  Institut.  hist,  eccles.  major,  sec.  i.  §  10  et 
18.  But  this  objection  is  invalidated  by  what  we 
have  remarked  respecting  the  prophetic  charism 
and  its  relation  to  other  charisms. 

t  1  Cor.  xi.  5  appears  to  contradict  this  injunc- 
tion, and  in  ancient  times  the  montanists  thought 
— with  whom  several  modern  writers  have  agreed 
— that  here  an  exception  is  to  be  found  ;  as  if  the 
apostles  intended  to  bind  by  no  rule  those  cases 
in  which  the  immediate  operation  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  raised  up  prophets  from  the  female  sex ;  or 
as  if  he  wished  to  debar  females  only  from  ad- 
dresses that  were  peculiarly  didactic,  but  not 
from  the  public  expression  of  their  feelings.  But 
as  to  the  first  interpretation,  it  supposes  too  great 
a  difference  between  the  J/tTda-Kf/v— which  must 
also  proceed  from  an  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
— and  the  ■n-^o<pnTivuv  in  reference  to  the  divine  in 
both.  It  must  be  certainly  erroneous  to  suppose 
that  any  operation  whatever  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
the  Christian  church  could  be  lawless.  When  the 
apostle  Paul  points  out  to  the  female  tliat  place  in 
the  church  which  is  assigned  her  by  the  spirit  of 
the  gospel,  which  sanctifies  nature — the  Holy  Spi- 
rit which  is  the  Spirit  of  Christianity,  follows 
every  where  this  law  in  liis  operations,  and  we 


94 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


[Book  III. 


Yet  as,  by  the  participation  of  all  in  the 
conduct  of  church  affairs,  a  regular  go- 
vernment by  appointed  organs  was  not 
excluYled,  but  both  co-operated  for  the 
general  good;  so  also  together  with  that 
which  the  members  of  the  church,  by 
virtue  of  the  common  Christian  inspiration", 
could  contribute  to  their  mutual  edification, 
there  existed  a  regular  administration  of 
instruction  in  the  church,  and  an  oversight 
of  the  transmission  and  developement  of 
doctrine,  which  in  this  time  of  restlessness 
and  .ferment  was  exposed  to  so  many 
adulterations,  and  for  this  purpose  the 
yapidiiu  oi"  StSadxaXia  was  designed.  There 
were  three  orders  of  teachers  in  the  apos- 
tolic age.  The  first  place  is  occupied  by 
those  who  were  personally  chosen  and  set 
apart  by  Christ,  and  formed  by  intercourse 
with  him  to  be  instruments  for  publishing 
the  gospel  among  all  mankind — the  wit- 
nesses of  his  discourses,  his  works,  his 
sufl^erings,  and  his  resurrection — the  Apos- 
tles,* among  whom  Paul  was. justly  in- 
cluded, on  account  of  Christ's  personal 
appearance  to  him  and  the  illumination  of 
his  mind  independently  of  the  instructions 
of  the  other  apostles  ;  next  to  these,  were 
the   Missionaries   or  Evangelists,   svayys. 


cannot  suppose  that  by  an  exception  he  would  re- 
move woman  from  her  natural  position.  Every 
deviation  of  this  kind  would  appear  as  something 
morbid,  and  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  tlie  gospel. 

Besides,  when  Paul  gave  that  prohibition  in  re- 
ference to  females,  he  was  treating  of  addresses 
that  were  not  didactic.  This  could  therefore 
make  no  exception,  which  would  apply  to  both  in- 
terpretations. We  must  account  for  this  apparent 
contradiction,  by  supposing  that  Paul,  in  the  se- 
cond passage,  merely  cited  an  instance  of  what 
occurred  in  the  Corinthian  church,  and  reserved 
his  censures  for  another  place.  One  of  the  rea- 
sons whicli  Paul  adduces  in  the  passage  quoted 
from  the  first  Epistle  to  Timotliy  against  the 
public  speaking  of  females,  is  the  greater  danger 
of  selfdeception  in  the  weaker  sex,  and  the 
spread  of  errors  arising  from  it — a  reason  which 
would  apply  with  the  greatest  force  to  a  class  of 
addresses,  in  which  sober  reflectiveness  was  least 
of  all  in  exercise.  But  this  kind  of  religious  ut- 
terance would  be  most  suited  to  the  female  sex, 
where  no  danger  of  the  sort  alluded  to,  arising 
from  publicity,  would  be  connected  with  it — only 
it  must  be  confined  to  the  domestic  circle.  Hence 
the  daughters  of  Philip,  Acts  xxi.  9,  notwithstand- 
ing  that  rule,  could  act  as  prophetesses,  unless  we 
assume  that  this  was  an  instance  which  Paul 
would  have  censured. 

*  This  name  in  a  general  sense  was  applied  to 
others  who  published  divine  truth  in  an  extensive 
sphere  of  labour. 


Xitfrai  ;*  and  lastly,  the  Teachers  appointed 
for  separate  churches,  and  taken  out  of 
their  body,  the  SiSagy.aKoi.  If  sometimes 
the  "TrgocprjTa;  are  named  next  to  the  apos- 
tles and  set  before  the  evangelists  and  the 
SiSa(fxoikotg,  such  teachers  must  be  meant 
in  whom  that  inward  condition  of  life, 
from  which  T^o(pr)T£us(v  proceeded,  was  more 
constant,  who  were  distinguished  from  other 
teachers  by  the  extraordinary  liveliness 
and  steadiness  of  the  Christian  inspiration, 
and  a  peculiar  originality  of  their  Christian 
conceptions  which  were  imparted  to  them 
by  special  aifoxaxv-^sig  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ; 
and  indeed  these  prophets,  as  is  evident 
from  their  position  between  the  apostles 
and  evangelists,  belonged  to  the  class  of 
teachers  who  held  no  office  in  any  one 
church,  but  travelled  about,  to  publish  the 
gospel  in  a  wider  circle. 

As  it  regards  the  relation  of  the  §tSa.(fxa- 
Xo(  to  the  ir^stfjSuTS^oi  or  sifidxo'n'oi,  we  dare 
not  proceed  on  the  supposition,  that  they 
always  remained  the  same  from  the  first 
establishment  of  Christian  churches  among 
the  Gentiles,  and  therefore  during  the  whole 
of  Paul's  ministry,  a  period  so  important 
for  the  developement  of  the  church  ;  and 
hence  we  are  not  justified  to  conclude, 
from  the  characteristics  we  find  in  the  later 
Pauline  Epistles,  that  the  relation  of  these 
orders  was  the  same  as  existed  from  the 
beginning  in  the  Gentile  churches.  If  we 
find  several  things  in  earlier  documents 
which  are  not  at  variance  with  these  cha- 


*  This  name  does  not  imply  that  they  occupied 
themselves  with  collecting  and  compiling  narra- 
tives of  the  life  of  Christ;  for  the  name  iunyyiKiov 
originally  denoted  nothing  else  than  the  whole 
announcement  of  the  salvation  granted  through 
Christ  to  men,  and  this  announcement  embraced 
the  whole  of  Christianity.  As  this  announcement 
rests  on  an  historical  basis,  Christ  as  the  Redeemer 
is  the  object  of  it;  and  thus  the  later-derived 
meaning  is  formed  in  which  this  word  is  specially 
applied  to  the  histories  of  the  Life  of  Christ  Ac- 
cording to  the  original  Christian  phraseology,  the 
term  could  only  denote  one  whose  calling  it  was 
to  publish  the  doctrine  of  salvation  to  men,  and 
thereby  to  lay  a  foundation  for  the  Christian 
church  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  S'lSa^-x.^Ko;  presup- 
posed faith  in  the  doctrine  of  salvation,  and  a 
church  already  founded,  and  employed  himself  in 
the  farther  training  in  Christian  knowledge.  The 
use  of  the  word  iuAyyiKia-THi  in  2  Tim.  iv.  5,  fa- 
vours this  interpretation,  and  this  original  Chris- 
tian phraseology  was  continued  in  later  ages, 
although  a  more  modern  meaning  of  the  word 
lu^yyiAioY  was  connected  with  it. — Euseb.  Hist. 
Eccles.  iii.  c.  37. 


Chap.  V.] 


USAGES  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHRISTIANS. 


95 


racteristics,  the  supposition  must  at  least 
appear  possible,  that  changes  in  the  con- 
dition of  the  churches,  and  the  experiences 
of  the  first  period,  had  occasioned  an  altera- 
tion in  this  respect ;  and  it  is  an  utterly- 
unfounded  conclusion,  if,  because  traces  of 
such  an  altered  relation  are  found  in  an 
epistle  ascribed  to  Paul,  any  one  should 
infer  that  such  an  epistle  could  not  have 
been  written  in  the  Pauline  period.  The 
first  question  then  is.  What  was  the  origi- 
nal relation  ?  If  we  proceed  on  the  sup- 
position, which  is  founded  on  the  Pastoral 
Letters,  that  the  SiSadxakoi  belonged  to  the 
overseers  of  the  churches,  two  cases  may 
be  imagined ;  either  that  all  the  presbyters 
or  bishops  held  also  the  office  of  teach- 
ers ;  or,  that  some  among  them,  according 
to  their  peculiar  talent  (p^agitfixa),  were 
specially  employed  in  the  management  of 
the  outward  guidance  of  the  church  (the 
xv^s^vri(fis),  and  others  with  the  internal 
guidance  of  the  word  (the  SiSa(fxa'kia),  we 
shall  thus  have  'ir^sdfSv-s^oi  xu/3s^vwvTt?= 
'itoiixsvss  and  •s'fStf/SuTtPoi  SiSa(!xovreg=SiSa<f- 
xaXoi.  The  first  case  certainly  cannot  be 
admitted,  for  the  p^^agitffxa  of  xufSsevridig  is  so 
decidedly  distinct  from  the  p^agiCfjia  of 
SiSa(fxa\ia,  as  in  common  life  the  talent 
for  governing  and  the  talent  for  teaching, 
are  perfectly  distinct  from  one  another. 
And  according  to  the  original  institution 
the  peculiar  office  corresponded  to  the  pe- 
culiar charism.  But  since  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  Pauline  period,  those  presbyters 
who  were  equally  capable  of  the  office  of 
teachers  as  well  as  governors,  were  espe- 
cially commended,  it  is  evident  that  this 
was  not  originally  the  case  with  all.  But 
neither  have  we  sufficient  reason  for  con- 
sidering the  second  case,  as  the  original 
relation  of  these  several  offices.  Since  the 
j^a^Kffxa  of  Tr^otfrrivai  or  xu/^sgvav  (in  the  First 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  xii.  28,  and  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  xii.  8),  is  so  ac- 
curately distinguished  from  the  talent  of 
teaching, — and  since  these  two  character- 
istics, the  "TTgotfTvivai  and  the  xu/Ssgvav,  evi- 
dently exhaust  what  belonged  from  the  be- 
ginning to  the  office  of  presbyter  or  bishop, 
and  for  which  it  was  originally  instituted, 
we  are  not  obliged  to  conclude  that  the 
8i6a<fxaKot  belonged  to  the  class  of  over- 
seers of  the  church. 

In  the  Epistle  written  at  a  late  period 
to  the  Ephesians  (iv.  11),  the  *oi|X£v£j  and 


(Ji^arfxaXoi,  are  so  far  placed  together,  that 
they  are  both  distinguished  from  those  who 
presided  over  a  general  sphere  of  labour, 
but  yet  only  in  that  respect.  Now  the 
term  iroiiJ.svsg,  denotes  exactly  the  office  of 
rulers  of  the  church,  the  presbyters  or 
bishops  ;  it  therefore  does  not  appear  evi-  . 
dent  that  we  should  class  the  SiSacfxaKoi 
with  them.  On  the  other  hand,  the  tern\ 
mi^i^sves  might  be  applied  not  improperly  to 
fUdadv.a.'koi,  since  in  itself,  and  from  the 
manner  in  which  the  image  of  a  shepherd 
is  used  in  the  Old  Testament  and  by  Christ 
himself,  it  is  fitted  to  denote  the  guidance 
of  souls  by  the  office  of  teaching.  Paul 
also  classes  8\8a-)(y]  with  those  addresses 
which  are  not  connected  with  holding  a 
particular  office  (1  Coi'.  xiv.  26),  but  what 
every  one  in  the  church  who  had  an  in- 
ward call,  and  an  ability  for  it,  was  justi- 
fied in  exercising. 

It  might  also  happen,  that  in  a  church 
after  its  presbytery  had  already  been  esta- 
blished, persons  belonging  to  it  might 
come  forward,  or  new  members  might  be 
added,  who,  in  consequence  of  their  pre- 
vious education,  distinguished  themselves 
in  the  office  of  teaching,  even  more  than 
the  existing  presbyters,  which  would  soon 
be  evident  from  the  addresses  they  deli- 
vered when  the  church  assembled.  At  this 
season  of  the  first  free  developement  of  the 
Christian  life,  would  the  charism  granted 
to  such  persons  be  neglected  or  repressed, 
merely  because  they  did  not  belong  to  the 
class  of  presbyters  1  There  were,  as  it 
appears,  some  members  of  the  church  in 
whose  dwellings  a  portion  of  them  used  to 
assemble,  and  this  depended  probably  not 
always  on  the  convenient  locality  of  their 
residence,  but  on  their  talent  for  teaching, 
which  was  thus  rendered  available ;  as 
Aquila,  who  though  he  resided  sometimes 
at  Rome,  sometimes  at  Corinth,  or  at 
Ephesus,  always  wherever  he  took  up  his 
abode  had  a  small  congregation  or  church 
in  his  own  house.  (?;  sxxXrirfia  Jv  rw  o'lx  6J 
auTou.)*  Thus  originally  the  office  of  over- 


*  The  occurrence  of  such  private  churches  is 
made  use  of  by  Kist  and  Bauer  as  an  argument 
for  their  opinion,  that  originally  in  the  larger 
cities  there  were  only  insulated  particular  churches, 
under  their  own  guiding  presbyters,  which  were 
formed  in  various  parts,  and  at  a  subsequent  pe- 
riod,  were  united  into  one  whole.  But  tlic  Epis- 
ties  of  the  apostle  Paul  give  the  clearest  evidence 
that  all  the  Christians  of  one  city  originally  formed 


96 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


[Book  III. 


of  the  church,  might  have  nothing  in  i  already  teachers  appointed  by  the  church 


common  with  the  communication  of  m- 
struction.  Although  the  overseers  of  the 
church  took  cognizance  not  only  of  the 
good  conduct  of  its  members,  but  also  of 
that  which  would  be  considered  as  forming 
its  basis,  the  maintenance  of  pure  doctrine," 
and  the  exclusion  of  error;  and  though 
from  the  beginning  care  would  be  taken, 
to  appoint  persons  to  this  office,  who  had 
attained  to  maturity  and  steadiness  in  their 
Christian  principles,  it  did  not  follow, that 
they  must  possess  the  gift  of  teaching,  and 
in  addition  to  their  other  labours  occupy 
themselves  in  public  addresses.  It  might 
be,  that  at  first  the  StSadxaXia  was  generally 
not  connected  with  a  distinct  office,  but 
that  those  who  were  fitted  for  it  came  for- 
ward in  the  public  assemblies  as  5i5atfxaXof  ; 
until  it  came  to  pass  that  those  who  were 
specially  furnished  with  the  x«^irf(X(x  of 
MoLdxahsa,  of  whom  there  would  naturally 
be  only  a  few  in  most  churches,  were  con- 
sidered as  those  on  whom  the  stated  de- 
livery of  instruction  developed.  In  the 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians  (vi.  6),  Paul  may 
be  thought  to  intimate*    that   there  were 


one  whole  cliuich.  Yet  we  may  easily  suppose 
that  some  parts  of  the  church,  without  separating 
thcmseivcs  from  the  wliole  body  and  its  guidance, 
field  particular  meetings  in  the  house  of  some  per- 
son whose  locality  was  very  suitable,  and  who 
acted  as  the  (f/tTao-Ka^oc  for  the  edification  of  such 
small  assemblies.  Thus  it  may  be  explained  how 
Aquila  and  Priscilla,  while  they  sojourned  at 
Rome,  or  Corinth,  or  Ephesus,  might  have  such 
a  small  Christian  society  in  their  own  house.  Yet 
it  does  not  seem  right  to  consider  these  as  abso- 
lutely separate  and  distinct  churches ;  for  we 
could  not  suppose  that  such  a  company  of  be- 
lievers would  be  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  a  per- 
son like  Aquila,  who  so  often  changed  his  resi- 
dence ;  they  must  have  had  a  fixed  place  of 
assembling,  and  their  appointed  overseers,  (a  pres- 
byter or  bishop,  according  to  that  supposition.) 
In  1  Cor.  xvi.  20,  the  church,  forming  one  whole 
(all  the  brethren),  is  expressly  distinguished  from 
any  such  partial  assembly.  In  Romans  xvi.  23, 
a  brother  is  mentioned  in  whose  house  the  whole 
church  held  their  meetings.  In  Coloss.  iv.  15, 
after  a  salutation  to  the  wiiolc  church,  an  indivi- 
dual is  specified  and  included  in  the  salutation,  at 
wiiose  house  such  private  meetings  were  held. 
But  it  may  be  questioned  whether  in  such  places 

as  Romans  xvi.  14,  15,  ("  Salute  Asyncritus 

and  the  brethren  that  are  with  them."     "Salute 

rhilologus and   all  the   saints   that  are  icith 

them,")  meetings  of  this  kind  arc  intended  or 
only  those  persons  who,  on  account  of  their  family 
ties  or  connexions  in  business,  lived  in  intimacy 
with  one  anotlicr. 

*  Even   after   the   reasons   alleged   by   Schott 


who  ought  to  receive  their  mamtenance 
from  them.  But  the  question  arises,  whether 
these  words  relate  to  the  SiSaaxaXoi,  or  to 
the  itinerant  suayys'kiffTai  ;  also,  whether 
the  passage  speaks,  not  of  any  regular 
salary,  but  of  the  contributions  of  free  love, 
by  which  the  immediate  wants  of  these 
missionaries  were  relieved.  At  all  events, 
■ — which  would  also  be  confirmed  by  this 
latter  passage,  in  case  it  is  understood  of 
SiSadxakoi,  these  were  and  continued  to  be 
distinct  from  the  overseers  of  the  church 
in  general,  although  in  particular  cases  the 
talents  of  teaching  and  governing  were  con- 
nected, and  the  presbyter  was  equally  able 
as  a  teacher. 

At  a  later  period,  when  the  pure  gospel 
had  to  combat  with  manifold  errors,  which 
threatened  to  corrupt  it — as  was  especially 
the  case  during  the  latter  period  of  Paul's 
ministry, — at  this  critical  period  it  was 
thought  necessary  to  unite  more  closely  the 
offices  of  teachers  and  overseers,  and  with 
that  view  to  take  care  that  overseers  should 
be  appointed,  who  would  be  able  by  their 
public  instructions  to  protect  the  church 
from  the  infection  of  false  doctrine,  to  es- 
tablish others  in  purity  of  faith,  and  to 
convince  the  gainsayers ;  Titus  i.  9 ;  and 
hence  he  esteemed  those  presbyters  who 
laboured  likewise  in  the  office  of  teaching, 
as  deserving  of  special  honour. 

We  have  already  remarked,  that  only 
females  were  excluded  from  the  right  of 
speaking   in   the   public   meetings   of  the 


against  this  interpretation,  in  his  commentary  on 
this  Epistle,  I  cannot  help  considering  it  as  the 
only  natural  one.  And  I  cannot  agree  with  the 
other,  according  to  which  the  Tracrtv  ayad-u;  is 
understood  in  a  spiritual  sense,  (following  the  ex- 
ample of  their  teachers  in  all  that  is  good.)  I 
cannot  suppose  that  Paul,  if  he  wished  to  admo- 
nish  the  Galatians  to  follow  the  example  of  their 
teachers  in  the  Christian  life,  would  have  expressed 
himself  in  so  obscure  and  spiritless  a  manner.  As 
to  the  objection  against  the  first  interpretation, 
that  it  does  not  suit  the  connexion,  I  cannot  admit 
its  correctness.  The  exhortations  to  gentleness 
and  humility  in  social  intercourse,  introduce  the 
series  of  special  exJiortations.  V.  26,  vi.  6,  where 
the  <fs  marks  the  continued  developement,  a  new 
exliortation  follows,  namely,  that  they  should  be 
ready  to  communicate  of  their  earthly  goods  to 
their  teachers;  then  v.  7,  that  they  must  not  think 
of  reaping  the  fruits  of  the  gospel,  if  their  conduct 
was  not  formed  agreeably  to  it ;  if  they,  with  all 
their  care  directed  only  to  earthly  things,  neglected 
such  a  duty  towards  those  who  laboured  for  the 
salvation  of  their  souls. 


Chap.  V.] 


USAGES  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHRISTIANS. 


97 


church.  But  yet  the  gifts  pecuh'ar  to  their 
sex  might  be  made  available  for  the  out- 
ward service  of  the  church,  in  rendering 
assistance  of  various  kinds,  for  which  wo- 
men are  peculiarly  fitted  ;  and  according 
to  existing  social  habits,  a  deacon  in  many 
of  his  official  employments  might  excite 
suspicion  in  reference  to  his  conduct  towards 
the  female  members  of  the  church  ;  but  it 
was  desirable  by  all  means  to  guard  against 
such  an  imputation  on  the  new  religious 
sect,  of  which  men  were  easily  inclined  to 
believe  evil,  because  it  was  new  and  op- 
posed to  the  popular  faith.  Hence  the  office 
of  deaconess  was  instituted  in  addition 
to  that  of  deacon,  probably  first  in  the 
churches  of  Gentile  Christians.  Of  its  insti- 
tution and  nature  in  the  apostolic  age  we 
have  no  precise  information,  since  we  find 
it  explicitly  mentioned  in  only  one  passage 
of  the  New  Testament;  Romans  xvi.  1. 
In  modern  times,  indeed,  what  Paul  says 
in  1  Tim.  v.  3-16,  of  the  widows  who  re- 
ceived their  maintenance  from  the  church, 
has  been  applied  to  these  deaconesses.  And 
many  qualifications  which  he  requires  of 
those  who  were  to  be  admitted  into  the 
number  of  widows  (v.  10),  and  which  ap- 
pear to  contain  a  reference  to  their  special 
employments,  as  attention  to  strangers  and 
the  care  of  the  poor,  are  in  favour  of  the 
supposition.  But  since  Paul  only  distin- 
guished them  as  persons  supported  by  the 
church,*  without  mentioning  any  active 
service  as  devolving  upon  them ;  since  he 
represents  them  as  persons  who,  as  suited 
their  age  and  condition,  were  removed  from 
all  occupation  with  earthly  concerns,  and 
dedicated  their  few  remaining  days  to  de- 
votion and  prayer ;  and  since,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  office  of  deaconess  certainly 
involved  much  active  employment ;  we 
have  no  ground  whatever  for  finding  in 
this  passage  deaconesses,  or  females  out 
of  whose  number   deaconesses  were  cho- 


*  I  do  not  perceive  how  Bauer  can  trace  in  tiie 
5th  chapter  of  the  First  Epistle  to  Timothy,  that 
at  that  time  the  name  ;t>iga/  was  applied  to  young 
unmarried  females,  in  reference  to  their  station  in 
the  church,  which  would  be  among  the  marks  of 
a  writing  composed  at  a  later  period.  The  ovrm 
X»i*'  in  V.  5,  are  the  truly  destitute,  who  could  find 
relief  only  in  the  church  for  their  loneliness,  con- 
trasted with  the  widows  mentioned  in  verse  4,  who 
were  supported  by  their  own  relations,  instead  of 
being  a  burden  to  the  church.  The  ;:^))ga=  (Us^oi;- 
cefMvii,  verse  5,  where  the  kui  is  to  be  understood 
explicative. 

13 


sen*  What  Paul  says  in  the  passage 
quoted  above  of  the  deaconess  of  the 
church  at  Cenchrea,  appears  by  no  means 
to  agree  with  what  is  said  in  the  First  Epis- 
tle to  Timothy,  concerning  the  age  and 
destitute  condition  of  widows.  We  must 
rather  imagine  such  females  to  be  among 
those  widows  who,  after  presenting  a  mo^ 
del  in  discharging  their  duties  as  Christian 
wives  and.  mothers,  would  now  obtain  re-. 
pose  and  a  place  of  honour  in  the  bosom 
of  the  church  where  alone  they  could  find  a 
refuge  in  their  loneliness ;  and  by  their 
devotional  spiritual  life,  set  an  edifying  ex- 
ample to  other  females  ;  perhaps  also  they 
might  be  able  to  communicate  to  such  of 
their  sex  as  sought  their  advice,  the  results 
of  their  Christian  experience  collected  in 
the  course  of  a  long  life,  and  make  a 
favourable  impression  even  on  the  Gentiles. 
Hence  it  would  naturally  be  "an  occasion 
of  scandal,  if  such  persons  quitted  a  life 
of  retirement  and  devotion,  and  showed  a 
fondness  for  habits  that  were  inconsistent 
with  their  matronly  character.  At  all 
events,  we  find  here  an  ecclesiastical  ar- 
rangement of  later  date,  which  is  also  indi- 
cated by  other  parts  of  the  Epistle. 

The  consecration  to  offices  in  the  church 
was  conducted  in  the  following  manner. 
After  those  persons  to  whom  its  perfor- 
mance belonged,  had  laid  their  hands  on 
the  head  of  the  candidate, — a  symbolic 
action  borrowed  from  the  Jewish  Jlp'pD' 
— they  besought  the  Lord  that  he  would 
grant,  what  this  symbol  denoted,  the  im- 
partationof  the  gifts  of  his  Spirit  for  carry- 
ing  on  the  office  thus  undertaken  in  his 
name.  If,  as  was  presumed,  the  whole 
ceremony  corresponded  to  its  intent,  and 
the  requisite  disposition  existed  in  those  for 
whom  it  was  performed,  there  was  reason 
for  considering  the  communication  of  the 
spiritual  gifts  necessary  for  the  office,  as 
connected  with  this  consecration  performed 
in  the  name  of  Christ.  And  since  Paul 
from  this  point  of  view  designated  the  whole 
of  the  solemn  proceeding,  (without  separat- 
ing it  into  its  various  elements),  by  that 
which  was  its  external  symbol  (as  in  scriptu- 
ral phraseology,  a  single  act  of  a  transaction 

*  The  supposition,  that  in  v.  9,  mention  is  made 
of  a  different  class  of  widows  than  those  in  v.  3, 
appears  to  me  utterly  untenable.  A  comparison 
of  V.  IG,  with  V.  4  and  8,  plainly  shows  that  this 
whole  section  relates  to  the  same  subject. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


[Book  III. 


consisting  of  several  parts,  and  sometimes 
that  which  was  most  strikmg  to  the  senses, 
is  often  mentioned  for  the  whole ;)  he  re- 
quired  of  Timothy  that  he  should  seek  to 
revive  afresh  the  spiritual  gifts  that  he  had 
received  by  the  laying  on  of  hands. 

Respecting  the  election  to  offices  in  the 
church,  it  is  evident  that  the  first  deacons, 
and  the  delegates  who  were  authorized  by 
the  church  to  accompany  the  apostles,  were 
chosen  from  the  general  body ;  2  Cor.  viii. 
19.  From  these  examples,  we  may  conclude 
that  a  similar  mode  of  proceeding  was 
adopted  at  the  appointment  of  presbyters. 
But  from  the  fact  that  Paul  committed  to 
his  disciples  Timothy  and  Titus  (to  whom 
he  assigned  the  organization  of  new 
churches,  or  of  such  as  had  been  injured 
by  many  corruptions),  the  appointment  like- 
wise of  presbyters  and  deacons,  and  called 
their  attention  to  the  qualifications  for 
such  offices,  we  are  by  no  means  justified 
in  concluding  that  they  performed  all  this 
alone  without  the  co-operation  of  the 
churches.  The  manner  in  which  Paul  was 
wontto  addresshimself  tothe  whole  church, 
and  to  take  into  account  the  co-operation 
of  the  whole  community,  which  must  be 
apparent  to  every  one  in  reading  his 
Epistles, — leads  us  to  expect,  that  where  a 
church  was  already  established,  he  would 
admit  it  as  a  party  in  their  common  con- 
.cerns.  It  is  possible,  that  the  apostle  him- 
self in  many  cases,  as  on  the  founding  of 
a  new  church,  might  think  it  advisable  to 
nominate  the  persons  best  fitted  for  such 
offices,  and  a  proposal  from  such  a  quar- 
ter would  naturally  carry  the  greatest 
weight  with  it.  In  the  example  of  the 
family  of  Stephanas  at  Corinth,  we  see  that 
:those  who  first  undertook  office  in  the 
.church,  were  members  of  the  family  first 
converted  in  that  city. 

It  was  also  among  the  churches  of  the 
Gentile  Christians  that  the  peculiar  nature 
of  the  Christian  worship  was  fully  expressed 
jn  the  character  of  their  cultus.  For 
among  the  Jewish  Christians  the  ancient 
forms  of  the  Jewish  cultus  were  still  re- 
tained, though  persons  of  this  class  who 
were  deeply  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the 
gospel,  and  hence  had  acquired  the  essence 
of  inward  spiritual  worship,  which  is  limited 
to  no  place  or  time ; — were  made  free  as  it 
regarded  their  inward  life  from  the  thral- 
dom of  these  forms,  and  had  learned  to  re- 


fine these  forms  by  viewing  them  in  the 
light  of  the  gospel.     Such  persons  thought 
that  the  powers  of  the  future  world  which 
they  were  conscious  of  having   received, 
would  still  continue    to   operate  in    these 
forms  belonging  to  the  ancient  economy, 
until  that  future  world  and  the  whole  of 
its  new  heavenly  economy  would  arrive, 
by  means  of  the  return  of  Christ  to  com- 
plete his  kingdom, — a  decisive  era  which 
appeared  to  them  not  far  distant.     On  the 
conti'ary,    among    the    Gentiles    the    free 
spiritual  worship  of  God  developed  itself  in 
direct  opposition   to  Judaism  and  the  at- 
tempts to  mingle  Judaism  and  Christianity. 
According  to  the  doctrine  of  the  apostle 
Paul,  the  Mosaic  law  in  its  whole  extent 
had  lost  its  value  as  such  to  Christians ; 
nothing  could  be  a  rule  binding  on  Chris- 
tians on  account  of  its  being  contained  in 
the  Mosaic  law ;  but,  whatever  was  bind- 
ing as  a  law  for  the  Christian  life,  must  as 
such  derive  its  authority  from  another  quar- 
ter.    Hence  a  transference  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament command   of  the   sanctity  of  the 
Sabbath  to  the  New  Testament  standing- 
point  was  not  admissible.     Whoever  con- 
sidered himself  subject  to  one  such  com- 
mand, in  Paul's  judgment  again  placed  him- 
self under  the  yoke  of  the  whole  law;  his 
inward  life  was  thereby  brought  into  servi- 
tude to  outward  earthly  things,  and  sinking 
into  Jewish  nationalism,  denied  the  univer- 
salism  of  the  gospel  ;  for  on  the  standing- 
point  of  the  gospel,  the  whole  life  became 
in  an  equal   manner   related  to  God,  and 
served  to  glorify  him,  and  thenceforth  no 
opposition  existed  between  what  belonged 
to  the  world  and  what  belonged  to  God. 
Thus  all  the  days  of  the  Christian  life  must 
be  equally  holy  to  the  Lord  ;  hence  Paul 
says  to  the  Galatian  Christians,  who   had 
allowed  themselves  to  be  so  far  led  astray 
as  to  acknowledge  the  Mosaic  law  as  bind- 
ing,   and    to    observe    the    Jewish    feasts, 
"  After  that  ye  have  known  God,  or  rather 
(by  his  pitying  love)  have  been  led  to  the 
knowledge  of  God,  how  turn  ye  again*  to 
the  weak  and  beggarly  elements,  where- 
unto  ye  desire  again  to  be  in  bondage  ?"f 

*  Thus  he  spoke  to  those  who  had  formerly  been 
heathens  ;  for  although  in  other  points  Judaism 
might  be  considered  as  opposed  to  heathenism, 
yet  lie  viewed  as  an  element  common  to  both,  tlie 
cleaving  to  outward  forms. 

t  I  have  translated  this  passage  according  to  the 


Chap.  V.] 


USAGES  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHRISTIANS. 


99 


Gal.  iv.  9.  He  fears  that  his  labours 
among  them  to  make  them  Christians  had 
been  in  vain,  and  for  this  very  reason,  be- 
cause they  reckoned  the  observance  of  cer- 
tain days  as  holy  to  be  an  essential  part  of 
religion.  The  apostle  does  not  here  op- 
pose the  Christian  feasts  to  the  Jewish,  but 
he  considers  the  whole  reference  of  religion 
to  certain  days  as  something  foreign  to  the 
exalted  standing-point  of  Christian  freedom, 
and  belonging  to  that  of  Judaism  and  Hea- 
thenism. With  a  similar  polemical  view  (in 
Coloss.  ii.  16)  he  declares  his  opposition  to 
those  who  considered  the  observation  of 
certain  days  as  essential  to  religion,  and 
condemned  those  who  did  not  observe  them. 
Although,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
xiv.  1-6,  he  enjoins  forbearance  towards 
such  in  whom  the  Christian  spirit  was  not 
yet  developed  with  true  freedom,  yet  he  cer- 
tainly considers  it  as  the  most  genuine 
Christianity — to  think  every  day  alike,  to 
hold  none  as  peculiarly  sacred  to  the  Lord ; 
the  x^ivsiv  tfatfav  rjjxs^av — (Xt)  (proven/  xvpoj  rrjv 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  Paul  in  such 
passages  entirely  rejects  even  festive  ob- 
servances, as  they  were  considered  among 
Gentiles  and  Jews  as  something  absolutely 
essential  to  religion,  and  does  not  even 
mention  any  days  which  might  be  expressly 
sacred  in  a  freer  method,  and  suited  to 
Christianity,  Christian  feasts   properly  so 


sense ;  more  literally  it  would  be,—"  or  rather  are 
known  by  God" — Living-  in  estrangement  from 
him,  they  lived  in  spiritual  darkness,  in  ignorance 
of  God  and  of  divine  things ;  but  now  by  the 
mercy  of  God  revealing  itself  to  them,  they  ob- 
tained  living  communion  with  him,  and  the  true 
knowledge  of  him.  After  Paul  had  contrasted 
their  present  standing-point  of  divine  knowledge 
with  tiiat  of  their  former  ignorance,  he  corrects 
himself,  in  order  not  to  let  it  be  imagined  that  they 
were  indebted  simply  to  the  exercise  of  their  own 
reason  for  this  knowledge  of  God,  and  represents 
in  strong  terms,  that  they  were  indebted  for  every 
thing  to  divine  grace,  the  grace  of  redemption. 
Therefore,  they  were  guilty  of  ingratitude,  in  not 
making  use  of  the  knowledge  vouchsafed  to  them 
by  the  grace  of  God.  Had  it  been  possible  for 
Paul,  according  to  the  idiom  of  the  Greek,  to  mark 
by  a  passive  form  of  the  same  word  yim<r>ciiv,  the 
contrast  between  a  received  knowledge  imparted 
by  God,  and  a  knowledge  gained  by  the  exercise 
of  the  mental  powers  alone,  he  would  for  that  pur- 
pose have  used  the  passive  form.  This,  indeed, 
the  laws  of  the  Greek  language  did  not  permit; 
but  yet  the  passive  form,  according  to  his  custo- 
mary Hellenistic  idiom,  gave  him  an  opportunity 
to  mark  the  contrast  which  he  had  in  his  mind 
still  more  strongly. 


called.  So  far  was  he  from  thinking  that 
on  the  Christian  standing-point,  there  could 
be  days  which  could  in  any  manner  bear  a 
resemblance  to  what  in  the  Jewish  sense 
was  a  feast,  or  that  it  was  necessary  to 
set  apart  any  day  whatever  as  specially  to 
be  observed  by  the  Church  I  From  such 
passages  we  may  conclude,  that,  in  the 
Gentile  Churches,  all  days  of  the  week 
were  considered  alike  suitable  for  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Church  ;  and  that  all  preference 
of  one  day  to  another  was  regarded  as 
quite  foreign  to  the  genius  of  the  gospel. 

A  perfectly  unquestionable  and  decided 
mention  of  the  ecclesiastical  observance  of 
Sunday  among  the  Gentile  Christians,  we 
cannot  find  in  the  times  of  the  apostle  Paul, 
but  there  are  two  passages  which  make  its 


existence  probable.  If,  what  Paul  says,  1 
Cor.  xir/  2,  relates  to  collections  which 
were  made  at  the  meetings  of  the  church, 
it  would  be  evident  from  this  passage  that 
at  that  time  the  Sunday  was  specially  de- 
voted to  such  meetings.  But  Paul,  if  we 
examine  his  language  closely,  says  no  more 
than  this:  that  every  one  should  lay  by  in 
his  own  house  on  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
whatever  he  was  able  to  save.  This  cer- 
tainly might  mean,  that  every  one  should 
bring  with  him  the  sum  he  had  saved  to  the 
meeting  of  the  church,  that  thus  the  indi- 
vidual contributions  might  be  collected  to- 
gether, and  be  ready  for  Paul  as  soon,  as 
he  came.  But  this  would  be  making  a 
gratuitous  supposition,  not  at  all  required 
by  the  connexion  of  the  passage.*  We 
may  fairly  understand  the  whole  passage  to 
mean,  that  every  one  on  the  first  day  of 
the  week  should  lay  aside  what  be  could 
spare,  so  that  when  Paul  came,  every  one 
might  be  prepared  with  the  total  of  the  sum 
thus  laid  by,  and  then,  by  putting  the  sums 
together,  the  collection  of  the  whole  church 
would  be  at  once  made.  If  we  adopt  this 
interpretation,  we  could  not  infer  that 
special  meetings  of  the  church  were  held 
and  collections  made  on  Sundays.  And  if 
we  assume  that,  independently  of  the  in- 
fluence of  Christianity,  the  Jewish  reckon- 
ing by  weeks,  had  been  adopted  among 
the  heathen  in  the  Roman  erripire  ;  still  in 
this  passage  we  can  find  no  evidence  for 
the  existence  of  a  religious  distinction  of 


*  The  word  ^nmv^i^m,  1  Cor.  xvl.  2,  applied  to 
setting  aside  the  small  suras  weekly,  is  against 
the  notion  of  a  public  collection. 


100 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


[Book  III. 


Sunday.  But  since  we  are  not  authorized 
to  make  this  assumption  unless  a  church 
consisted  for  the  most  part  of  those  who 
had  been  Jewish  Proselytes,*  we  shall  be 
led  to  infer  that  the  religious  observances 
of  Sunday  occasioned  its  being  considered 
the  first  day  of  the  week.  It  is  also  men- 
tioned in  Acts  XX.  7,  that  the  church  at 
Troas  assembled  on  a  Sunday  and  cele- 
brated the  Lord's  Supper.  Here  the  ques- 
tion arises,  whether  Paul  put  off  his  depar- 
ture from  Troas  to  the  next  day,  because 
he  wished  to  celebrate  the  Sunday  with  this 
church— or  whether  the  church  met  on  the 
Sunday  (though  they  might  have  met  on 
any  other  day),  because  Paul  had  fixed  to 
leave  Troas  on  the  following  day. 

At  all  events,  we  must  deduce  the  origin 
of  the  religious  observance  of  Sunday, 
not  from  the  Jewish-Christian  churches, 
but  from  the  peculiar  circumstances  of 
the  Gentile  Christians,  and  may  account 
for  the  practice  in  the  following  manner. 
Where  the  circumstances  of  the  churches 
did  not  allow  of  daily  meetings  for  devo- 
tion and  agapsE — although  in  the  nature  of 
Christianity  no  necessity  could  exist  for 
such  a  distinction — although  on  the  Chris- 
tian standing-point  all  days  were  to  be  con- 
sidered as  equally  holy,  in  an  equal  man- 
ner devoted  to  the  Lord — yet  on  account  of 
peculiar  outward  relations,  such  a  distinc- 
tion of  a  particular  day  was  adopted  for  re- 
ligious communion.  They  did  not  choose 
the  Sabbath  which  the  Jewish  Christians 
celebrated,  in  order  to  avoid  the  risk  of 
mingling  Judaism  and  Christianity,  and 
because  another  event  was  more  closely 
associated  with  Christian  sentiments.  The 
sufferings  and  resurrection  of  Christ  ap- 
peared as  the  central-point  of  Christian 
knowledge  and  practice  ;  since  his  resur- 
rection was  viewed  as  the  foundation  of 
all  Christian  joy  and  hope,  it  was  natural 
that  the  day  which  was  connected  with  the 
remembrance  of  this  event,  should  be  spe- 
cially devoted  to  Christian  communion. 

But  if  a  weekly  day  was  thus  distin- 
guished in  the  churches  of  Gentile  Chris- 
tians, still  it  is  very  doubtful  that  any  yearly 
commemoration  of  the  resurrection  was 
observed  among  them.  Some  have  en- 
deavoured to  find  in  1  Cor.  v.  7,  a  refer- 
ence to  a  Christian  passover  to  be  celebrated 

*  See  Idcler's  Clironologie,  i.  180. 


in  a  Christian  sense  with  a  decided  refer- 
ence to  Christian  truth :  but  we  can  find  a 
reference  only  to  a  Jewish  passover, 
which  was  still  celebrated  by  the  Jewish 
Christians.  When  Paul  was  writing  those 
words,  the  Jews  and  Jewish  Christians  were 
present  to  his  imagination,  as  on  the  four- 
teenth of  Nisan,  they  carefully  searched 
every  corner  of  their  houses,  lest  any  mor- 
sel of  leaven  should  have  escaped  their 
notice.  This  practice  of  outward  Judaism 
he  applies  in  a  spiritualized  sense  to  Chris- 
tians. "  Purify  yourselves  from  the  old 
leaven  (the  leaven  of  your  old  nature, 
which  still  cleaves  to  you  from  your  old 
corruption),  that  you  may  become  a  new 
mass  (meaning  renewed  and  justified  human 
nature),  and  as  it  were  unleavened  ;  that 
is,  purified  by  Christ  from  the  leaven  of 
sin,  as  elsewhere  Paul  represents  purifica- 
tion from  sin,  the  being  dead  to  sin  as  con- 
nected with  the  death  of  Christ,*  for  Christ 
has  been  offered  as  our  paschal  lamb  :  they 
ought  ever  to  remember  that  true  paschal 
lamb,  by  whose  ofTering  they  were  truly 
freed  from  sin ;  the  Jewish  passover  was 
henceforth  wholly  useless.  Therefore,  as 
men  purified  from  sin  by  Christ  our  pas- 
chal lamb,  let  us  celebrate  the  feast,  not 
after  the  manner  of  the  Jews,  who  swept 
the  leaven  out  of  their  houses,  but  retained 
the  leaven  of  old  corruption  in  their  hearts 
— but  let  us  so  celebrate  it  that  we  may  be 
a  mass  purified  in  heart  from  the  leaven  of 
sin."  In  all  this,  there  is  evidently  no 
reference  to  the  celebration  of  a  Christian 
passover  among  Gentile  Christians,  but 
only  the  contrast  of  the  spiritual  passover, 
comprehending  the  whole  life  of  the  re- 
deemed, with  the  merely  outward  Jewish 
feast. f 


*  This  is  no  doubt  the  simplest  interpretation 
of  the  words  xaS-co;  jcts  u^u/uoi,  '•'  as  ye  are  unlea- 
vened," purified  as  redeemed  persons,  for  ever  from 
the  ^u^tji  tSc  ctfxctgTii^.  But,  if  with  Grotius,  we 
understand  the  words  according  to  the  analog}'  of 
the  Greek  acriToc,  uotvo^,  "as  ye  eat  no  leaven,"  and 
thus  are  equivalent  to,  "  as  ye  celebrate  the  feast 
of  unleavened  bread,  or  the  Passover,"  still  this 
may  be  understood  only  of  a  spiritual  passover ; 
for  otiierwise  it  would  not  agree  with  that  which 
is  afterwards  adduced  as  a  reason,  and  it  would 
also  be  implied,  that  the  Gentile  Christians  had 
refrained  from  leavened  bread  at  Easter,  which 
Paul,  on  his  principles,  could  not  have  allowed. 

t  If  we  supposed  that  these  words  related  to  an 
Easter  feast,  celebrated  among  the  Gentile  Chris- 
tians,  it  would  follow  that  they  celebrated  this 
feast  at  the  same  time  as  the  Jews,  and  then  it 


Chap.  V.] 


USAGES  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHRISTIANS. 


101 


The  celebration  of  the  two  symbols  of 
Chrisfian  communion,  Baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper,  belonged  to  the  unchangea- 
ble plan  of  the  Christian  church,  as  framed 
by  its  Divine  Founder;  these  rites  were  to 
be  recognised  equally  by  Jews  and  Gentiles, 
and  no  alteration  would  be  made  in  refer- 
ence to  them  by  the  peculiar  formation  of 
ecclesiastical  life  among  the  C4entiles ;  we 
need  therefore  to  add  little  to  what  we  have 
before  remarked.  In  Baptism,  entrance 
into  communion  with  Christ  appears  to 
have  been  the  essential  point ;  thus  persons 
were  united  to  the  spiritual  body  of  Christ 
and  received  into  the  communion  of  the 
redeemed,  the  church  of  Christ;  Gal.  iii. 
27  ;  1  Cor.  xii.  13.  Hence  baptism,  accord- 
ing to  its  characteristic  marks,  was  desig- 
nated a  baptism  into  Christ,  into  the  name 
of  Christ,  as  the  acknowledgment  of  Jesus 
as  the  Messiah  was  the  original  article  of 
faith  in  the  apostolic  church,  and  this  was 
probably  the  most  ancient*  formula  of  bap- 
tism, which  was  still  made  use  of  even  in  the 
third  century  (see  my  Church  History,  vol. 
i.  p.  546).  The  usual  form  of  submersion 
at  baptism,  practised  by  the  Jews,  was 
transferred  to  the  Gentile  Christians.  In- 
deed, this  form  was  the  most  suitable  to 
signify  that  which  Christ  intended  to  render 
an  object  of  contemplation  by  such  a  sym- 
bol ;  the  immersion  of  the  whole  man  in 
the  spirit  of  a  new  life.  But  Paul  availed 
himself  of  what  was  accidental  to  the  form 
of  this  symbol,  the  twofold  act  of  submer- 
sion and  of  emersion,  to  which  Christ  cer- 
tainly made  no  reference  at  the  institution 
of  the  symbol.  As  he  found  therein  a 
reference  to  Christ  Dead,  and  Christ  Risen, 
the  negative  and  positive  aspect  of  the 
Christian  life — in  the  imitation  of  Christ  to 
die  to  all  ungodliness,  and  in  communion 
with  him  to  rise  to  a  new  divine  life — so 
in  the  given  form  of  baptism,  he  made  use 
of  what  was  accessory  in  order  to  repre- 
sent by  a  sensible  image,  the  idea  and  de- 
sign of  the  rite  in  its  connexion  with  the 
whole  essence  of  Christianity. 

Since  baptism  marked  the  entrance  into 
communion  with  Christ,  it  resulted  from 
the  nature  of  the  rite,  that  a  confession  of 


would  hardly  be  possible  to  explain  the  rise  of  the 
disputes  relative  to  the  time  of  observing'  Easter. 

*  In  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas  (visio  iii.  c.  7),  in 
Fabriccii  cod.  apocr.  Nov.  Test.  p.  804,  it  is  said, 
buplizavi  in  nomine  Domini. 


faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Redeemer  would  be 
made  by  the  person  to  be  baptized ;  and  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  apostolic  age,  we  may 
find  indications  of  the  existence  of  such  a 
practice.*  As  baptism  was  closely  united ' 
with  a  conscious  entrance  on  Christian 
communion,  faith  and  baptism  were  always 
connected  with  one  another ;  and  thus  it  is 
in  the  highest  degree  probable  that  baptism 
was  perfgrmed  only  in  instances  where 
both  could  meet  together,  and  that  the  prac- 
tice of  infant  baptism  was  unknown  at  this 
period.  We  cannot  infer  the  existence  of  in- 
fant baptism  from  the  instance  of  the  bap- 
tism of  whole  families,  for  the  passage  in  1 
Cor.  xvi.  1.5,  shows  the  fallacy  of  such  a 
conclusion,  as  from  that  it  appears  that  the 

*  These  indieations.  are  such  as  will  not  amount 
to  incontrovertible  certainty.  We  find  the  least 
doubtful  reference  in  1  Peter  iii.  21,  but  the  inter- 
pretation even  of  this  passage  has  been  much 
disputed.  If  the  words  are  understood  in  this 
sense,  "  a  question  according  to  a  good  conscience 
in  relation  to  God,  by  means  of  the  resurrection  of 
Christ,"  a  question  proposed  at  baptism  might  be 
inferred  from  it,  of  whicJa  the  purport  would  be, 
whetlier  a  person  believed  in  tlie  resurrection  of 
Christ,  as  the  pledge  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins 
granted  to  him,  and  hence  would  think  of  God  in 
this  faith  with  a  good  conscience.  But  Winer 
against  such  an  interpretation  of  the  passage 
justly  objects,  that  in  this  case,  tlie  answer  given 
by  the  candidate  as  an  expression  of  his  confes- 
sion of  his  faitJi,  of  what  peculiarly  related  to  sal- 
vation, and  not  the  question,  must  have  been  men- 
tioned. Yet  Winer's  explanation  (in  his  Grammar) 
in  reference  to  the  word  sTsgair^/^a, — the  seeking 


of  a  good  conscience  after 


God,— ; 


althouorh 


CTTfgO 


T*v  iU  in  the  Hellenistic  idiom,  as  tlie  passage 
adduced  by  Winer  shows,  may  have  this  meaning 
— does  not  appear  the  most  natural.  If  Paul  had 
wished  to  say  this,  would  he  not  have  preferred 
using  the  form  sTsgarvio-;;  ?  And  might  it  not  be 
said  against  this  interpretation,  that  the  apostle 
would  have  represented  that  which  saved  at  bap- 
tism, not  the  seeking  after  God,  but  the  finding 
God  through  Christ,  the  longing  for  communion 
with  him,  according  to  the  analogy  of  scriptural 
representations  on  this  subject  ? 

But  what  Peter  wished  particularly  to  point  out, 
was  the  spiritual  character  of  the  whole  baptismal 
rite,  in  opposition  to  a  mere  outward  sensible 
purification.  This  spiritual  character  might  be 
pointed  out  by  the  question  proposed  at  baptism, 
which  referred  to  the  spiritual  religious  object  of 
the  rite,  and  the  question  is  alluded  to  instead  of 
the  answer,  because  it  precedes  and  is  that  which 
gives  occasion  to  the  answer,  and  thus  the  first 
interpretation  may  be  justified. 

The  second  trace  of  such  a  baptismal  confession 
is  found  in  1  Tim.  vi.  12,  but  it  is  not  quite  evident, 
tiiat  a  confession  of  this  kind  is  intended  ;  it  might 
be  only  one  which  Timothy  had  given  from  the 
free  impulse  of  feeling,  when  he  was  set  apart  to 
be  the  associate  of  Paul  in  publishing  the  gospel. 


102 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


[Book  III' 


whole  family  of  Stephanas,  who  were  bap- 
tized by  Paul,  consisted  of  adults.  That 
not  till  so  late  a  period  as  (at  least  cer- 
tainly not  earlier  than)  Irenseus,  a  trace  of 
infant  baptism  appears,  and  that  it  first  be- 
came  recognised  as  an  apostolic  tradition 
in  the  course  of  the  third  century,  is  evi- 
dence rather  against  than /or  the  admission 
of  its  apostolic  origin  ;  especially  since,  in 
the  spirit  of  the  age  when  Christianity  ap- 
peared, there  were  many  elements  which 
must  have  been  favourable  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  .infant  baptism, — the  same  elements 
from  which  proceeded  the  notion  of  the 
mawical  effects  of  outward  baptism,  the  no- 
tion of  its  absolute  necessity  for  salvation, 
the  notion  which  gave  rise  to  the  mythus 
that  the  apostles  baptized  the  Old  Testa- 
ment saints  in  Hades.  How  very  much 
must  infant  baptism  have  corresponded 
with  such  a  tendency,  if  it  had  been  fa- 
voured by  tradition  !  It  might  indeed  be 
alleged,  on  the  other  hand,  that  after  infant 
baptism  had  long  been  recognised  as  an 
apostolic  tradition,  many  other  causes 
hindered  its  universal  introduction,  and  the 
same  causes  might  still  earlier  stand  in  the 
way  of  its  spread  although  a  practice  sanc- 
tioned by  the  apostles.  But  these  causes 
could  not  have  acted  in  this  manner,  in  the 
post-apostolic  age.  In  later  times,  we  see 
the  opposition  between  theory  and  practice, 
in  this  respect,  actually  coming  forth.  Be- 
sides, it  is  a  different  thing,  that  a  practice 
which  could  not  altogether  deny  the  marks 
of  its  later  institution,  although  at  last  re- 
cognised as  of  apostolic  founding,  could 
not  for  a  length  of  time  pervade  the  life  of 
the  church ;  and  that  a  practice  really  pro- 
ceeding from  apostolic  institution  and  tra- 
dition, notwithstanding  the  authority  that 
introduced  it,  and  the  circumstances  in  its 
favour  arising  from  the  spirit  of  the  times, 
should  yet  not  have  been  generally  adopted. 
And  if  we  wish  to  ascertain  from  whom 
such  an  institution  was  originated,  we 
should  say,  certainly  not  immediately  from 
Christ  himself.  Was  it  from  the  primitive 
church  in  Palestine,  from  an  injunction 
given  by  the  earlier  apostles  ?  But  among 
the  .lewish  Christians,  circumcision  was 
held  as  a  seal  of  the  covenant,  and  hence, 
they  had  so  much  less  occasion  to  make 
use  of  another  dedication  for  their  children. 
Could  it  then  have  been  Paul,  who  first 
among  heathen  Christians  introduced  this 


alteration  by  the  use  of  baptism  ?  But  this 
would  agree  least  of  all  with  the  peculiar 
Christian  characteristics  of  this  apostle. 
He  who  says  of  himself  that  Christ  sent  him 
not  to  baptize  but  to  preach  the  gospel ;  he 
who  always  kept  his  eye  fixed  on  one  thing, 
justification  by  faith,  and  so  carefully  avoid- 
ed every  thing  which  could  give  a  handle 
or  support  to  the  notion  of  a  justification 
by  outward  things  (the  tfa^xixa) — how  could 
he  have  set  up  infant  baptism  against  the 
circumcision  that  continued  to  be  practised 
by  the  Jewish  Christians?  In  this  case, 
the  dispute  carried  on  with  the  Judaizing 
party,  on  the  necessity  of  circumcision, 
would  easily  have  given  an  opportunity  of 
introducing  this  substitute  into  the  contro- 
versy, if  it  had  really  existed.  The  evi- 
dence arising  from  silence  on  this  topic  has 
therefore    the  greater  weight.*     We    find, 


*  If  it  could  be  shown,  that  at  this  time  there 
was  a  practice  of  administering  to  living  persons 
a  substitutionary  baptism  for  the  dead,  an  inter- 
pretation of  1  Cor.  XV.  19,  which  has  been  lately 
advocated  by  Ruckert — this  would  stand  in  striking 
contradiction  with  the  absence  of  infant- baptism. 
If  so  unconditional  a  necessity  was  ascribed  to 
outward  baptism,  and  such  a  magical  power  for 
the  salvation  of  men,  as  to  have  occasioned  the 
introduction  of  such  a  practice,  from  such  a  stand- 
ing-point men  must  have  been  brought  much 
sooner  to  the  practice  of  infant-baptism.  But 
although  the  explanation  here  proposed,  arises 
from  the  most  natural  interpretation  of  the  words, 
I  cannot  assent  to  it,  since  it  does  not  satisfy 
other  conditions  of  a  correct  exegesis.  What  idea 
can  we  form  of  such  a  practice  of  substitutionary 
baptism  ?  Was  it  that  persons  hoped  by  means 
of  it,  to  save  their  deceased  friends  and  relatives, 
and  those  who  had  remained  far  from  the  faith  ? 
But  since  at  that  time  such  stress  was  laid  on  the 
necessity  of  repentance  and  faith,  we  are  at  a  loss 
to  conceive  how  such  an  error  and  abuse  could 
gain  acceptance.  Tlie  supposition  of  this  neces- 
sity lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  mythus  of  the 
baptism  administered  in  Hades  to  the  saints  of  the 
Old  Testament.  We  might  rather  suppose  that 
if  persons  who  had  become  believers  died  before 
they  could  fulfil  their  resolution  of  being  baptized 
— a  substitutionary  baptism  would  be  made  use  of 
for  them.  But  in  such  cases,  it  would  have  been 
more  consonant  to  a  superstitious  adherence  to  an 
outward  rite,  that  they  should  have  hastened  to 
impart  baptism  to  the  dying,  or  even  to  the  dead, 
and  we  find  traces  of  both  these  practices  in  later 
times.  Of  a  substitutionary  baptism,  on  the  con- 
trary, no  trace  can  be  found,  with  the  exception 
of  the  single  passage  in  Paul's  writings.  An  im- 
proper appeal  has  been  made  on  this  point  to  Ter- 
tulhan.  He  says,  dt  resurreciione  carnis,  c.  48, 
only  what  he  believed  was  to  be  found  in  these 
words  of  Paul,  without  referring  to  any  other 
quarter.  In  his  work  against  Marcion,  v.  10,  he 
also  refers  to  this  passage,  and  such  a  substitu- 


Chap.  V.] 


USAGES  OF  THE  GENTILE  CHRISTIANS. 


103 


indeed,  in  one  passage  of  Paul,  1  Cor.  vii. 
14,  a  trace,  that  already  the  children  of 
Christians  were  distinguished  from  the 
children  of  heathens,  and  might  be  con- 
sidered in  a  certain  sense  as  belonging  to 
the  church,  but  this  is  not  deduced  from 
their  having  partaken  of  baptism,  and  this 
mode  of  connexion  with  the  church  is 
rather  evidence  against  the  existence  of 
infant  baptism.  The  apostle  is  here  treat- 
ing of  the  sanctifying  influence  of  the  com- 
munion between  parents  and  children,  by 
which  the  children  of  Christian  parents 
would  be  distinguished  from  the  children 
of  those  who  were  not  Christian,  and  in 
virtue  of  which  they  might  in  a  certain 
sense  be  termed  ky\(x  in  contrast  with  the 
dxaB-a^ra*  But  if  infant  baptism  had  been 
then  in  existence,  the  epithet  ayia,  applied 
to  Christian  children  would  have  been  de- 
duced only  from  this  sacred  rite  by  which 
they  had  become  incorporated  with  the 
Christian  Church.    But  in  the  point  of  view 


tionary  baptism  appeared  to  him  as  somewhat 
analogous  to  the  heathenish  purg-ations  for  the 
dead  on  the  1st  of  February,  the  Febriiationes. 
He  thought  it  important  to  remark,  that  Paul 
could  not  have  approved  of  such  a  practice.  "  Vi- 
derit  institutio  ista.  Kalendse  si  forte  Februarias 
respondebunt  illi :  pro  mortuis  petere.  Noli  ergo 
apostolum  novum  statim  auctorem  aut  confirma- 
torem  ejus  denotare,  ut  tanto  magis  sisteret  carnis 
resurrectionem,  quanto  illi  qui  vane  pro  mortuis 
baptizarentur,  fide  resurrectionis  hoc  faccrent." 
And  he  himself  aflervs^ards  proposes  another  inter- 
pretation of  the  passage,  according  to  which  there 
is  no  allusion  to  a  substitutionary  baptism.  Later 
uneducated  Marcionites  in  Syria  had  most  proba- 
bly from  this  passage  of  St.  Paul's,  adopted  a 
practice  altogether  at  variance  with  the  spirit  of 
Marcion.  Besides,  we  might  suppose  that  Paul 
employed  an  argumentum  ad  hominem,  and  ad- 
duced a  superstitious  custom  as  evidence  of  a 
truth  lying  at  the  foundation  of  Christian  know- 
ledge. But  still  it  is  difficult  to  suppose  that  Paul, 
who  so  zealously  opposed  all  dependence  on  out- 
ward things,  and  treated  it  as  the  worst  adultera- 
tion of  the  gospel,  should  not  from  the  first  have 
expressed  himself  in  the  strongest  terms  against 
such  a  delusion. 

*  The  immediate  impressions — which  proceed 
from  the  whole  of  the  intercourse  of  life,  and  by 
means  of  the  natural  feeling  of  dependence  of 
children  on  their  parents,  pass  from  the  latter  to 
the  former — have  a  far  stronger  hold  than  the  ef- 
fects of  instruction,  and  such  impressions  may  be- 
gin before  the  ability  for  receiving  instruction  in 
a  direct  manner  exists.  These  impressions  attach 
themselves  to  the  first  germs.of  consciousness,  and 
on  that  account,  the  commencement  of  this  sancti- 
fying influence  cannot  be  precisely  determined. 
See  De  Wette's  excellent  remarks  in  the  ^^Studien 
und  Kritiken,'"  1839.     Part  iii.  p.  671. 


here  chosen  by  Paul,  we  find  (although  it 
testifies  against  the  existence  of  infant  bap- 
tism) the  fundamental  idea  from  which  in- 
fant baptism  was  afterwards  necessarily 
developed,  and  by  which  it  must  be  justified 
to  agree  with  Paul's  sentiments  ;  an  indi- 
cation of  the  pre-eminence  belonging  to 
children  born  in  a  Christian  community ; 
the  consecration  for  the  kingdom  of  God, 
which  is  .thereby  granted  to  them,  an  im- 
mediate sanctifying  influence  which  would 
communicate  itself  to  their  earliest  deve- 
lopement.* 

As  to  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Supper, 
it  continued  to  be  connected  with  the  com- 
mon meal,  in  which  all  as  members  of  one 
family  joined,  as  in  the  primitive  Jewish 
church,  and  agreeably  to  its  first  insfitution. 
In  giving  a  history  of  the  Corinthian  church, 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  the 
abuses  which  arose  from  the  mixture  of 
ancient  Grecian  customs  with  the  Christian 
festival. 

The  publication  of  the  gospel  among 
the  heathen,  was  destitute  of  those  facilities 
for  its  reception,  which  the  long-continued 
expectation  of  a  Redeemer  as  the  promised 
Messiah  gave  it  among  the  Jews.  Here 
was  no  continuous  succession  of  witnesses 
forming  a  revelation  of  the  living  God, 
with  which  the  gospel,  as  already  indicated 
and  foretold  by  the  law  and  prophets  among 
the  Jews,  might  connect  itself.  Still  the 
annunciation  of  a  Redeemer  found  its 
point  of  connexion  in  the  universal  feeling 
adhering  to   the  very  essence   of  human 


*  The  words  in  1  Cor.  vii.  1 4,  may  be  taken  in 
a  twofold  manner.  If  we  understand  with  De 
Wette  the  C/mZv  as  applied  to  all  Christians — (which 
the  connexion  and  the  use  of  the  plural  render  pro- 
bable— )  then  the  apostle  infers  that  the  children 
of  Christians,  although  not  incorporated  witli  the 
church,  nor  yet  baptized,  might  be  called  ayia. 
(which  is  De  Wette's  opinion),  and  thus  what  we 
have  remarked  in  the  text,  follows  as  a  necessary 
consequence.  But  if  we  admit  that  Paul  is  speak- 
ing  of  the  case  of  married  persons,  in  which  one 
party  was  a  Christian,  and  the  other  a  ineathen, 
and  that  from  the  sanctification  of  the  children  of 
such  a  marriage,  he  infers  the  sanctification  of  the 
whole  marriage  relation — which  thought  perfectly 
suits  the  connexion — then  it  would  appear  that 
Paul  deduces  a  sanctification  of  the  children  by 
their  connexion  with  the  parents,  but  not  from  their 
baptism,  for  the  baptism  of  children,  in  these  cir- 
cumstances, could,  in  many  instances,  be  liardly 
performed.  If  an  infant  baptism  then  existed,  he 
could  not  call  the  children  of  such  a  mixed  mar- 
riage ayiu.,  in  the  same  sense  as  the  children  of 
parents  who  were  both  Christians. 


104 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


[Book  III. 


nature — the  feeling  of  disunion  and  guilt, 
and  as  a  consequence  of  this,  though  not 
brouf^ht  out  with  distinctness,  a  longing 
after  I'edemption  from  such  a  condition  ; 
and  by  the  mental  developement  of  these 
nations,  and  their  political  condition  at  that, 
period,  sentiments  of  this  class  were  more 
vividly  felt,  while  the  feeling  of  disunion 
(in  man's  own  powers,  and  between  man 
and  God)  was  manifested  in  the  prevailing 
tendency  towards  dualistic  views.  The 
youthful  confidence  of  the  old  world  was 
constajitly  giving  way  to  a  feeling  of  dis- 
union and  sadness  excited  by  the  more  pow- 
erful sense  of  the  law  written  on  the  heart, 
which  like  the  external  law  given  the  Jews, 
was  destined  to  guide  the  Gentiles  to  the 
Saviour.  The  gospel  could  not  be  pre- 
sented in  the  relation  it  bore  to  Judaism,  as 
the  completion  of  what  already  existed  in 
the  popular  religion;  it  must  come  forth  as 
the  antagonist  of  the  heathenish  deification 
of  nature,  and  could  only  attach  itself  to 
the  truth  lying  at  the  foundation  of  this 
enormity,  the  sense,  namely,  in  the  human 
breast  of  a  hidden,  unknown  deity ;  it  was 
necessary  to  announce  Christianity  as  the 
revelation  of  that  God  in  whom,  by  virtue 
of  their  divine  original,  men  "  lived  and 
moved  and  had  their  being,"  but  of  whom, 
in  consequence  of  their  estrangement  from 
him  by  sin,  they  had  only  a  mysterious 
sense  as  an  unknown  and  distant  divinity. 
Under  this  aspect  it  might  also  be  repre- 
sented as  a  completion  of  that  which  was 
implanted  by  God  in  the  original  constitu- 
of  man,  as  the  final  aim  of  this  indistinct 
longing.  Also,  in  relation  to  all  that  was 
truly  natural,  belonging  to  the  original 
nature  of  man,  and  not  founded  in  sin,  it 
might  be  truly  asserted,  that  Christ  came 
not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil.  And  here 
certainly  the  Gentiles  were  placed  in  a 
more  advantageous  position  than  the  Jews ; 
they  were  not  exposed  to  the  temptation  of 
contemplating  Christianity  only  as  the  com- 
pletion of  a  religious  system  already  in  ex- 
istence, and  of  disowning  its  purpose  of 
producing  an  entire  transformation  of  the 
life;  for  to  a  convert  from  heathenism, 
Christianity  presenting  itself  in  direct  op- 
])Osition  to  the  whole  of  his  former  religious 
standing-point,  must  necessarily  appear  as 
something  altogether  new  and  designed  to 
cdcct  an  entire  revolution.  Meanwhile, 
although   Christianity   must  have  at  first 


presented  itself  as  opposed  to  the  existing 
elements  of  life  in  heathenism  ;  yet  Chris- 
tians who  continued  to  live  in  intercourse 
with  heathens  among  their  old  connexions, 
were  so  much  the  more  exposed  in  a  prac- 
tical view  to  the  infection  of  a  corrupt 
state  of  morals,  till  their  Christian  life  be- 
came firmly  established.  And  although 
the  peculiar  position  of  the  Gentiles  did  not 
expose  them  so  much  as  the  Jews  to  per- 
vert the  gospel  into  an  ojms  aperatum,  and 
thus  to  misuse  it  as  a  cloak  for  immorality, 
still  such  an  error  might  arise,  not  from  the 
influence  of  Judaizing  teachers,  but  from 
the  depraved  condition  of  human  nature. 
It  is  evident,  that  Paul  deemed  it  necessary 
emphatically  to  guard  and  warn  them 
against  it.* 

Another  danger  of  a  different  kind  threat- 
ened Christianity  when  it  found  its  way 
among  the  educated  classes  in  the  seats  of 
Grecian  learning.  Since  in  these  places  the 
love  of  knowledge  predominated,  and  sur- 
passed in  force  all  the  other  fundamental 
tendencies  of  human  nature ;  since  men 
were  disposed  to  cultivate  intellectual  emi- 
nence to  the  neglect  of  morals,  and  Chris- 
tianity gave  a  far  wider  scope  than  heathen- 
ism to  the  exercise  of  the  mental  powers; 
since  in  many  respects,  it  agreed  with 
those  among  the  Grecian  philosophers, 
who  rested  their  opposition  to  the  popular 
religions  on  an  ethical  basis ;  the  conse- 
quence was,  that  they  made  Christianity, 
contrary  to  its  nature  and  design,  chiefly 
an  exercise  of  the  understanding,  and 
aimed  to  convert  it  into  a  philosophy,  thus 
subordinating  the  practical  interest  to  the 
theoretical,  and  obscuring  the  real  genius 
of  the  gospel.  The  history  of  the  further 
spread  of  Christianity  among  the  heathen, 
and  of  individual  churches  founded  among 
them,  will  give  us  an  opportunity  of  de- 
veloping this  fact,  and  setting  it  in  a  clearer 
light.  We  now  proceed  to  the  second 
missionary  journey  of  the  apostle  Paul, 


CHAPTER  VJ. 

THE  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY  OF  THE  APOSTLE 
PAUL. 

After   Paul  and  Barnabas    had   spent 
some  time  with  the  church  at  Antiocli,they 


*  The  Kivot  xoyoi,  against  wliich  Paul  warns  the 
Ephesians  (v.  6.) 


Chap.  VI.] 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


105 


resolved  to  revisit  the  churches  founded  ia 
the  course  of  their  former  missionary  jour- 
ney, and  then  to  extend  their  labours  still 
further.  Barnabas  wished  to  take  his 
nephew  Mark  again  with  them  as  a  com- 
panion, but  Paul  refused  his  assent  to  this 
proposal,  for  he  could  not  excuse  his  hav- 
ing allowed  attachment  to  home  to  render 
him  unfaithful  to  the  Lord's  service,  and 
deemed  one  who  was  not  ready  to  sacrifice 
every  thing  to  this  cause  as  unfitted  for 
such  a  vocation.  We  see  on  this  occasion 
the  severe  earnestness  of  Paul's  character, 
which  gave  up,  and  wished  others  to  give 
up,  all  personal  considerations  and  feelings 
where  the  cause  of  God  was-  concerned  ; 
he  never  allowed  himself  to  be  tempted  or 
seduced  in  this  respect  by  his  natural  at- 
tachment to  the  nation  to  whom  he  be- 
longed.*"  The  indulgence  shown  by  Bar- 
nabas to  Mark  might  proceed  either  from 
the  peculiar  mildness  of  his  Christian  cha- 
racter, or  from  a  regard  to  the  ties  of  rela- 
tionship not  yet  sufficiently  controlled  by 
the  power  of  the  Christian  spirit.  That 
such  human  attachments  had  too  much  in- 
fluence on  Barnabas,  is  shown  by  his  con- 
duct at  Antioch  on  the  occasion  of  the  con- 
ference between  Peter  and  Paul.  Thus  a 
sudden  difference  arose  between  two  men 
who  had  hitherto  laboured  together  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord,  which  ended  in  their 
separation  from  one  another,  and  thus  it 
was  shown,  that  these  men  of  God  were 
not  free  from  human  weakness;  but  the 
event  proved  that  even  this  circumstance 
contributed  to  the  extension  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  for,  in  consequence  of  it,  the  circle 
of  their  labours  was  very  greatly  enlarged. 
Barnabas  now  formed  a  sphere  of  action 
for  himself,and  first  of  all  visited  with  Mark 
his  native  country  Cyprus,  and  then  most 
probably  devoted  himself  to  preach  the 
gospel  in  other  regions.  For  that  he  re- 
mained in  his  native  country  unemployed 
in  missionary  service,  not  only  his  labours 
up  to  this  time  forbid  our  supposing,  but 
also  the  terms  in  which  Paul  speaks  of  him 
at  a  later  period  (1  Cor.  ix.  6)  as  a  well- 
known  and  indefatigable  preacher  of  the 


gospel,  Paul's  severity  towards  his  ne- 
phew was  probably  of  service  to  Mark  in 
leading  him  to  a  sense  of  his  misconduct, 
for  he  afterwards  continued  faithful  to  his  , 
vocation.  This  separation  was  in  the  issue 
only  temporary,  for  we  afterwards  find 
Barnabas,  Paul,  and  Mark,  in  close  con- 
nexion with  one  another,  although  Barna- 
bas appears  always  to  have  retained  a 
separate  independent  sphere  of  action.  In 
his  stead  Paul  took  Silas  as  his  fellow- 
labourer. 

From  the  beginning  of  his  ministry,  it 
was  a  fixed  principle  with  Paul,  as  he  him- 
self tells  us  in  Rom.  xv.  20,  and  2  Cor.  x. 
16,  to  form  his  own  field  of  labour  for  the 
propagation  of  the  gospel,  and  not  to  tres- 
pass on  that  of  any  other  person ;  instead, 
therefore,  of  betaking  himself  first  to 
Cyprus  as  on  former  occasions,  he  travelled 
through  the  neighbouring  parts  of  Syria  to 
Cilicia,  Pisidia,  and  the  towns  in  which  he 
had  laboured  on  bis  first  journey.  In  the 
town  of  Lystra,*  he  found  a  young  man 
named  Timothy,  who  by  the  instructions 
of  his  mother,  a  pious  Jewess,  but  married 


*  In  the  TT^oirciv  of  Rom.  i.  16,  we  cannot,  with 
Ruckert,  find  marks  of  this  national  attachment 
not  entirely  overcome.  This  tt^Jtov  corresponds 
with  the  necessary  historical  developemcnt  of  the 
theocracy.  The  supposition  is  also  excluded  by 
the  application  of  wgaTov  in  Rom.  ii.  9. 

14 


*  I  must  here  differ  from  the  opinion  I  expressed 
in  the  first  edition.  In  Acts  xvi.  1,  the  sks?,  if  there 
are  no  reasons  for  the  contrary,  is  mostly  naturally 
understood  of  the  place  last  mentioned,  Lystra ; 
and  since  tlie  favourable  testimony  to  his  character 
given  by  the  brethren  at  Lystra  and  Iconium  is 
mentioned,  we  may  presume,  with  some  confidence, 
that  one  of  these  towns  was  his  native  place;  for 
it  is  not  probable  that  what  those  who  knew  him 
best  said  of  him  should  be  passed  over,  though  it 
is  barely  possible  that  the  testimony  of  persons 
living-  in  the  nearest  towns  to  his  own  might  be 
adduced.  In  Acts  xx.  4,  the  approved  reading  is 
rather  for  than  against  this  supposition ;  for  if 
Timothy  had  been  a  native  of  Derbe,  the  predicate 
Ai^S^iog  would  not  have  been  applied  to  Ta/oc  alone, 
but  Luke  would  have  written  As^/^s/a-v  <fs  T^ioc  nAt 
Ttfxo^ioi,  or  r*/sc  K'M  Tijuo^iOf  Ae^/ixloi.  But  it  is 
surprising  that,  in  this  passage,  Timothy  stands 
alone  without  the  mention  of  his  native  place,  and 
that  in  Acts  xix.  29,  Aristarchus  and  Caius,  are 
named  together  as  Macedonians  and  companions 
of  Paul.  Hence  it  might  be  presumed,  that  the 
predicate  Aig^^io;  had  been  misplaced,  and  ought 
to  stand  after  Timothy's  name.  Aristarchus,  Se- 
cundus,  and  Caius,  would  then  be  named  as  natives 
of  Thessalonica,  and  Timothy  of  Derbe.  But  if 
we  adopt  this  view,  then  Acts  xvi,  1,  2,  must  be 
differently  explained.  But  still  it  is  not  probable 
that  the  more  easy  reading  could  be  altogether  re- 
moved, to  make  way  for  one  more  difficult.  So 
common  a  name  as  Caius  might  easily  belong  to  a 
Christian  at  Derbe  and  to  another  from  Macedonia, 
as  we  find  it  borne  also  by  an  approved  Christian 
residing  at  Corinth,  Rom.  xvi.  23,  1  Cor.  i.  14 ;  and 
Timothy's  native  place  might  be  omitted  because 
he  was  the  best  known  of  all  Paul's  associates. 


106 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


[Book  III. 


to  a  heathen,  had  received  religious  impres- 
sions, which  had  an  abiding  eflcct.  His 
mother  was  converted  when  Paul  first 
visitedMhat  town,  and  young  Timothy  also 
became  a  zealous  conlessor  of  the  gospel. 
The  report  of  his  Christian  zeal  had  spread 
to  the  neighbouring  town  of  Iconium.  In 
the  church  to  which  he  belonged,  the 
voices  of  prophets  announced  that  he  was 
destined  to  be  a  distinguished  agent  in 
spreading  the  gospel.  It  gratified  Paul  to 
have  a  zealous  youth  with  him,  who  could 
assist  Jiim  on  his  missionary  journeys,  and 
be  trained  for  a  preacher  under  his  direc- 
tion. He  seconded  the  voices  that  thus 
called  on  Timothy, and  the  young  man  him- 
self was  prepared  by  his  love  to  their  com- 
mon Lord,  to  accompany  his  faithful  ser- 
vant every  where.  As  by  his  descent  and 
education  he  belonged  on  one  side  to  the 
Jews,  and  on  the  other  to  the  Gentiles,  he 
was  so  much  the  more  fitted  to  be  the  com- 
panion of  the  apostles  among  both.  And 
in  order  to  bring  him  nearer  the  former, 
Paul  caused  him  to  be  circumcised,  by 
which  he  forfeited  none  of  the  publicly 
acknowledged  rights  of  the  Gentile  Chris- 
tians ;  for  being  the  son  of  a  Jewess,  and 
educated  in  Judaism,  he  could  with  more 
propriety  be  claimed  by  the  Jews. 

After  Paul  had  visited  the  churches 
already  founded  in  this  district,  he  proceeded 
to  Phrygia.  Of  course,  he  could  not,  either 
on  this  or  on  a  later  journey,  publish  the 
gospel  in  all  the  threescore  and  two*  towns 
of  the  populous  province  of  Phrygia.  He 
must  have  left  much  to  be  accomplished  by 
his  pupils,  such,  for  instance,  as  Epaphras  at 
Colossse,  who  afterwards  founded  a  church 
there,  and  in  the  towns  of  Hierapolis  and 
Laodicea.f     Then  he  directed  his  course 

*  This  is  the  number  stated  in  the  sixth  century 
hy  Hieroclcs,  author  of  the  2uve;t<fj,^oc,  or  a  "Tra- 
veller's  Companion,"  which  gives  an  account  of 
the  provinces  and  towns  of  the  Eastern  Empire. 

+  I  cannot  agree  with  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Schulz, 
brought  forward  in  the  "Studien  und  Kritiken," 
vol.  ii.  part  3,  which  is  also  advocated  by  Dr. 
Schott  in  his  Isagogc,  that  Paul  himself  was  the 
founder  of  these  churches.  I  cannot  persuade 
myself  that  if  the  Colossians  and  Laodiceans  had 
received  the  gospel  from  the  lips  of  the  apostle,  he 
would  have  placed  them  so  closely  in  connexion 
with  those  wlio  were  not  personally  known  to  him 
vyithout  any  distinction,  as  we  find  in  Colossians 
II.  1 ;  since,  in  reference  to  the  anxiety  of  the  apos- 
lie  for  the  churciies,  it  always  made  an  imi)ortnnt 
difference  whether  he  had  himself  founded  them  or 


northward  to  Galatia.  As  many  Jews 
resided  in  this  province,  he  addressed  him- 
self probably  first  to  these,  and  to  the  Pro- 
selytes who  worshipped  with  them  in  the 
synagogues.  But  the  ill-treatment  he  met 
with  among  the  Jews,  prepared  an  opening 

not.  The  "  oo-o<"  would  have  been  used  too  in- 
definitely,  if  its  meaning  had  not  been  fixed  by 
what  preceded ;  from  which  it  appears,  that  those 
churches  of  Phrygia  arc  referred  to,  which,  like 
the  churches  at  Colossae  and  Laodicea,  had  not 
been  founded  by  Paul  himself.  And  how  can  it 
be  supposed  that,  in  an  epistle  to  a  church  founded 
by  himself,  he  would  never  appeal  to  what  they 
had  heard  from  his  own  lips,  but  only  to  the  an- 
noimcement  of  the  gospel,  which  they  had  heard 
from  others  ?  and  that  he  should  speak  not  of  what 
he  himself  had  seen  and  heard  among  them,  but 
only  of  what  had  been  reported  to  him  by  others 
respecting  their  state.  The  acute  remarks  of  Wig- 
gers,  in  the  "Studien  und  Kritiken,"  1838,  part  i. 
p.  171,  have  not  induced  me  to  alter  my  opinion 
on  this  point.  The  explanation  he  gives  of  the 
words  in  Coloss.  ii.  1,  ''also  for  those  (among  the 
Christians  in  Colossce  and  Laodicea)  who  have  not 
known  me  personally,"  appears  to  me  not  so  na- 
tural as  the  common  one,  which  I  follow.  If  Paul 
had  intended  to  say  this,  he  would  hardly  have 
failed  to  limit  otnt  by  adding  u/iaZv.  If  the  koli  in 
verse  7  is  also  to  be  retained,  yet  I  do  not  find  any 
intimation  conveyed  by  it  that  they  had  received 
instruction  from  another  teacher,  but  only  a  refer- 
ence to  what  preceded,  that  they  had  received  from 
Epapiu'as  the  same  gospel  of  the  divine  grace 
which  had  been  published  throughout  the  world. 
But,  from  external  evidence,  I  cannot  help  consi- 
dering the  Kcti  as  suspicious ; — the  frequent  repeti- 
tion of  it  in  the  preceding  part,  and  the  observable 
reference  to  v.  6,  might  easily  occasion  the  inser- 
tion of  such  a  Kott.  But  if  the  noii  is  spurious,  it 
appears  much  more  clearly  that  Epaphras,  not 
Paul,  was  the  teacher  of  this  church.  He  is  call- 
ed {u7^^g  i/uZv  ^lanovo;)  a  servant  of  Christ  in  Paul's 
stead,  because  Paul  had  given  over  to  him  the  of- 
fice of  proclaiming  the  gospel  in  the  three  cities  of 
Phrygia  which  he  himself  could  not  visit.  It  is 
not  clear  to  me  that  Paul,  in  ii.  5,  may  not  have 
used  the  word  aTrufxt  to  denote  his  bodily  absence 
in  opposition  to  his  spiritual  presence  among  them, 
although  he  did  not  mean  that  he  had  been  once 
among  them,  and  was  now  removed  to  a  distance 
from  them.  It  still  appears  to  me  remarkable, 
that — if  he  wrote  some  years  after  his  presence 
among  them — there  should  be  no  allusion  to  his 
personal  intercourse  with  them,  especially  in  an 
epistle  to  a  church  which  was  in  so  critical  a  state; 
to  whom  it  was  so  important  to  evince  his  love 
and  care  for  them,  and  to  exhort  faithfully  to  keep 
the  instructions  they  had  received  from  liim;  and 
especially,  if  he  had  the  opportunity  of  commend- 
ing Epaphras  to  them,  as  the  person  who  had  car- 
ried on  the  work  which  he  had  begun,  he  would 
so  much  the  more  have  stated  explicitly,  that  Epa- 
phras taught  no  other  doctrine,  than  what  they  had  | 
at  first  received  from  himself,  that  he  would  only 
raise  the  superstructure  on  the  foundation  laid  by 
himself. 


Chap.  VI.] 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


m 


for  him  to   the  Gentiles,  by  whom  he  was 
receivecl  with  great  affection. 

Paul  had  to  maintain  a  severe  conflict 
with  bodily  suffering,  as  appears  from 
many  allusions  in  his  epistles,  where  he 
speaks  of  his  being  given  up  to  a  sense  of 
human  weakness.  Nor  is  this  surprising, 
for  as  a  Pharisee,  striving  after  the  right- 
eousness of  the  law,  he  had  certainly  not 
spared  his  own  body.  After  he  had  found 
salvation  by  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  and 
had  attained  the  freedom  of  the  evangelical 
spirit,  he  was,  it  is  true,  very  far  from  a 
tormenting  castigation  of  his  body,  and 
from  legal  dependence  on  works ;  he  ex- 
presses the  most  decided  opposition  to  every 
thing  of  the  kind,  in  language  which  exhibits 
him  to  us  as  independent  of  all  outward 
circumstances,  with  a  spirit  that  freely  sub- 
ordinated and  appropriated  all  that  was  ex- 
ternal to  an  infinitely  higher  object.  Such 
are  those  memorable  words  which  testify 
such  consciousness  of  true  freedom  :  "  I 
know  both  how  to  be  abased,  and  I  know 
how  to  abound  every  where  and  in  all 
things,  I  am  instructed  both  to  be  full  and 
to  be  hungry,  both  to  abound  and  to  suffer 
need.  I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ 
that  strengtheneth  me,"  Philipp.  iv.  12-13. 
But  his  new  vocation  allowed  him  still  less 
to  spare  himself,  since  he  laboured  hard 
with  his  own  hands  for  a  livelihood,  while 
he  exerted  his  powers  both  of  mind  and 
body  to  the  utmost  in  his  apostolic  minis- 
try ;  he  had  so  many  dangers  to  undergo, 
so  many  hardships  and  sufierings  to  endure 
under  which  a  weak  body  might  soon  sink. 
Yet  with  the  sense  of  human  weakness, 
the  consciousness  waxed  stronger  of  a 
might  surpassing  every  thing  that  human 
power  could  effect,  a  divine  all-conquering 
energy  which  proved  its  efficiency  in  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  and  in  him  as  its 
instrument ;  and  he  could  perfectly  dis- 
tinguish this  divine  power  from  ail  merely 
human  endowments.  Under  a  sense  of 
human  weakness,  he  became  raised  above 
himself,  by  that  inward  glory  which  beamed 
upon  him  in  those  communications  of  a 
higher  world  with  which  he  was  honoured. 
He  considered  a  peculiarly  oppressive  pain 
which  constantly  attended  him,  and  checked 
the  soaring  of  his  exalted  spirit,  as  an  ad- 
monition to  humility  given  him  by  God,  as 
a  counterpoise  to  those  moments  of  inward 
glorification  which  were  vouchsafed  him. 


And  he  informs  us,  that  after  he  had  prayed 
thrice  to  the  Lord,  to  free  him  from  this 
oppressive  pain — an  answer  by  a  divine 
voice — either  in  vision  or  in  pure  inward 
consciousness — was  granted  him — that  he 
must  not  desire  to  be  freed  from  that  which 
deepened  the  sense  of  his  human  weakness, 
but  must  be  satisfied  with  the  consciousness 
of  the  divine  grace  imparted  to  him  ;  for 
the  power  pf  God  proved  itself  to  be  truly 
such,  even  in  the  midst  of  human  weak- 
ness.* 

He  experienced  the  truth  of  this  espe- 
cially during  his  ministry  in  Galatia.  His 
body  was  bowed  down  through  debility, 
but  the  divine  power  of  his  words  and  works 
so  strikingly  contrasted  with  the  feebleness 
of  the  material  organ,  made  a  powerful 
impression  on  susceptible  dispo.sitions. 
Under  these  circumstances,  the  glowing 
zeal  of  self-sacrificing  love  which  amidst 
his  own  sufferings  enabled  him  to  bear 
every  thing  so  joyfully  for  the  salvation  of 
others,  must  have  attracted  the  heai'ts  of 
his  hearers  with  so  much  greater  force, 
and  excited  that  ardent  attachment  to  his 
pereon  which  he  so  vividly  describes  in 
Gal.  iv.  14.  "  Ye  received  me  as  an  angel 
of  God,  even  as  Jesus  Christ." 

The  Galatian  churches  were  formed  of 
a  stock  of  native  Jews,  and  partly  of  a 
great  number  of  Proselytes,  for  whom  Ju- 
daism had  become  the  transition-point  to 
Christianity,  and  of  persons  who  passed 
immediately  from  heathenism  to  Christian- 
ity ;  and  with  the   Gentile  portion  of  the 


*  I  cannot  agree  with  those  who  think  that  Paul, 
in  2  Cor.  xii.  7,  where  he  alludes  to  something  that 
constantly  tormented  him  like  a  piercing  thorn 
which  a  person  carries  about  in  his  body,  only  in- 
tended to  signify  his  numerous  opponents.  Cer- 
tainly we  cannot  be  justified  in  saying,  that  Paul 
meant  nothing  else  than  what  he  mentions  in  the 
10th  verse ;  for  in  this  latter  passage,  he  only  ap- 
plies the  general  truth — which  the  divine  voice  had 
assured  him  of  in  reference  to  the  particular  object 
before  mentioned — to  every  thing  which  might  con- 
tribute to  render  him  sensible  of  his  human  weak- 
ness.  This  application  of  the  principle,  and  the 
peculiar  phraseology  of  Paul,  lead  us  to  suppose 
that  he  meant  to  indicate  something  quite  peculiar 
in  the  first  passage.  We  cannot  indeed  suppose 
that  he  would  pray  to  be  delivered  from  such  suf- 
ferings as  were  essentially  and  iridissolubly  con- 
nected with  his  vocation.  But  we  must  conclude 
that  his  prayers  referred  to  something  altogether 
personal,  which  affected  him  not  as  an  apostle,  but 
as  Paul ;  though  it  would  be  absurd,  in  the  total 
absence  of  all  distinguishing  marks,  to  attempt  to 
determine  exactly  v^at  it  was. 


108 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


[Book  III. 


church,  some  Jews  connected  themselves 
who  wore  distinguished  from  the  great  mass 
of  their  unbelieving  countrymen  by  their 
susceptibility  for  the  gospel.  But  by  means 
of  those  who  were  formerly  proselytes  and 
the  Jewish  Christians  in  the  churches,  an 
intercourse  with  the  Jews  was  kept  up, 
and  hence  arose  those  disturbances  in  these 
churches  of  which  we  shall  presently 
speak. 

On  leaving  Galatia,  Paul  was  at  first 
uncertain  in  what  direction  to  turn,  since 
new  fields  of  labour  opened  to  him  on  dif- 
ferent sides.  At  one  time,  he  thought  of 
going  in  a  south-westerly  direction,  to  Pro- 
consular Asia,  and  afterwards  of  passing 
in  a  northerly  direction  to  Mysia  and  Bi- 
thynia  ;  but  either  by  an  inward  voice  or  a 
vision  he  received  a  monition  from  the  Di- 
vine Spirit,  which  caused  him  to  abandon 
both  these  plans.  Having  formed  an 
intention  of  passing  over  to  Europe,  but 
waiting  to  see  whether  he  should  be  with- 
held or  encouraged  by  a  higher  guidance, 
he  betook  himself  to  Troas ;  and  a  noctui*- 
nal  vision,  in  which  a  Macedonian  appeared 
calling  in  behalf  of  his  nation  for  his  aid, 
confirmed  his  resolution  to  visit  Macedonia. 
At  Troas,  he  met  with  Luke  the  physician, 
perhaps  one  of  the  Proselytes,  who  had 
been  converted  by  him  at  Antioch,  and  who 
joined  his  band  of  companions  in  missionary 
labour.  His  medical  skill  would  be  ser- 
viceable on  many  occasions  for  promoting 
the  publication  of  the  gospel  among  the 
heathen.*  The  first  Macedonian  city  in 
which  they  stayed  was  Philippi,  a  place  of 
some  importance.  The  number  of  Jews 
here  was  not  sufficient  to  enable  them  to 
establish  a  synagogue.  Probably  there 
were  only  Proselytes,  who  had  a  place  for 
assembling  surrounded  with  trees,  on  the 
outside  of  the  city  near  the  banks  of  the 
Strymon,  where  they  performed  their  devo-  I 
tions  and  the  necessary  lustrations,  a  so-  j 
called  'if^ogsvxri.]     If  addresses  founded  on  ' 

*  We  infer  that  Luke  joined  Paul  at  Troas,  from  ' 
his  beginning,  in  Acts  xvi.  10,  to  write  his  narra- 
tive in  the  first  person—"  We  endeavoured  to 
go,"  &c.  I 

+  The  expression  in  Acts  xvi.  13,  J  hofxt^iro, 
makes  it  probable  that  this  ir^oviu;y>,  was  not  a 
building,  but  only  an  enclosed  place'  in  the  open 
air,  which  was  usually  applied  to  this  purpose: 
compare  Tertullian,  ad  Nationes,  i.  13,  "The  Ora- 
tiones  Literales  of  the  Jews,"  and  Dc  Jejuniis,  c. 
16,  where  he  speaks  of  the  widely.spread  interest 
taken  by  the  heathen  in  the  Jewish  feasts  :  "  Ju-  I 


passages  in  the  Old  Testament  were  not 
delivered  here  as  in  the  Jewish  synagogue, 
and  if  Paul  could  not  avail  himself  of  such 
a  custom  for  publishing  the  gospel ;  still 
the  Proselytes  (especially  females)  assem- 
bled here  on  the  Sabbath  for  prayer,  and 
he  would  here  meet  those  persons  who 
were  in  a  state  of  the  greatest  preparation 
and  susceptibility  for  what  he  wished  to 
communicate.  Accordingly,  early  on  the 
morning  of  the  Sabbath,  he  resorted  thither 
with  his  companions,  in  order  to  hold  a 
conversation  on  religious  topics  with  the 
women  of  the  city  who  were  here  assembled 
for  prayer.  His  words  made  an  impres- 
sion on  the  heart  of  Lydia,  a  dealer  in 
purple  from  the  town  of  Thyatira  in  Lydia. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  service,  she  and 
her  whole  family  were  baptized  by  him, 
and  compelled  him  by  her  importunity  to 
take  up  his  abode  with  his  companions  in 
her  house.*  As  in  this  town  there  were 
few  or  no  Jews,  the  adherents  of  Judaism 
consisted  only  of  proselytes  ;  thus  Chris- 
tianity met  in  this  quarter  with  no  obstinate 
resistance;  and  it  would  have  probably 
gained  a  still  greater  number  of  adherents, 
without  incurring  the  risk  of  persecution, 
if  opposition  had  not  been  excited,  owing 
to  the  injury  done  to  the  pecuniary  interests 
of  certain  individuals  among  the  Gentiles, 
by  the  operation  of  the  divine  doctrine. 

There  was  a  female  slave  who,  in  a  state 
resembling  the  phenomena  of  somnam- 
bulism, was  accustomed  to  answer  uncon- 
sciously, questions  proposed  to  her,  and 
was  esteemed  to  be  a  prophetess  inspired 
by  Apollo  ;t  as  in  all  the  forms  of  hea- 


daicum  certe  jejunium  ubique  celebratur  ;  quum 
omissis  templis  per  omne  libres  quocunque  in  aper- 
to  aliquando  jam  preces  ad  ccelum  inittunt." 

*  I  can  by  no  means  admit,  with  some  exposi- 
tors of  the  Acts,  that  all  this  took  place  before  the 
beginning  of  the  public  exercises  of  devotion,  and 
that  on  the  same  day,  as  they  were  returning  from 
the  place  where  Paul  baptized  Lydia,  the  meeting 
with  this  prophetess  occurred  on  their  way  to  the 
Proseuche.  Jjuke's  narrative  in  Acts  xvi.  16,  does 
not  indicate  that  all  these  events  took  place  on  one 
day.  The  assertions  of  the  prophetess  make  it 
probable  that  she  had  often  heard  Paul  speak. 

t  On  the  common  notion  of  the  people,  that  the 
Pythian  Apollo  took  possession  of  such  iyya^T^i- 
/xu^ouc  or  TTu^msi;,  and  spoke  through  their  mouth, 
see  Plutarch,  De  Def.  Oracvlor.  c.  !).  Tertullian 
describes  such  persons,  Apologel.  c.  23,  qui  de  Deo 
poti  exislimantur,  qui  anhelando  (in  a  state  of 
convulsive  agony,  in  which  the  peison  felt  himself 
powerfully  impelled  as  by  a  strange  spirit  with  a 
hollow  voice)  preefanlur. 


Chap.  VL] 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


109 


thenish  idolatry,  the  hidden  powers  of  na- 
ture were  taken  into  the  service  of  reli- 
gion.* This  slave  had  probably  frequent 
opportunities  of  hearing  Paul,  and  his 
words  had  left  an  impression  on  her  heart. 
In  her  convulsive  fits,  these  impressions 
were  revived,  and  mingling  what  she  had 
heard  from  Paul  with  her  own  heathenish 
notions,  she  frequently  followed  the 
preachers  when  on  their  way  to  the  Pro- 
seuche,  exclaiming,  "  These  men  are  the 
servants  of  the  Most  High  God,  who  show 
unto  us  the  way  of  salvation."  This  tes- 
timony of  a  prophetess  so  admired  by  the 
people,  might  have  availed  much  to  draw 
their  attention  to  the  new  doctrine  ;  but  it 
Avas  very  foreign  from  Paul's  disposition 
to  employ  or  endure  such  a  mixture  of 
truth  and  falsehood.  At  first  he  did  not 
concern  himself  about  the  exclamations  of 
the  slave.  But  as  she  persisted,  he  at  last 
turned  to  her,  and  commanded  the  spirit 
which  held  her  rational  and  moral  powers 
in  bondage,  to  come  out  of  her.  If  this 
was  not  a  personal  evil  spirit,  still  it  was 
the  predominance  of  an  ungodlike  spirit. 
That  which  constitutes  man  a  free  agent, 
and  which  ought  to  rule  over  the  tenden- 
cies and  powers  of  his  nature,  was  here 
held  in  subjection   to  them.|     And  by  the 


*  Thus  the  oracles  of  the  ancients,  the  incuba- 
tions, and  similar  phenomena  in  the  heathenism  of 
the  Society  Isles  in  the  South  Sea.  The  Priest  of 
Oro,  the  God  of  War,  uttered  oracles  in  an  ecstatic 
state  of  violent  convulsions,  and,  after  his  conver- 
sion to  Christianity,  could  not  again  put  himself 
in  such  a  state.  See,  on  this,  subject,  the  late  in- 
teresting accounts  of  this  mission  by  Ellis,  Ben- 
nett, &c. 

t  We  have  no  certain  marks  which  will  enable 
us  to  determine  in  what  light  Paul  viewed  the 
phenomenon.  It  might  be  (though  we  cannot  de- 
cide with  certainty)  that  he  gave  to  the  heathen 
notion,  that  the  spirit  of  Apollo  animated  this  per- 
son, a  Jewish  form,  that  an  evil  spirit  or  demon 
possessed  her.  In  tliis  case,  he  followed  the  uni- 
versally  received  notion,  without  reflecting  at  the 
moment  any  further  upon  it,  for  this  subject  be- 
longing to  the  higher  pliilosophy  of  nature,  was 
far  from  his  thoughts.  He  directed  liis  attention 
only  to  the  moral  grounds  of  the  phenomenon.  I 
am  convinced,  that  the  Spirit  of  truth  who  was 
promised  to  him  as  an  apnstle,  guided  him  in  this 
instance  to  the  knowledge  of  all  the  truth  which 
Christ  appeared  on  earth  to  announce,  to  a  know- 
ledge of^  every  thing  essential  to  the  doctrine  of 
salvation.  By  this  Spirit  he  discerned  the  predo- 
minance of  the  reign  of  evil  in  tiiis  phenomenon ; 
and  if  an  invisible  power  is  here  thought  to  be 
operating,  yet  what  is  natural  in  the  causes  and 
symptoms,  is  not  thereby  e.xcluded,  even  as  the 


divine  power  of  that  Saviour  who  had  re- 
stored peace  and  harmony  to  the  distracted 
souls  of  demoniacs,  this  woman  was  also 
rescued  from  the  power  of  such  an  ungod- 
like spirit,  and  could  never  again  be  brought 
into  that  state.  When,  therefore,  the  slave 
could  no  longer  practise  her  arts  of  sooth- 
saying, her  masters  saw  themselves  de- 
prived of  the  gains  which  they  had  hitherto 
obtained  frpm  this  source.  Enraged,  they 
seized  Paul  and  Silas,  and  accused  them 
before  the  civil  authorities,  the  Duumvirs,* 
as  turbulent  Jews,  who  were  attempting  to 
introduce  Jewish  religious  practices  into 
the  Roman  colony,  which  was  contrary  to 
the  Roman  laws,  though  the  right  was 
guaranteed  to  the  Jews  of  practising  their 
national  cultus  for  themselves  without  mo- 
lestation. After  they  had  been  publicly 
scourged  without  further  examination,  they 
were  cast  into  prison.  The  feeling  of 
public  ignominy  and  of  bodily  pain,  con- 
finement in  a  gloomy  prison,  where  their 
feet  were  stretched  in  a  painful  manner, 
and  fastened  in  the  stocks  (nervus),-^  and 
the  expectation  of  the  ill-treatment  which 
might  yet  await  them — all  this  could  not 
depress  their  souls  ;  on  the  contrary,  they 
were  rather  elevated  by  the  consciousness 
that  they  were  enduring  reproach  and  pain 


natural  does  not  exclude  the  supernatural.  Com- 
pare  the  admirable  remarks  of  my  friend  Twesten 
in  the  second  volume  of  his  Dogmatik,  p  355,  and 
what  is  said  on  demoniacs  in  my  "  Leben  Jesw." 
This  spirit  gave  Paul  the  confident  belief,  that  as 
Christ  had  conquered  and  rendered  powerless  the 
kingdom  of  evil — therefore  by  his  divine  power 
every  thing  which  belonged  to  tliis  kingdom  would 
henceforth  be  overcome.  In  this  faith,  he  spoke 
full  of  divine  confidence,  and  his  word  took  effect 
in  proportion  to  his  faith.  But  in  the  words  of 
Christ,  and  the  declarations  of  the  apostle  respect- 
ing himself,  I  find  no  ground  for  admitting,  that 
with  this  light  of  his  Christian  consciousness,  an 
error  could  by  no  possibility  exist,  which  did  not 
affect  the  truths  of^  the  gospel,  but  belonged  to  a 
different  and  lower  department  of  knowledge; 
such  as  the  question,  whether  wc  are  to  consider 
this  as  a  phenomenon  explicable  from  the  nature 
of  the  human  soul,  its  natural  powers  and  con. 
nexion  with  a  bodily  organization,  or  an  effect  of 
a  possession  by  a  personal  evil  spirit. 

*  The  name  o-TgaTu^  o;  which  is  used  in  the  Acts 
to  designate  these  magistrates,  was  anciently  era- 
ployed  in  the  smaller  Greek  cities  to  designate  the 
supreme  authorities.    See  Aristoteles  Politic,  vii.  8, 


ed.  Bekker.     Vol. 


1322, 


if  /umg^n  ■^0Ki<rt 


/uia.  TTigi  Travraiv  {^gX"^  if-iy^ovai  Si  trT^iTnyouc 

t  Tcrtullian  ad  Martyrcs,  c.  2.     Nihil  eras  sen- 
tit  in  ncrvo,  quum  animus  in  caelo  est. 


110 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


[Book  III. 


for  the  cause  of  Christ.  About  midnight 
they  united  in  offering  prayer  and  praise 
to  God,  when  an  earthquake  shook  the 
walls ,  of  their  prison.  The  doors  flew 
open,  and  the  fetters  of  the  prisoners  were 
loosened.  The  keeper  of  the  prison  was 
seized  with  the  greatest  alarm,  believing 
that  the  prisoners  had  escaped,  but  Paul 
and  Silas  calmed  his  fears.  This  earth- 
quake which  gave  the  prisoners  an  oppor- 
tunity of  recovering  their  liberty— their 
refusing  to  avail  themselves  of  this  oppor- 
tunity— their  serenity  and  confidence  un- 
der so  many  sufferings — all  combined  to 
make  them  appear  in  the  eyes  of  the  asto- 
nished jailor  as  beings  of  a  higher  order. 
He  fell  at  their  feet,  and  calling  to  mind 
what  he  had  heard  from  the  lips  of  Paul 
and  Silas  respecting  the  way  of  salvation 
announced  by  them,  addressed  them  in 
similar  language,  and  inquired  what  he 
must  do  to  be  saved.  His  whole  family 
assembled  to  hear  the  answer,  and  it  was 
a  joyful  morning  for  all.  Whether  the 
Duumvirs  had  become  more  favourably 
disposed  by  what  they  had  learnt  in  the 
mean  time  respecting  the  prisoners,  or 
that  the  jailor's  report  had  made  an  im- 
pression upon  them,  they  authorized  him  to 
say  that  Paul  and  Silas  might  depart.  Had 
any  thing  enthusiastic  mingled  with  that 
blessed  inspiration  which  enabled  Paul  to 
endure  all  shame  and  all  suffering  for  the 
cause  of  the  Lord, — he  certainly  would 
have  done  nothing  in  order  to  escape  dis- 
grace, though  it  might  have  been  without 
injury  and  to  the  advantage  of  his  calling, 
— or  to  obtain  an  apology  to  which  his 
civil  privileges  entitled  him,  for  the  unme- 
rited treatment  he  had  received.  How  far 
were  his  sentiments  from  what  in  later 
times  the  morals  of  monkery  have  called 
humility  !  Appealing  to  his  civil  rights,* 
he  obliged  the  Duumvirs,  who  were  not 
justified  in  treating  a  Roman  citizenf  so 


*  See  the  well-known  words  of  Cicero,  Act.  II. 
in  Verrem  V.  57.  Jam  ilia  vox  ct  imploratio  civis 
Bomanus  sum,  quaj  ssBpe  multis  in  uUimis  terris 
opcin  inter  barbaros  et  salutcm  attulit. 

t  How  Paul's  father  obtained  the  Roman  citizen- 
shij)  we  know  not.  We  have  no  ground  for  as- 
surninjr,  that  Paul  was  indebted  for  it  to  his  being 
born  at  Tarsus;  for  though  Die  Chrysostom,  in  his 
second  xo^oc  Ta^o-tecc,  vol.  ii.  ed.  Reiske,  p.  36, 
mentions  several  privileges  which  the  Emperor 
Augustus  had  granted  to  the  city  of  Tarsus  as  a 
reward  for  its  fidelity  in  the  civil  wars,  yet  it  does 
not  appear  that   Roman  citizenship  was  one  of 


ignominiously,  to  come  to  the  prison,  and, 
as  an  attestation  of  his  innocence,  with 
their  own  lips  to  release*  him  and  his 
companions.  They  now  betook  themselves 
to  the  house  of  Lydia,  where  the  other 
Christians  of  the  city  were  assembled,  and 
spoke  the  last  words  of  encouragement 
and  exhortation.  They  then  quitted  the 
place,  but  Luke  and  Timothy,  who  had 
not  been  included  in  the  persecution,  stayed 
behind  in  peace. t  Paul  left  in  Philippi  a 
church  full  of  faith  and  zeal — who  shortly 
after  gave  a  proof  of  their  affectionate  con- 
cern for  him  by  sending  contributions  for 
his  maintenance,  though  he  never  sought 
for  such  gifts,  but  supported  himself  by  the 
labour  of  his  own  hands. 

Paul  and  Silas  now  directed  their  course 
to  Thessalonica,  about  twenty  miles  dis- 
tant, the  largest  city  of  Macedonia,  and  a 
place  of  considerable  traffic,  where  many 
Jews  resided.  Here  they  found  a  syna- 
gogue, which  for  three  weeks  Paul  visited 
on  the  Sabbath ;  the  hearts  of  many  pro- 
selytes were  won  by  his  preaching  ;  and 
through  them  a  way  was  opened  for  pub- 
lishing the  gospel  among  the  heathen  in 
the  city.  From  what  Paul  says  in  1 
Thessalonians  (i.  9,  10  ;  ii.  10,  11, )t  we 
find  that  he  was  not  satisfied  with  address- 
ing the  proselytes  only  once  a  week  at  the 
meetings  of  the  synagogue;  his  preaching 
would  then  have  been  confined  to  the  small 
number  of  Gentiles  who  belonged  to  the 
proselytes.  At  the  meetings  of  the  syna- 
gogue, he  could  adopt  only  such  a  method 
and  form  of  address,  as  suited  the  stand- 
ing-point of  the  Jews  ;  he  must  have  pre- 
supposed many  things,  and  many  topics  he 
could  not  develope,  which  required  to  be 
fully  investigated,  in  order  to  meet  the 
peculiar  exigencies  of  the  heathen.     But 


them,  and  allowing  it  to  have  been  so,  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  it  would  have  been  conferred  on 
a  foreign  Jewish  family,  to  which  Paul  belonged. 

*  Silas  also  must  have  obtained  by  some  means 
the  right  of  a  Roman  citizen. 

t  Timothy  rejoined  Paul  at  Thessalonica  or  Be- 
rasa ;  and  Luke  at  a  later  period. 

X  Sehrader  in  his  chronological  remarks,  p.  95, 
thinks  that  these  passages  cannot  possibly  refer  to 
Paul's  first  visit  to  Thessalonica,  which  must  have 
been  a  very  short  one.  But  there  seems  nothing 
improbable  in  the  supposition,  that  a  man  of  such 
zeal  and  indefatigable  activity  in  his  calling,  would 
in  tlie  space  of  three  weeks,  effect  so  much,  and 
leave  behind  him  so  vivid  an  impression  of  his 
character  and  conduct,  as  is  implied  in  these  pas- 
sages. 


Chap.  VI.] 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


Ill 


he  knew,  as  we  see  from  several  examples, 
how  to  distinguish  the  different  standing- 
points  and  wants  of  the  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles ;  and  hence,  we  may  presume,  that 
he  carefully  availed  himself  of  opportuni- 
ties to  make  use  of  these  differences.  The 
Gentiles,  whose  attention  was  awakened 
by  the  proselytes,  soon  assembled  in  va- 
rious places  to  hear  him,  and  from  them 
chiefly  a  church  was  formed,  professing 
faith  in  the  one  living  God,  as  well  as  faith 
in  the  Redeemer. 

Agreeably  to  the  declarations  of  Christ 
(Matthew  x.  10,  compared  with  1  Cor.  ix. 
14),  Paul  recognised  the  justice  of  the  re- 
quirement, that  the  maintenance  of  the 
preachers  of  the  gospel  should  be  furnish- 
ed by  those  for  whom  they  expended  their 
whole  strength  and  activity,  in  order  to 
confer  upon  them  the  highest  benefit.  But 
since  he  was  conscious  that  in  one  point  he 
was  inferior  to  the  other  apostles,  not  hav- 
ing at  first  joined  himself  voluntarily  to 
the  Redeemer,  but  having  been  by  the  di- 
vine grace,  as  it  were  against  his  will, 
transfofmed  from  a  violent  persecutor  of 
the  church  into  an  apostle,  he  thought  it 
his  duty  to  sacrifice  a  right  belonging  to 
the  apostolic  office,  in  order  to  evince  his 
readiness  and  delight  in  the  calling  which 
was  laid  upon  him  by  a  higher  necessity  ; 
(1  Cor.  X.  16,  18.)  Thus  also  he  found 
the  means  of  promoting  his  apostolic  la- 
bours among  the  heathen  ;  for  a  ministry 
so  manifestly  disinterested,  sacrificing 
every  thing  for  the  good  of  others,  and 
undergoing  all  toils  and  privations,  must 
have  won  the  confidence  of  many,  even  of 
those  who  otherwise  were  disposed  to  sus- 
pect selfish  motives  in  a  zeal  for  the  best 
interests  of  others,  which  they  could  not 
appreciate.  He  must  have  been  more 
anxious  to  remove  every  pretext  for  such  a 
suspicion,  because  the  conduct  of  many 
Jews  who  were  active  in  making  prose- 
lytes, was  calculated  to  cast  such  an  impu- 
tation on  the  Jewish  teachers  in  general. 
The  other  apostles  in  their  youth,  had 
earned  their  livelihood  by  a  regular  em- 
ployment, but  yet  one  which  they  could 
not  follow  in  every  place ;  Paul  on  the 
other  hand,  though  destined  to  be  a  Jewish 
theologian,  yet  according  to  the  maxims 
prevalent  in   the  Jewish  schools,*  along 


*  In  the  Pirke  Avoth,  c.  2,  Q  2,  l^loSn  tl^'' 


with  the  study  of  the  law,  had  learned  the 
art  of  tent-making;  and  easily  gained  a 
maintenance  by  this  handicraft,  wherever 
he  went,  on  account  of  the  mode  of  travel- 
ling in  the  East,  and  the  manifold  occa- 
sions on  which  tents*  were  used.  While 
anxiety  for  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  hea- 
then and  the  new  converts  to  Christianity 
wholly  occupied  his  mind,  he  was  forced 
to  employ  the  night  in  earning  the  neces- 
saries of  life  for  himself  and  his  com- 
panions (1  Thess.  ii.  9  ;  Acts  xx.  34),  ex- 
cepting as  far  as  he  obtained  some  relief 
by  the  affectionate  voluntary  offerings  of 
the  church  at  Philippi.  But  to  him  it  was 
happiness  to  give  to  others  without  receiv- 
ing any  thing  in  return  from  them  ;  from 
his  own  experience,  he  knew  the  truth  of 
the  Lord's  words,  "  It  is  more  blessed  to 
give  than  to  receive."     Acts  xx.  35. 

The  apostle  not  only  publicly  addressed 
the  church,  but  visited  individuals  in  their 
families,  and  impressed  on  their  hearts  the 
fundamental  truths  of  the  gospel  in  private 
conversations,  or  warned  them  of  the  dan- 
gers that  threatened  the  Christian  life.f 
He  endeavoured  to  cherish  the  hopes  of 
believers  under  the  sufferings  of  their 
earthly  life,  by  pointing  them  to  the  period 
when  Christ  would  come  again  to  bring  his 
kingdom  among  mankind  to  a  victorious 
consummation.    This  period,  for  those  who 


T]"l"l  CD^  n*nln   "  Beautiful   is    the 

study  of  the  law  with  an  earthly  employment,  by 
which  a  man  gains  his  livelihood  ;"  and  the  reason 
alleged  is,  that  both  together  are  preventives  of 
sin,  but  in  their  absence,  the  soul  is  easily  ruined, 
and  sin  finds  entrance.  And  thus  in  monasteries, 
occupation  with  manual  labour  had  for  its  object, 
not  simply  to  make  provision  for  the  support  of  the 
body,  but  also  to  prevent  sensuality  from  mingling 
with  higher  spiritual  employments. 

*  Philo  de  victimis,  836,  ed.  Francof.  alyZv  cTe  eu 
Tg';t*>'  "'  "^'S*'  (^tJVV(pa.tvo/uivAi  TS  Kdt  /TV[ip:i7rrojufvcil, ' 

(prj^DTiLl  ytyrjyttiTlV  rJclTTCgOl;  OlKl^t  K'J.1  fX'i.Xl'T T 3.  Toh  iV 

o-T^^Ts/at/f.  This  tends  to  show,  though  it  does  not 
prove,  that  Paul  Qhose  this  occupation  from  its 
being  one  for  which  his  native  country  was  cele- 
brated ;  hence,  too,  we  read  of  tentoria  Cilicina. 

t  We  do  not  see  why  the  exhortations  and  warn- 
ings given  to  the  Christians  at  Thessalonica,  to 
which  Paul  appeals  in  both  his  Epistles,  might  not 
have  been  communicated  during  his  first  residence 
among  them ;  for  would  not  Paul's  wisdom  and 
knowledge  of  human  nature,  foresee  the  dangers 
likely  to  arise,  and  endeavour  to  fortify  his  dis- 
ciples  against  them  ?  Schrader's  argument  de- 
duced from  this  circumstance,  against  the  dates 
commonly  oftered  to  these  two  Epistles,  does  not 
appear  very  weighty. 


112 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


[Book  III. 


were  conscious  of  having  obtained  redemp- 
tion, was  fitted  to  be  not  an  object  of  dread, 
but  of  joyful,  longing  hope.     And  during 
the  first  part  of  his  apostolic  course,  this  de- 
cisive event  appeared  to  Paul  nearer  than  it 
really  was.  For  in  this  respect,  thetimes  and 
seasons  must  remain  hidden  till  the  epoc>» 
of  their  fulfilment,  as   Christ   himself  de- 
clared.    Matthew    xxiv.    36.*     The    first 
publishers  of  the   gospel   were    far   from 
thinking,  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  would 
gradually,  after  a   tedious  process,  by  its 
own.  inward  energy,  and  the  guidance  of 
the  Lord  in  the  natural  developements  of 
events,  overcome  the  opposing  powers  of 
the  earth,  and  make  them  subserve  its  in- 
terests.    Although  Christ,  by  the  parables 
in  which  he  represented  the  progress  of  his 
kingdom  on  earth,  had  indicated  the  slow- 
ness of  its  developement,  as  in  the  parables 
of  the  grain  of  corn,  of  leaven,  of  the  wheat 
and  the  tares ;   yet  the  meaning  of  these 
representations,  as  far  as  they  were  pro- 
phetical, and  related  to  the  scale  of  tempo- 
ral developement,  could  only  be  rightly  un- 
derstood, when  explained  by  the  cause  of 
events.     And  herein  we  recognise  the  d' 
vine  intuition  of  Christ,  which  could  pierce 
through  the  longest  succession  of  genera- 
tions and  ages.     But  the  apostles  to  whom 
such  an  intuition  was  not  granted,  thought 
indeed  that,  as  their  Lord  had  promised,  the 
gospel  would  spread  among  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth,  by  its  divine  energy  pervading 
and  overcoming  the  world ;  but  they  also 
believed,  that  the  persecutions  of  the  ruling 
powers  among  the  Gentiles,  would  continu- 
ally become  more  intense,  till  the  Saviour 
by   his   divine   power  should   achieve  the 
triumph  of  the   church  over  all  opposing 
forces.    And  their  enthusiasm  for  the  cause 
of  the  gospel,  the  knowledge  of  its  divine 
all-subduing  power,  and  its  rapid  propaga- 
tion in  the  first  age  of  the  church,  all  con- 
tributed to  conceal  from  their  human  vision, 
the  obstacles  which  withstood  the  verifica- 
tion of  their   Lord's   promise ;  nor   could 
they  even  estimate  correctly  the  population 
of  the  globe   at   that    period. f     Hence  it 
may    be   explained,  how    Paul, — notwith- 
standing his  apostolic  character   and    his 


*  See  Lchen  Jesu,  p.  557,  612,  3d  ed. 

+  These  considerations  must,  be  taken  into  ac- 
count, when  we  find  Paul  declaring  in  the  latter 
period  of  liis  ministry,  that  the  gospel  was  pub- 
lished among  all  the  nations  of  tiie  earth. 


call  to  be  an    instrument   for    publishing 
divine  truth  in  unsullied  purity — could  em- 
brace this  issue  of  all  his  hopes,  the  per- 
sonal indissoluble  union  with  that  Saviour 
whom   he    once  persecuted,   and    now   so 
ardently  loved  with  an  enthusiastic  longing 
that  outstripped  the  tedious  developement  of 
history.     In  this  state  of  mind,  he  was  im- 
pelled to  exert  all  his  powers,  in  order  to 
hasten    the    dissemination    of    the    gospel 
among  all  nations.     It  was  natural,  that 
the  expectation   of  the   speedy   return    of 
Christ  should  operate  most  vigorously  in 
the  first  period   of  his  ministrj^  while  he 
was  yet  glowing  with  youthful  inspiration. 
And  thus  under  the  sufferings  and  shame 
which  he  endured  at  Philippi,  the  anticipa- 
tion of  this  divine  triumph  inspired  him  so 
much  the  more ;  for  it  resulted  from  the 
very  nature  of  the  divine  power  of  faith, 
that  the  confidence  and  liveliness   of  his 
hope  increased  with  the  conflicts  he  was 
called  to  endure.     Filled  with  these  senti- 
ments, he  came  to  Thessalonica,  and  with 
an    elevation   of  feeling,  which   naturally 
communicated  itself  to  other  minds,  he  tes- 
tified of  the  hope  that  animated  him,  and 
raised   him   above    all    earthly   sufferings. 
But   as   his   inspiration  was   far    removed 
from    every    mixture    of   that    fanaticism, 
which  cannot  separate  the  subjective  feel- 
ing and  mental  views,  from  what  belongs 
to  faith  and  the  confidence  of  faith, — he  by 
no  means   spoke  of  the  nearness  of  that 
great  event  as  absolutely  determined ;  he 
adhered  with  modest  sobriety  to  the  saying 
of  the  Lord,  that  "  it  was  not  for  men  to 
know  the  times  and  seasons."     And  with 
apostolic    discretion,    he    endeavoured    to 
warn  the  new  converts  lest,  by  filling  their 
imagination   with  visions  of  the  felicity  of 
the  approaching  reign  of  Christ,  and  wrap- 
ping themselves  in  pleasing  dreams,  they 
should   forget   the   necessary  preparations 
for  the  fiiture,  and  for  the  impending  con- 
flict.    Fie  foretold  them  that  they  had  still 
many  sufferings  and  many  struggles  to  en- 
dure, before  they  could   attain  the  undis- 
turbed  enjoyment    of  blessedness    in    the 
kingdom  of  Christ, 

Though  the  apostle,  in  opposition  to  the 
pretensions  of  meritorious  works  and  moral 
self-sufficiency  advanced  by  Judaizing  teach- 
ers, earnestly  set  forth  the  doctrine  of  jus- 
tification, not  by  human  works  which  are 
ever    defective,   but  by   appropriating   the 


Chap.  VI.] 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


113 


grace  of  redemption  through  faith  alone  ; 
yet  he  also  deemed  it  of  importance  to  warn 
the  new  converts  against  another  misappre- 
hension to  which  a  superficial  conversion, 
or  a  confusion  of  the  common  Jewish  no- 
tions of  faith  with  the  Pauline,  might  ex- 
pose them ;  namely,  the  false  representation 
of  those  who  held  that  a  renunciation  of 
idolatry,  and  the  acknowledgment  of  Jesus 
as  the  Messiah,  without  the  life-transform- 
ing influence  of  such  a  conviction,  was 
sufficient  to  place  them  on  a  better  footing 
than  the  heathen,  and  to  secure  them  fi'om 
the  divine  judgments  that  threatened  the 
heathen-  world.*  He  often  charged  them 
most  impressively,  to  manifest  in  the  ha- 
bitual tenor  of  their  lives  the  change 
effected  in  their  hearts  by  the  gospel ;  and 
that  their  criminality  would  be  aggravated, 
if,  after  they  had  been  devoted  to  God  by 
redemption  and  baptism  to  serve  him  with 
a  holy  life,  they  returned  to  their  former 
vices,  and  thus  defiled  their  bodies  and 
souls  which  had  been  made  the  temples  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.     1  Thess.  iv.  6  ;  ii.  12. 

But  the  speedy  and  cordial  reception 
which  the  gospel  met  with  among  the  Gen- 
tiles, roused  the  fanatical  fury  and  zealotry 
of  many  Jews,  who  had  already  been  ex- 
asperated by  the  apostle's  discourse  in  the 
synagogue.  They  stirred  up  some  of  the 
common  people  who  forced  their  way  into 
the  house  of  Jason  a  Christian,  where  Paul 
was  staying.  •  But  as  they  did  not  find  the 
apostle,  they  dragged  Jason  and  some  other 
Christians  before  the  judgment-seat.  As 
on  this  occasion  the  pei's«cution  originated 
with  the  Jews,  who  merely  employed  the 
Gentiles  as  their  tools,  the  accusation 
brought  against  the  publishers  of  the  new 
doctrine  were  not  the  same  as  those  made 
at  Philippi ;  they  were  not  charged,  as  in 
other  cases,  with  having  disturbed  the  Jews 
in  the  peaceful  exercise  of  their  own  mode 
of  worship  as  guaranteed  to  them  by  the 
laws.  As  Paul  had  laboured  here  for  the 
most  part  among  the  Gentiles,  the  grounds 
were  too  slight  for  supporting  such  an  ac- 


*  These  are  the  vain  words,  the  xsvo;  xoyot,  Eph. 
V.  6,  of  which  Paul  thought  it  necessary  so  so- 
lemnly to  warn  the  Gentile  Christians.  Hence, 
warning  them  against  such  a  superficial  Christian- 
ity, he  reminds  them  that  every  vicious  person  re- 
sembles an  idolater,  and  would  be  equally  excluded 
from  the  kingdom  of  God — that  not  merely  for 
idolatry,  but  for  every  unsubdued  vice,  unbelievers 
would  be  exposed  to  the  divine  condemnatioo. 

15 


cusation,  especially  as  the  civil  authorities 
were  not  predisposed  to  receive  it.  At  this 
time,  a  political  accusation,  the  crimen 
majestatis,  was  likely  to  be  more  success- 
ful, a  device  that  was  often  employed  in  a 
similar  way,  at  a  later  period,  by  the  ene- 
mies of  the  Christian  faith.  Paul  had 
spoken  much  at  Thessalonica  of  the  ap- 
proaching kingdom  of  Christ,  to  which  be- 
lievers already  belonged  ;  and  by  distorting 
his  expressions,  the  accusation  was  ren- 
dered plausible.  He  instigated  people  (it 
was  averred)  to  acknowledge  one  Jesus  as 
supreme  ruler  instead  of  Ccesar.  But  the 
authorities,  when  they  saw  the  persons  be- 
fore them  who  were  charged  with  being 
implicated  in  the  conspiracy,  could  not 
credit  such  an  accusation  ;  and  after  Jason 
and  his  friends  had  given  security  that 
there  should  be  no  violation  of  the  public 
peace,  and  that  those  persons  who  had 
been  the  alleged  causes  of  this  disturbance 
should  soon  leave  the  city,  they  were  dis- 
missed. 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  Paul 
and  Silas  left  the  city,  after  a  residence  of 
three  or  four  weeks.  As  Paul  eould  not 
remain  there  as  long  as  the  necessities  of 
the  newly  formed  Church  required,  his 
anxiety  was  awakened  on  its  behalf,  since 
he  foresaw  that  it  would  have  to  endure 
much  persecution  from  the  Gentiles  at  the 
instigation  of  the  Jews.  He  had  formed, 
therefore,  the  intention  of  returning  thither 
as  soon  as  the  first  storm  of  the  popular 
fury  had  subsided  ;  1  Thess.  ii.  18.  Possi- 
bly he  left  Timothy  behind,  who  had  not 
been  an  object  of  persecution,  unless  he 
met  him  first  at  Berjea,  after  leaving  Philip- 
pi.  Paul  and  Silas  now  proceeded  to  Bersea, 
a  town  about  ten  miles  distant,  where  they 
met  with  a  better  reception  from  the  Jews ; 
the  gospel  here  found  acceptance  also  with 
the.  Gentiles  ;  but  a  tumult  raised  by  Jews 
from  Thessalonica  forced  Paul  to  leave  the 
place  almost  immediately.  Accompanied 
by  some  believers  from  Bertea,  he  then 
directed  his  course  to  Athens.* 


*  It  is  doubtful  whether  Paul  went  by  land  or 
by  sea  to  Athens,  tlie  Z;  in  Acts  xvii.  14,  may  be 
understood  simply  as  marking  the  direction  of  his 
route.  See  Winer's  Grammalik,  3d  edition,  p.  498. 
[4th  ed.  p.  559.]  Bera3a  lay  near  the  sea,  and  this 
was  the  shortest.  But  the  Zq  may  also  signify, 
that  they  took  at  first  their  course  towards  the  sea, 
in  order  to  mislead  the  Jews  (who  expected  them 
to  come  that  way,  and  were  lying  in  wait  for  Paul 


114 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


[Book  III. 


Though  the  consequences  which  resulted 
from  the  apostle's  labours  at  Athens  were 
at  first  inconsiderable  ;  yet  his  appearance 
in  this  city  (which  in  a  different  sense  from 
Rome  might  be  called  the  metropolis  of  the 
world),  was  in  real  importance  unques- 
tionably one  of  the  most  memorable  signs 
of  the  new  spiritual  creation.  A  herald  of 
that  divine  doctrine  which  fraught  with 
divine  power,  was  destined  to  change  the 
principles  and  practices  of  the  ancient 
world,  Paul  came  to  Athens,  the  parent  of 
Grecian  culture  and  philosophy ;  the  city 
to  which,  as  the  Grecian  element  had  im- 
bued the  cuhure  of  the  West,  the  whole 
Roman  world  was  indebted  for  its  mental 
advancement,  which  also  was  the  central 
point  of  the  Grecian  religion,  where  an  en- 
thusiastic attachment  to  all  that  belonged 
to  ancient  Hellas,  not  excepting  its  idolatry, 
retained  a  firm  hold  till  the  fourth  century. 
Zeal  for  the  honour  of  the  gods,  each  one 
of  whom  had  here  his  temple  and  his 
altars,  and  was  celebrated  by  the  master- 
pieces of  art,  rcndered  Athens  famous 
throughout  the  civilized  world.*  It  was  at 
first  Paul's  intention  to  wait  for  the  arrival 
of  Silas  and  Timothy  before  he  entered  on 
the  publication  of  the  gospel,  as  by  his 
companions  who  had  returned  to  Bersea,  he 
had  sent  word  for  them  to  follow  him  as 
soon  as  possible.  But  when  he  saw  him- 
self surrounded  by  the  statues,  and  altars, 
and  temples  of  the  gods,  and  works  of  art, 
by  which  the  honour  due  to  the  living  God 
alone  was  transferred  to  creatures  of  the 
imagination — he  could  not  withstand  the 
impulse  of  holy  zeal,  to  testify  of  Him 
who  called  erring  men  to  repentance  and 
offered  them  salvation.  He  spoke  in  the 
synagogue  to  the  Jews  and  Proselytes,  but 


in  the  neig^hbourhood  of  the  port),  and  afterwards 
pursued  tfieir  journey  by  land.  So  we  find  on 
another  occasinn,  when  Paul  was  about  to  sail 
from  Corinth  to  Asia  Minor,  he  found  himself  in 
danger  from  the  plots  of  the  Jews,  and  preferred 
going  by  land;  Acts  xx.  3.  The  first  interpreta- 
tion appears  to  be  the  simplest  and  most  favoured 
by  the  phraseology.  The  ia>;  adopted  by  Lach- 
mann  [and  Tischendorff.  Lips.  1S41]  appears  to 
have  arisen  from  a  gloss. 

*  Apollonius  of  Tyana  (in  Philostratus)  calls 
the  Athenians  (^lAo^urai.  Pausanias  ascribes  to 
them  (Attic,  i.  17),  to  lU  S-jiuc  evtre^s/i'  ax^av  ttkcv  ; 
and  (c.  24),  tc  Tre^/rs-cTf^iv  Tiic  sic  ts  B-ilu  <rrcuSy,c. 
In  the  religious  system  of  the  Athenians,  there 
was  a  peculiar  refinement  of  moral  sentiment,  for 
they  alone  among  the  Greeks  erected  an  altar  to 
Pity,  ihtot,  as  a  divinity. 


did  not  wait  as  in  other  cities  till  a  way 
was  opened  by  their  means  for  publishing 
the  gospel  to  the  heathen.  From  ancient 
times  it  was  customary  at  Athens  for  peo- 
ple to  meet  together  under  covered  porti- 
coes in  public  places,  to  converse  with  one 
another  on  matters  of  all  kinds,  trifling  or 
important ;  and  then,  as  in  the  time  of  De- 
mosthenes, groups  of  persons  might  be 
met  with  in  the  market,  collected  together 
merely  to  hear  of  something  new.*'  Ac- 
cordingly, Paul  made  it  his  business  to  en- 
ter into  conversation  with  the  passers-by, 
in  hopes  of  turning  their  attention  to  the 
most  important  cf)ncern  of  man.  The  sen- 
timents with  which  he  was  inspired  had 
nothing  in  common  with  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  fanatic,  who  is  unable  to  transport 
himself  from  his  own  peculiar  state  of  feel- 
ing to  the  standing-point  of  others,  in  order 
to  make  himself  acquainted  with  the  ob- 
stacles that  oppose  their  reception  of  what 
he  holds  as  truth  with  absolute  certainty. 
Paul  knew,  indeed,  as  he  himself  says,  that 
the  preaching  of  the  crucified  Saviour  must 
appear  to  the  wise  men  of  the  world  as 
foolishness,  until  they  became  fools,  that 
is,  until  they  were  convinced  of  the  insuffi- 
ciency of  their  wisdom  in  reference  to  the 
knowledge  of  divine  things,  and  for  the 
satisfaction  of  their  religious  wants;  1  Cor. 
i.  23;  iii.  18.  But  he  was  not  ashamed, 
as  he  also  affirms,  to  testify  to  the  wise  and 
to  the  unwise,  to  the  Greeks  and  to  the 
barbarians,  of  what  he  knew  from  his  own 
experience  to  be  the  power  of  God  to  save 
those  that  believe  ;  Rom.  i.  16.  The  mar- 
ket to  which  he  resoiled  vvas  near  a  por- 
tico of  the  philosophers.  Here  he  met  with 
philosophers  of  the  Epicurean  and  Stoic 
schools.  If  we  reflect  upon  the  relative 
position  of  the  Stoics  to  the  Epicureans, 
that  the  former  acknowledged  something 
divine  as  the  animating  principle  in  the 
universe  and  in  human  nature,  that  they 
were  inspired  with  an  ideal  model  founded 
in  the  moral  nature  of  man,  and  that  they 
recognised  man's  religious  wants  and  the 
traditions  that  bore  testimony  to  it ; — while 
on  the  other  hand,  the  latter,  though  they 
did  not  absolutely  do  away  with  the  belief 
in  the  gods,  reduced  it  to  something  inert, 

*  As  Demosthenes  reproaches  them  in  his  era- 
tion  against  the  epistle  of  Philip  ;  >\ixiH  it  ohJ'iv  voi- 

d^^cgav,  li  T/  hiytTa.1  v«»T«goy ;  Acts  xvii.  21. 


Chap.  VI.] 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


115 


non-essential^  and  superfluous ;,  that  they 
represented  pleasure  as  the  highest  aim  of 
human  pursuit,  and  that  they  were  accus- 
tomed to  ridicule  the  existing  religions  as 
the  offspring  of  human  weakness  and  the 
spectral  creations  of  fear  ; — we  might  from 
such  a  contrast  infer  that  the  Stoics  made 
a  much  nearer  approach  to  Christianity 
than  the  Epicureans.  But  it  does  not  fol- 
low that  the  former  would  give  a  more 
favourable  reception  to  the  gospel  than  the 
latter,  for  their  vain  notion  of  moral  self- 
sufficiency  was  diametrically  opposed  to  a 
doctrine  which  inculcated  repentance,  for- 
giveness of  sins,  grace  and  justification  by 
faith.  This  supreme  God- — the  impersonal 
eternal  reason  pervading  the  universe — was 
something  very  different  from  the  living 
God,  the  heavenly  Father  full  of  love  whom 
the  gospel  reveals,  and  who  must  have  ap- 
peared to  the  Stoics  as  far  too  human  a 
being;  and  both  parties  agreed  in  the 
Grecian  pride  of  philosophy,  which  would 
look  down  on  a  doctrine  appearing  in  a 
Jewish  garb,  and  not  developed  in  a  philoso- 
phic form,  as  a  mere  outlandish  supersti- 
tion. Yet  many  among  those  who  gathered 
round  the  apostle  during  his  conversations, 
were  at  least  pleased  to  hear  something 
new ;  and  their  curiosity  was  excited  to 
hear  of  the  strange  divinity  whom  he  wished 
to  introduce,  and  to  be  informed  respecting 
his  new  doctrine.  They  took  him  to  the 
hill,  where  the  first  tribunal  at  Athens,  the 
Areopagus,  was  accustomed  to  hold  its  sit- 
tings, and  where  he  could  easily  find  a 
spot  suited  to  a  large  audience.*  The  dis- 
course of  Paul  on  this  occasion  is  an  ad- 
mirable specimen  of  his  apostolic  wisdom 
and  eloquence :  we  here  perceive  how  the 
apostle  (to  use  his  own  language)  to  the 
heathens,  became  a  heathen  that  he  might 
gain  the  heathens  to  Christianity. 

Inspired  by  feelings  that  were  implanted 
from  his  youth  in  the  mind  of  a  pious 
Jew,  and  glowing  with  zeal  for  the  honour 
of  his  God,  Paul  must  have  been  horror- 
struck  at  the  spectacle  of  the  idolatry  that 
met  him  wherever  he  turned  his  eyes.  He 
might  easily  have  been   betrayed  by  his 


feelings  into  intemperate  language.  And 
it  evinced  no  ordinary  self-denial  and  self- 
command,  that  instead  of  beginning  with, 
expressions  of  detestation,  instead  of  repre- 
senting the  whole  religious  system  of  the 
Greeks  as  a  Satanic  delusion,  he  appealed 
to  the  truth  which  lay  at  its  basis,  while  he 
sought  to  awaken  in  his  hearers  the  con- 
sciousness of  God  which  was  oppressed, 
by  the  power  of  sin,  and  thus  aimed  at 
leading  them  to  the  knowledge  of  that  Sa- 
viour whom  he  came  to  announce.  As 
among  the  Jews,  in  whom  the  knowledge 
of  God  formed  by  divine  revelation  led  to 
a  clear  and  pure  developement  of  the  idea 
of  the  Messiah,  he  could  appeal  to  the 
national  histoiy,  the  law  and  the  prophets, 
as  witnesses  of  Christ ;  so  here  he  ap- 
pealed to  the  undeniable  anxiety  of  natural 
religion  after  an  unknown  God.  He  began 
with  acknowledging  in  the  religious  zeal 
of  the  Athenians  a  true  religious  feeling, 
though  erroneously  directed,  an  undeniable 
tending  of  the  mind  towards  something 
divine.*     He    begins   with  acknowledgintj 


*  The  whole  course  of  the  proceedings  and  the 
apostle's  discourse  prove  that  he  did  not  appear  as 
an  accused  person  before  his  judges,  in  order  to 
defend  himself  against  the  charge  of  introducing 
religiones  peregrinca  et  illicilcB.  The  Athenians 
did  not  view  the  subject  in  so  serious  a  light. 


*  Much  depends  on  the  meaning  attached  to  the 
ambiguous  word  ht<riS'j.t/um,  Acts  xvii.  22.  The 
original  signification  of  this  word,  in  popular 
usage,  certainly  denoted  something  good^^as  is 
the  case  in  all  language  with  words  which  denote 
the  fear  of  God  or  of  the  gods — the  feeling  of  de- 
pendence on  a  higher  power,  which,  if  we  analyze 
the  religious  sentiment,  appears  to  be  it?  prime 
element;  although  not  exhausting  every  thing 
which  belongs  to  ihe  essential  nature  of  theism, 
and  although  this  first  germ,  without  the  addition 
of  another  element,  may  give  rise  to  superstition 
as  well  as  faith.  Now  since,  where  the  ieeling  of 
fear  (cTsmw  tt^oc  to  Su.i/movM,  Theophrast.)  is  the 
ruling  principle  in  the  conscience,  superstition 
alone  can  be  the  result,  it  has  happened  that  this 
word  has  been,  by  an  abuse  of  the  term,  applied 
to  that  perversion  of  religious  sentiment.  This 
phraseology  was  then  prevalent.  Thus  Plutarch 
uses  the  word  in  his  admirable  treatise  ■n-i^i  Jii<;-t- 
J^ifAoviuc  Kui  aSeoTHTOf,  in  which  he  proceeds  on 
I  he  sup])osition,  that  the  source  of  superstition  is 
that. mode  of  thinking  which  contemplates  the 
gods  only  as  objects  of  fear;  but  lie  errs  in  this 
point,  that  he  traces  the  origin  of  this  morbid  ten- 
dency to  a  wrong  direction  of  the  intellectual 
faculties.  Compare  the  profound  remarks  of 
Nitzsch,  in  his  treatise  on  the  religious  ideas  of 
the  ancients.  The  word  Su^iS'^iuovta.  occurs  in 
the  New  Testament  only  in  one  other  passage. 
Acts  XXV.  19,  where  the  Roman  procurator  Fes- 
lus,  speaking  to  the  Jewish  King  Agrippa  of 
Judaism,  could  not  intend  to  brand  it  as  supersti- 
tion, but  rather  used  the  word  as  a  general  desig- 
nation for  a  foreign  religion.  He  miglit,  however, 
choose  this  word,  although  not  with  a  special  de- 
sign, yel  not  quite  accidentally,  as  one  which  was 
suited  to  express  the  subjective  view  taken  by  the 


116 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


[Book  III. 


in  a  laudatory  manner  the  strength  of  the 
religious  sentiment  among  the  Athenians,* 
and  adducing  as  a  proof  of  it,  that  while 
walkiiig  amongst  their  sacred  edifices,  he 
lighted  on  an  altar  dedicated  to  an  un- 
known God.f 

Romans  of  Judaism.  But  Paul  certainly  used  the 
word  in  a  good  sense,  for  he  deduced  the  seeking 
after  the  unknown  God,  which  he  doubtless  con- 
sidered as  something  good,  from  this  iinriSaiixoyta, 
so  prevalent  among  the  Athenians.  He  announced 
himself  as  one  who  would  guide  their  Sn^i^AtfAoviA, 
not  rightly  conscious  of  its  object  and  aim,  to  a 
state  of  clear  self-consciousness  by  a  revelation  of 
the  object  to  which  it  thus  ignorantly  tended. 
Still  it  may  be  asked,  whether  Paul  had  not  still 
stronger  reasons  (though  without  perhaps  reflect- 
ing deeply  upon  them)  for  using  the  word  SnatSo^t- 
y.oviA,  instead  of  another  which  he  was  accustomed 
to  use  as  the  designation  of  pure  piety.  He  uses 
the  term  iva-i^w  immediately  afterwards,  where  it 
plainly  indicates  the  e.xercise  of  the  religious  sen- 
timent towards  the  true  God. 

*  In  the  comparative  Sn^iiditfAovia-Tigov;,  a  refe- 
rence is  made  to  the  quality  which,  as  we  have 
before  remarked,  used  to  be  attributed  to  the 
Athenians  in  a  higher  degree  than  to  all  the 
other  Greeks, — a  fact  which  the  apostle  would 
easily  have  learned. 

t  If  we  examine  with  care  all  the  accounts  of 
antiquity,  and  compare  the  various  phases  of  po- 
lytheism, we  shall  find  no  sufficient  ground  to 
deny  the  existence  of  such  an  altar  as  is  here 
mentioned  by  Paul.  The  inscription,  as  he  cites 
it,  and  which  proves  his  fidelity  in  the  citation,  by 
no  means  asserts  that  it  was  an  altar  to  the  Un- 
known God,  but  only  an  altar  dedicated  to  an  un- 
known God.  Jerome,  it  is  true,  in  the  first  chap- 
ter of  his  Commentary  on  the  Epistle  of  Paul  to 
Titus,  and  in  his  Epistola  ad  Magnum,  thus  cites 
the  inscription  of  the  altar — Diis  Asia  el  Europm 
et  Libya,  Diis  ignofis  et  peregiinis ;  and  he  thinks 
that  Paul  modified  the  form  of  the  inscription  to 
suit  his  application  of  it.  But  Jerome,  perhaps 
here  as  in  other  instances,  judged  too  superfi- 
cially. Several  ancient  writers  mention  the  altars 
of  the  unknown  gods  at  Athens,  but  in  a  manner 
that  docs  not  determine  the  form  of  the  inscrip- 
tion. For  example;  Pausanias,  Altic.  L  4,  and 
Eliac.  v.  14,  /2a)//o<  ^eZv  ovtifAa^ojuivaiv  Cyvaio-Tctv ; 
Apollonius  of  Tyana,  in  Philostratus,  vi.  3,  where, 
like  Paul,  he  finds,  in  the  style  of  the  inscription, 
an  evidence  of  the  pious  disposition  of  the  Athe- 
nians in  reference  to  divine  things,  tliat  they  had 
erected  altars  even  to  unknown  gods  ;  a-mppons-Ti- 
gov  TO  TTi^t  TravTav  ^iZv  (u  Mynv,  «a/  tclvto.  h^yna-iv, 
o'j  K^i  a^vDtTTaiv  SdLifjiovm  ^mfjiot  iS'gvx.To.l.  Isodorus 
of  Pelusium,  vi,  69,  cannot  be  adduced  as  an  au- 
thority, since  he  rnercly  speaks  of  conjectures. 
Diogenes  Laertiu?,  in  the  Life  of  Epimenedes  III., 
thiit,  in  the  time  of  a  plague,  when  they  knew  not 
what  God  to  propitiate  in  order  to  avert  it,  that  he 
caused  black  and  white  sheep  to  be  let  loose  from 
tlic  Areopagus,  and  wherever  they  laid  down. to  be 
offered  to  the  respective  divinities  (t»  w-goo-jjKovT/ 
3-6»).  Hence,  says  Diogenes,  there  are  still  many 
altars  in  Athens  without  any  determinate  names. 


The  inscription  certainly  as  understood 
by  those  who  framed  it,  by  no  means 
proved  that  they  were  animated  with  the 
conception  of  an  unknown  God  exalted 
above  all  other  Gods ;  but  only  that  ac- 
cording to  their  belief  they  had  received 
good  or  evil  from  some  unknown  God,  and 
this  uncertainty  in  reference  to  the  com- 
pleteness of  their  worship,  enters  into  the 
very  essence  of  Polytheism,  since,  accord- 
ing to  its  nature,  it  includes  an  infinity  of 
objects.  But  Paul  cited  this  inscription,  in 
order  to  attach  a  deeper  meaning  to  it,  and 
to  make  it  a  point  of  connexion,  for  the 
purpose  of  pointing  out  a  higher  but  indis- 
tinct sentiment,  lying  at  the  root  of  Poly- 
theism. Polytheism  proceeds  from  the 
feeling  of  dependence — (whether  founded 
on  a  sense  of  benefits  conferred  or  of  evils 
inflicted) — on  a  higher  unknov/n  power,  to 
which  it  is  needful  that  man  should  place 
himself  in  the  right  relation ;  but  instead 
of  following  this  feeling,  in  order  by  means 
of  that  in  human  nature,  which  is  super- 
natural and  bears  an  affinity  to  God,  to 
rise  to  a  consciousness  of  a  God  exalted 
above  nature,  he  refers  it  only  to  the 
powers  of  nature  operating  upon  him 
through  the  .senses.  That  by  which  his 
religious  feeling  is  immediately  attracted, 
and  to  which  it  refers  itself,  without  the  re- 
flective consciousness  of  man  making  it  a 
distinct  object,  is  one  thing  ;  but  that  which 
the  mind  enthralled  in  the  circle  of  nature 
— doing  homage  to  the  power  over  which 
it  ought  to  rule — converts  with  reflective 
consciousness  into  an  object  of  worship, 
is  another  thing.  Hence  Paul  views  the 
whole  religion  of  the  Athenians  as  the 
worship  of  a  God  unknown  to  themselves, 
and  presents  himself  as  a  person  who  is 
ready  to  lead  them  to  a  clear  self-con- 
sciousness respecting  the  object  of  their 
deeply  felt  religious  sentiment. 

"  I  announce  to  you  Him,"  said  he, 
"  whom  ye  worship,  without  knowing  it.* 


Although  the  precise  inscriptions  is  not  here  given, 
yet  altars  might  be  erected  on  this  or  a  similar 
occasion  which  were  dedicated  to  an  unknown  | 
god,  since  they  knew  not  what  god  was  offended 
and  required  to  be  propitiated,  as  Chrysostom  has 
also  remarked  in  his  30th  homily  on  the  Acts. 

*  We  see  from  this  how  Paul  psychologically 
explains  t!ie  origin  of  polytheism,  or  the  deifica- 
tion of  Nature;  how  far  he  was  from  adopting  the 
Jewish  notion  of  a  supernatural  magical  origina- 
tion of  idolatry  by  means  of  evil  spirits,  who  sought 


Chap.  VI.] 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


117 


He  is  the  God  who  created  the  world  and 
all  that  is  therein.  He,  the  Lord  of  hea- 
ven and  earth,  dwelleth  not  in  temples 
made  by  human  hands,  he  requires  no 
human  service  on  his  own  account — he, 
the  all-sufficient  one,  has  given  to  all,  life, 
and  breath,  and  all  things.  He  also  is  the 
originator  of  the  whole  human  race,  and 
conducts  its  developement  to  one  great  end. 
He  has  caused  all  the  nations  of  the  earth 
to  descend  from  one  man,*  and  has  not 
allowed  them  to  spread  by  chance  over 
the  globe ;  for,  in  this  respect,  every  thing 
is  under  his  control,  he  has  appointed  to 
each  people  its  dwelling-place,  and  has  or- 
dained the  various  eras  in  the  history  of 
nations — their  developement  in  space  and 
time  is  fixed  by  his  all-governing  wisdom. f 
Thus  God  has  revealed  himself  in  the 
vicissitudes  of  nations,  in  order  that  men 
may  be  induced  to  seek  after  him — to  try 
whether  they  could  know  and  find   him ; 


to  become  the  objects  of  religious  homage.  The 
idea  contained  in  these  words  of  Paul  forms  also 
the  groundwork  of  his  discourse  at  Lystra.  We 
may  also  find  a  reference  to  it  in  what  he  says, 
Rom.  i.  19,  of  an  original  knowledge  of  God,  sup- 
pressed by  the  predominance  of  immoral  propen- 
sities;  and  Rom.  i.  21,  25,  that  idolatry  begins 
when  religious  sentiment  cleaves  lo  the  creature, 
instead  of  rising  above  nature  to  the  Creator.  On 
the  first  passage,  see  Tholuck's,  and  on  the  second 
Ruckert's,  excellent  remarks. 

*  This  also  is  probably  connected  with  what  he 
says  in  opposition  to  polytheistic  views.  On  the 
polytheistic  standing-point,  a  knowledge  of  the 
unity  of  human  nature  is  wanting,  because  it  is 
closely  connected  with  a  knowledge  of  the  unity 
of  God.  Polytheism  prefers  the  idea  of  distinct 
races  over  whom  their  respective  gods  preside,  to 
the  idea  of  one  race  proceeding  from  one  origin. 
As  the  idea  of  one  God  is  divided  into  a  multi- 
plicity  of  gods,  so  the  idea  of  one  human  race  is 
divided  into  the  multiplicity  of  national  character, 
over  each  of  which  a  god  is  supposed  to  preside, 
corresponding  to  the  particular  nation.  On  the 
other  himd,  the  idea  of  one  human  race,  and  their 
descent  from  one  man,  is  connected  with  the  idea 
of  one  God.  Thus  Paul  sets  the  unity  of  the  the- 
istic  conceptions  in  contrast  with  the  multiplicity 
existing  in  the  deification  of  nature.  The  Empe- 
ror  Julian  observed  this  contrast  between  the  poly- 
theistic and  monotheistic  anthropology  and  anthro- 
pogony.  See  Julian,  Fragmentum  cd.  Spanheim, 
t.  i.  2')5.     TT-xyrcf^iyJ  aS-goaiii  vsuj-avTav  S-sIv,  ol  TrKnovi 

■Sevtsc. 

t  A  peculiar  relation  of  the  parts  of  the  earth 
inhabited  by  the  several  nations  to  their  peculiar 
character,  as  this  is  formed  by  native  tendencies 
and  moral  freedom ;  the  secret  connexion  between 
nature  and  mankind  ordained  by  God,  and  ground- 
ed in  a  higher  law  of  spiritual  developement. 


and  they  might  easily  know  him,  since  he 
is  not  far  fVom  any  one  of  us,  for  in  him 
our  whole  e.xistence  has  its  root."*  As  an 
evidence  of  the  consciousness  of  this  origi- 
nal relationship  to  God,  he  quotes  the 
words  of  a  heathen,  one  of  themselves,  the 
poet  Aratus,  who  came  from  the  native 
country  of  the  apostle.  "  For  we  are  the 
offspring  of  God."t  After  this  appeal  to 
the  universal  higher  self-consciousness,  he 
goes  on  to  say ;  since  we  are  the  ofl'spring 
of  God,  we  ought  not  to  believe  that  the 
divinity  is  like  any  earthly  material,  or 
any  image  of  human  art.  This  negative 
assertion  manifestly  includes  a  positive 
one ;  we  must  strive  to  rise  to  the  divinity 
by  means  of  that  within  us  which  is  rela- 
ted   to  him.     Instead  of  carrying  on  the 


*  The  apostle's  words  are — "sv  airai  ^Z/u(v  kcli 
KivoufAiB-a.  KdLt  i^fAiv."  Many  expositors  have  so 
explained  these  words,  as  if  they  were  intended 
to  denote  the  continual  dependence  of  existence 
on  God,  as  the  preserver  of  all  things  ;  and  except- 
ing that  iv  is  taken  in  a  Hebraistic  sense  =:  tlirough, 
we  might  so  understand  the  words  in  the  pure 
Greek  idiom,  for  iiyj-i  h  t;v*  may  signify  to  depend 
wholly  on  some  one,  as  b  aoi  yn.^  i^/uiv,  in  the  OEdi- 
pus  Tyrannus,  of  Sophocles,  v.  314.  But  this  ex- 
planation does  not  suit  the  connexion  of  the  pas- 
sage ;  for  Paul  evidently  is  speaking  here,  not  of 
what  men  have  in  common  with  other  creatures, 
but  of  what  distinguishes  men  from  other  crea- 
tures, that  by  which  they  are  especially  related  to 
God;  for  as  an  evidence  of  this,  "  in  him  we  live, 
and  move,  and  are,"  he  quotes  the  words  of  Ara- 
tus. which  refer  precisely  to  this  relation  of  man 
to  God.  Hence,  in  order  to  find  the  connexion  ac- 
cording to  this  explanation,  we  must  amplify  the 
thought  too  artificially ;  thus,  "  We  are  distin- 
guished above  all  other  creatures  in  our  capacity 
for  knowing  this  dependence  on  God."  On  the 
other  hand,  every  thing  is  connected  in  the  most 
natural  manner,  if  we  consider  these  words,  "in 
him  we  live,  move,  and  are,"  as  pointing  out  the 
secret  connexion  of  men  witii  God  as  "  the  Father 
of  Spirits,"  in  virtue  of  their  spiritual  and  moral 
nature.  As  Paul  says  nothing  here  which  is  pe- 
culiar to  the  Christian  system,  but  expresses  a  fact 
grounded  on  the  general  principles  of  tlieism,  we 
may  with  great  propriety  compare  it  with  a  per- 
fectly analogous  expression  of  Deo  Chysoslom, 
which  serves  to  confirm  this  explanation.  He  says 
of  men — "ots  ob  ^aicgav  siJ"  i'i,a>  tou  ^iiou  imnta- 

fJ.iVl,t,  aKK"  h  ctUT^  (MiTOb  7ri:pUK0'r!i   iKllVO) ,  TTAV- 

r:ip(_o^iV  iy.7rt7rKa.ij.ivot  tSc  ^il'M  pu7icei;." — De   Dei 
Cognilione,  vol.  i.  ed.  Reiske,  p.  384. 

t  These  words  are  quoted  frotn  the  ipcitvo/uivoii  of 
Aratus,  v.  5,  but  they  are  also  to  be  found  in  the 
beautiful  hymn  of  the  stoic  Cleanthus,  where  they 
are  used  as  an  expression  of  Reason,  as  a  mark  of 
this  divine  relationship:  "  «k  irou  yj^  ^-svoc  ia-yev 
l)i(  juijuii/ua.  K-j-^ovTi;  ^ouvo/,"  A  similar  sentiment 
occurs  in  the  golden  verses  :  "  S-sTsv  ya^  yivo;  iart 
^^oTola-tv.^'' 


118 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


[Book  III. 


argument  against  idolatry,  the  apostle 
leaves  his  hearers  to  decide  for  themselves 
— and  presupposing  the  consciousness  of 
sin — wiihout  attempting  to  develope  it — he 
proceeds  with  the  annunciation  of  the  gos- 
pel. After  God  had  with  great  long-suf- 
fering endured  the  times  of  ignorance,*" 
he  now  revealed  the  truth  to  all  men,  and 
required  all  to  acknowledge  it  and  to 
repent.  With  this  was  connected  the 
annunciation  of  the  Redeemer,  of  the  for- 
giveness of  sins  to  be  obtained  through 
him,  of  his  resurrection  as  the  confirma- 
tion o'f  his  doctrine,  and  a  pledge  of  the 
resurrection  of  believers  to  a  blessed  life, 
as  well  as  of  the  judgment  to  be  passed 
by  him  on  mankind. |  As  long  as  the 
apostle  confined  himself  to  the  general 
doctrine  of  Theism,  he  was  heard  with 
attention  by  those  who  had  been  used  to 
the  lessons  of  Grecian  philosophy.  But 
when  he  touched  upon  that  doctrine  which 
most  decidedly  marked  the  opposition  of 
the  Christian  view  of  the  world  to  that  en- 
tertained by  the  heathens,:}:  when  he  spoke 
of  a  general  resurrection,  he  was  inter- 
rupted with  ridicule  on  the  part  of  some  of 
l)is  hearers.  Others  said,  we  would  hear 
thee  speak  at  another  time  on  this  matter  ; 
whether  they  only  intended  to  hint  in  a 
courteous  manner  to  the  apostle  that  they 
wished  him  to  close  his  address,  or  really 
expressed  a  serious  intention  of  hearing 
him  again. §     There  were  only  a  Cew  indi- 


*  Paul  here  gives  us  to  understand,  that  not 
merely  negative  unbelief  in  reference  to  truth  not 
known,  but  only  criminal  unbelief  of  the  gospel 
offered  to  men,  would  be  an  object  of  the  divine 
judgment.  This  agrees  with  what  he  says  in  the 
first  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  that 
HeatI.ens  as  well  as  Jews  would  be  judged  ac- 
cording to  ihc  measure  of  the  law  known  to  thenn  ; 
and    uith   what  he  says  in  Rom.  iii.  25,  of  the 

t  It  is  very  evident  from  the  form  of  the  expres- 
sions in  Acts  xyii.  31,  as  well  as  from  verse  3i2, 
wfiere  I  he  mention  of  the  general  resurrection  in 
Paul's  speech  is  implied,  that,  in  the  Acts,  wc 
have  only  the  substance  given  of  what  he  said. 

t  This  is  expressed  in^the  words  of  the  heathen 
Octavius,  in  Minucius  Felix,  c.  xi. :  Cffilo  et  astris, 
f|Ufc  sic  relinquimus  ut  invenimus,  interitum  de- 
nunti.iire,  sibi  mortuis,  cxstinctis,  qui  siciit  nns- 
cimur  ct  intcrimus,  ae'ernitatem  reproinittcre. 
The  doctrine  of  the  Stoics,  of  an  avutr^uxcaxric, 
the  regeneration  of  the  universe  in  a  new  form' 
after  its  deslruclion,  has  no  affinity  to  the  doc- 
trme  of  the  resurrection,  but  is  strictly  in  accord- 
ance with  the  pantheistical  views  of  the  Stoics. 

6  From  the  silence  of  the  Acts,  we  are  not  to 


viduals  who  joined  themselves  to  the  apos- 
tle, listened  to  his  further  instructions,  and 
became  believers.  Among  these  was  a 
member  of  the  Areopagite  council,  Dio- 
nysius  ;  who  became  the  subject  of  so 
many  legends.  The  only  authentic  tra- 
dition respecting  him  appears  to  be,  that 
he  was  the  principal  instrument  of  forming 
a  church  at  Athens,  and  became  its  over- 
seer.* 

While    Paul   was   at   Athens,   Timothy 
returned  from  Macedonia"!"  but  the  anxiety 


itifer  with  certainty  that  Paul  never  addressed 
these  persons  again. 

*  See  the  account  of  the  Bishop  Dinnysins  of 
Corinth  in  Eusebius,  in  his  Eccles.  Hist.  iv.  23. 

t  On  this  point  there  is  much  uncertainty.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Acts,  Silas  and  Timothy  first  re- 
joined Paul  at  Corinth.  But  I  Thess.  iii.  1  seems 
to  imply  the  contrary.  This  passage  may  indeed 
be  thus  understood, — that  Paul  sent  Timothy, 
before  his  departure  for  Athens,  to  the  church  in 
Thessalonica,  although  he  knew  that  he  should 
now  be  left  in  Athens  without  any  companions, 
for  he  wished  to  leave  Silas  in  Berosa.  If  he  came 
from  Bercea  alone,  he  would  rather  have  said, 
(^X^7d-3i  ik  'A-S-xvac  fjtovoi.  But  this  he  could  not 
say,  since  he  did  not  depart  to  Athens  alone,  but 
with  other  companions.  Still  the  m.ost  natural 
interpretation  of  the  passage  is,  that  Paul,  in 
order  to  obtain  informatiin  respecting  the  Thessa- 
lonians,  preferred  being  left  alone  in  Athens,  and 
sent  Timotliy  from  that  city.  Also,  in  the  Acts, 
xvii.  16,  it  is  implied  that  he  waited  at  Athens  for 
the  return  of  Silas  and  Timothy  ;  for  though  the 
words  iv  Ta7c  'A9-»vaK  may  be  referred,  not  to  ixS'i- 
;)(^o,uiviv,  but  to  the  whole  clause,  still  we  cannot 
understand  the  passage  otherwise.  If  wc  had 
merely  the  account  in  the  Acts,  we  should  be  led 
to  the  conclusion,  by  a  comparison  of  the  xvii.  16, 
and  xviii.  5,  that  Silas  and  Timothy  were  pre- 
vented  from  meeting  with  Paul  at  Athens,  and 
they  first  found  him  again  in  Corinth,  as  he  had 
given  them  notice  that  he  intended  to  go  thither 
from  Athens.  But  by  comparing  it  with  what 
Paul  himself  says,  1  Thess.  iii.  1,  we  must  cither 
rectify  or  fill  up  the  account  in  the  Acts.  We 
learn  from  it  that  Timothy  at  least  met  with  Paul 
at  Athens,  but  that  he  ihought  it  necessary  to 
send  him  from  thence  to  Thessalonica,  and  tiiat 
he  did  not  wait  for  his  return  from  that  city  to 
Athens,  which  may  be  easily  explained.  But 
Luke,  perhaps,  had  not  so  accurate  a  knowledge 
of  all  the  particulars  in  this  period  of  Paul's  his- 
tory ;  he  had  perhaps  learned  only  that  Paul  met 
again  at  Corinth  with  Timothy  and  Silas,  and 
hence  he  infern  d,  as  he  knew  nothing  of  the  send- 
ing away  of  Timothy  in  the  mean  time  from 
Athens  to  Thessalonica,  that  Paul,  after  he  had 
parted  from  his  two  companions  at  Bercea,  re- 
joined them  first  at  Corinth.  As  to  Silas,  it  is 
possible  that,  on  account  of  the  information  he 
brought  with  him,  he  was  sent  back  by  Paul  with 
a  special  commission  from  Athens  to  Beicea,  or, 
what  is  more  probable,  that  he  had  occasion  to 
stay  longer  than  Timothy  at  Beroea,  and  hence 


Chap.  VI.] 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


119 


of  Paul  for  the  new  church  at  Thessalonica, 
induced  him  to  send  his  young  fellow-la- 
bourer thither,  that  he  might  contribute  to 
the  e.stablishment  of  their  faith  and  their 
consolation  under  their  manifold  sufferings; 
for  Timothy  iiad  communicated  to  him 
many  distressing  accounts  of  the  persecu- 
tions which  had  befallen  this  church. 

He  travelled  alone  from  Athens,  and 
now  visited  a  place  most  important  for  the 
propagation  of  the  gospel,  -the  city  of  Co- 
rinth, the  metropolis  of  the  province  of 
Achaia.  This  city,  within  a  centuary  and 
a  half  after  its  destruction  by  Julius  Caesar, 
once  more  became  the  centre  of  intercourse 
and  traffic  to  the  eastern  and  western  parts 
of  the  Roman   Empire,  for  which   it  was 


could  not  meet  him  at  Athens.  It  might  also  be  the 
case  that  Luke  erroneously  concluded, — since  Silas 
and  Timotliy  both  first  met  Paul  again  at  Corinth 
that  he  left  boih  at  Beroea, — it  wuuld  be  possible 
that  he  left  only  Silas  behind  and  brought  Timothy 
with  himself  to  Athens.  It  favours,  tiough  it 
does  not  establish  this  opinion,  that  Paul,  in  1 
Thess.  iii.  1,  alleges  as  the  reason  for  sending 
away  Timothy,  not  the  unpleasant  news  broui^ht 
by  'I'imothy  from  Macedonia,  but  the  hindrances 
intervening,  which  rendered  it  impossible  for  liim 
to  visit  the  church  in  Thess. ilouica  according  to 
his  inteniion.  Schncckenburuer,  in  his  learned 
essay  on  the  date  of  the  Epistles  to  tlie  Tiiessa- 
lonians  (in  the  Sludien  der  Evnigdischcn  Geist- 
lichkeil  Wurtumburg,  vol.  vii.  part  1, 18.'M,  p.  139), 
(with  which  in  many  points  I  am  happy  to  agree), 
maintains  that  Paul  might  h  ive  charged  his  two 
companions  to  follow  him  quickly  from  Bercei, 
because  he  intended  soon  to  leave  Athens,  where 
he  expected  no  suitable  soil  for  his  missionary  la- 
bours. But  we  have  no  sufficient  reason  for  sup- 
posing this.  Paul  found  at  Atliens  a  synagogue 
for  the  first  scene  of  his  ministry  as  in  otlier  cities ; 
he  felt  himself  compelled,  as  he  says,  to  publish 
the  gospsl  to  Greeks  and  to  Barbarians  ;  he  knew 
it  was  the  power  of  God,  which  would  conquer  the 
philosophical  blindness  of  the  Greeks  as  well  as  I 
the  ceremonial  blindness  of  the  Jews,  though  he 
well  knew  thit  on  both  sides  the  obstacles  were 
great.  At  all  events,  by  some  not  improbable 
combinations,  tlie  narrative  in  the  Acts  and  the 
expressions  of  Paul  may  easily  be  reconciled,  and 
we  are  not  theref)re  justified  with  Schrader  in 
referring  the  passage  in  1  Thess.  iii.  \,  to  a  later 
residence  of  Paul  at  Athens.  Ail  the  circum- 
stances mentioned  seem  be>t  to  aoree  with  the 
period  of  his  first  visit.  Paul  having  been  obliged, 
contrary  to  his  intention,  to  leave  Thessalonica 
early,  wished  on  several  occ  isions  to  have  revisited 
it;  his  anxiety  for  the  new  church  there  was  so! 
great,  and  in  his  tender  concern  for  it,  he  showed 
the  great  sacrifice  he  was  ready  to  make  for  it, 
by  saying  that  he  was  willing  to  remain  alone  at 
Athens.  In  later  times,  when  there  was  a  sm  ill 
Christian  church  at  Athens,  this  would  not  have 
been  so  great  a  sacrifice. 


fitted  by  its  natural  advantages,  namely, 
by  its  two  noted  ports,  that  of  Ksyx_^su.i  to- 
wards Lesser  Asia,  and  that  of  Aj^a'ov 
towards  Italy.  Being  thus  situated,  Corinth 
became  an  iinportant  position  for  spreading 
the  gospel  in  a  great  p^rt  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  and  hence  Paul  chose  this  city,  as 
he  had  chosen  others  similarly  situated,  to 
be  the  place  where  he  made  a  long  sojourn. 
But  Christianity  had  here  also,  at  its  first 
promulgation,  peculiar  difficulties  to  com- 
bat, and  the  same  causes  which  counter- 
acted its  reception  at  first,  threatened  at  a 
later  period,  when  it  had  found  entrance, 
to  corrupt  its  purity,  both  in  doctrine  and 
practice.  The  two  opposite  mental-tenden- 
cies, which  at  that  time  especially  opposed 
the  spread  of  Christianity,  were  on  the  one 
side,  an  intense  devotedness  to  speculation 
and  the  exercise  of  the  intellect,  to  the 
neglect  of  all  objects  of  practical  interest, 
which  threatened  to  stifle  altogether  the 
religious  nature  of  men,  that  tendency 
which  Paul  designates  by  the  phrase, 
"  seeking  after  toisdom ;" — and  on  the 
other  side,  the  sensuous  tendency  mingling 
itself  with  the  actings  of  the  religious  senti- 
ment;  the  carnal  mind  which  would  de- 
grade the  divine  into  an  object  of  sensuous 
experience  ;  that  tendency  to  which  Paul 
applies  the  phrase,  '■'■  seeki7ig  after  a  sign.'''* 
The  first  of  these  tendencies  predominated 
among  the  greater  number  of  those  persons 
in  Corinth,  who  made  pretensions  to  men- 
tal cultivation,  for  new  Corinth  was  distin- 
guished from  the  old  city,  chiefly  by 
becoming,  in  addition  to  its  cornmercial 
celebrity,  a  seat  of  literature  and  philoso- 
phy, so  that  a  certain  tincture  of  high 
mental  culture  pervaded  the  city.*  The 
second  of  these  tendencies  was  found  among 
the  numerous  Jews,  who  were  spread 
through  this  place  of  commerce,  and  enter- 
tained the  common  sensuous  conceptions 
respecting  the  Messiah.  And  finally,  the 
spread  and  efficiency  of  Christianity  was 
opposed  by  that  gross  corruption  of  morals, 
which  then  prevailed  in  all  the  great  cities 
of  the    Roman   Empire,    but  especially  in 


*  In  the  2d  century,  the    rhetorician  Aristides 
says  of  this  city:  (ro^'^v  Si  in  xit  x.^.^^  oS-.v  i\d-a-v  Zv 

'TOTyjT'ji  ^yi-rtv^'ji  ygiuu-iTixv  Tsg/  ttu^m  Cvr>iv,  Ivot 

X.tL  |«/nVOV   .'^rC/S'.S  J-EiS  T/C,  X.1i  XiTi.  TO-K  cJoVi  'J-VTM  K1.1 
Tie    (TTO'C.       6T<    T<    yv iA.yi ±7 H ,    T'J.    JtSi^Xt^^ll l,     KU 

fAn^tifxiirx  Ti  j£«(  «!rTo»»it<Trt.     Aristid.  in  Neptu- 
num.  ed.  Dindorf,  vol.  i.  p.  40. 


120 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


[Book  III. 


Corinth  was  promoted  by  the  worship  of 
Aphrodite,  to  which  a  far-famed  temple 
was  here  erected,  and  thus  consecrated  the 
indulgence  of  sensuality,  favoured  as  it 
was  by  the  incitements  constantly  present- 
ed in  a  place  of  immense  wealth  and  com,- 
merce.* 

The  efficiency  of  Paul's  ministry  at 
Corinth,  was  doubtless  much  promoted  by 
his  meeting  with  a  friend  and  zealous  ad- 
vocate of  the  gospel,  at  whose  house  he 
lodged,  and  with  whom  he  obtained  em- 
ployment for  his  livelihood,  the  Jew  Aquila 
from  Pontus,  who  probably  had  a  large 
manufactory  in  the  same  trade  by  which 
Paul  supported  himself  Aquila  does  not 
appear  to  have  had  a  fixed  residence  at 
Rome,  but  to  have  taken  up  his  abode,  at 
different  times,  as  his  business  might  re- 
quire, in  various  large  cities  situated  in  the 
centre  of  commerce,  where  he  found  him- 
self equally  at  home.  But  at  this  time,  he 
was  forced  to  leave  Rome  against  his  will, 
by  a  mandate  of  the  Emperor  Claudius, 
who  found  in  the  restless,  turbulent  spirit 
of  a  number  of  Jews  resident  at  Rome  (the 
greater  part  freed-men),  f  a  reason  or  a 
pretext  for  banishing  all  Jews  from  that 
city.t 


*  The  rhetorician  Dio  Chrysostom  says  to  the 
Corinthians  :  vo\iv  ouiin  tZv  ohtrZi  ts  kxi  yiyivn- 
fAivm  i-nrdi^itt^iTOTcLTm.  Orat.  37,  vol.  ii.  p.  119,  ed. 
Reiskc. 

t  There  was  a  particular  quarter  on  the  other 
side  the  Tiber  inhabited  by  Jews.  See  Philo  le- 
gal ad  Cajum,  §  23.      tuv  Trsgav  tou  Ttfii^iw  TroTtt- 

fJL'Al    /UiyHAHV    TM?    'Pai^DC    aTTOTOfAHV    KATl^OfAiVHV     K'-U 

cix.av/uivnv  7reo(  'JovS'a.im. 

t  The  account  of  Suetonius  in  the  Life  of  Clau- 
dius, c.  25.  "  Judmos  impulsore  Chresto  assidue 
tumultuanles  Roma  exputil"  is  of  little  service  in 
historical  investigations.  If  Suetonius,  about  fifty 
years  after  the  event  itself,  mixed  up  what  he  had 
heard  in  a  confused  manner  of  Christ,  as  a  pro- 
molcr  of  sedition  among  the  Jews,  with  the  ac- 
counts of  the  frequent  tumults  excited  among  them, 
by  expectations  of  the  Messiah, — we  are  not  justi- 
fied in  concluding,  that  tliis  banishment  of  the  Jews 
had  any  real  connexion  with  Christianity.  Dr. 
Baur,  in  his  essay  on  the  object  and  occasion  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  in  tiic  "  Tubiii^er  Zcit- 
schrift  fiir  T/ieologie,"  1836,  part  iii.p.  110,  thinks, 
that  tiic  disputes  between  the  Jews  and  Christians 
in  Rome,  occasioned  the  disturbances  which  at 
last  brouglit  on  the  expulsion  of  both  parties,  and 
that  this  is  the  fact  which  forms  the  basis  of  the 
account.  But  disputes  among  the  Jews  themselves, 
whether  Jesus  was  to  be  acktiowledged  as  the  Mes- 
siah,  would  certainly  be  treated  with  contempt  by 
the  Roman  authorities,  as  mere  Jewish  religious 
controversies.  See  Acts  xviii.  15.  And  if  Chris- 
tians of  Gentile  descent,  who  did  not  observe  the 


If  Aquila  was  at  that  time  a  Christian, 
which  will  easily  account  for  his  speedy 
connexion  with  Paul,  this  decree  of  banish- 
ment certainly  did  not  affect  him  as  a 
Christian,  but  as  classed  with  the  other 
Jews,  in  virtue  of  his  Jewish  descent,  and 
his  participation  in  all  the  Jewish  religious 
observances.  But  if  the  gospel  had  already 
been  propagated  among  the  Gentiles  at 
Rome,  (which  is  not  probable,  for  this  took 
place  at  a  later  period,  by  means  of  Paul's 
disciples,  after  his  sphere  of  action  had 
been  much  extended),  the  Gentile  Chris- 
tians, who  received  the  gospel  free  from 
Jewish  observances,  and  had  not  yet  at- 
tracted notice  as  a  particular  sect,  would  not 
have  been  affected  by  a  persecution,  which 
was  directed  against  the  Jews,  as  Jews,  on 
purely  political  grounds. 

We  cannot  answer  with  certainty  the 
questions,  whether  Aquila,  on  his  arrival 
at  Corinth,  was  already  a  Christian  ;  for  it 
cannot  be  determined  merely  from  the  si- 
lence of  the  Acts,  that  he  was  not  converted 
by  Paul.  In  any  case,  his  intercourse 
with  the  apostle  had  great  influence  in  the 
formation  of  his  Christian  views.  Aquila 
appears  from  this  time  as  a  zealous  preacher 
of  the  gospel,  and  his  various  journeys  and 
changes  of  residence,  furnished  him  with 
many  opportunities  for  acting  in  this  capa- 
city. His  wife  Priscilla  also  distinguished 
herself  by  her  active  zeal  for  the  cause  of 
the  gospel,  so  that  Paul  calls  them  both  in 
Rom.  xvi.  3,  his  "  helpers  in  Christ 
JesiisP 


Mosaic  law,  were  then  living  at  Rome,  these,  as  a 
genus  tertium,  would  not  be  confounded  with  the 
Jews,  and  a  decree  of  banishment  directed  against 
the  Jews  would  not  affect  them.  They  only  be- 
came  subject  to  punishment  by  the  laws  against 
the  religiones  peregrinas  et  novas.  We  can  only 
suppose  a  reference  to  political  disturbances  among 
the  Jews,  or  to  occurrences  which  migiit  excite 
suspicions  of  this  kind.  And  this  account  is  of 
little  service  in  fixing  the  chronology  of  the  apos- 
tolic history,  for  Suetonius  gives  no  chronological 
mark.  Such  a  mark  would  be  given,  if  we  con- 
nect the  banishment  of  the  Jews  with  the  scnatus 
consultum,  "  de  vintJiematicis  Italia  pellendis"  for 
here  Tacitus  (Annal.  xii.  52),  gives  the  date  Fausto 
Sulla,  Salvio  Othone  Coss.  =a.  d.  52.  But  the 
chronological  connexion  of  these  two  events  is  very 
uncertain,  as  they  proceeded  from  different  causes. 
The  banishment  of  the  astrologers,  proceeded  from 
suspicions  of  conspiracies  against  the  Vik  of  the 
Emperor,  with  which  tlie  banishment  of  the  Jews 
stood  in  no  sort  of  connexion,  altliough  it  might 
have  its  foundation  in  the  dread  of  political  com- 
motions. 


Chap.  VI.] 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


m 


We,  must  suppose  that  the  reception 
given  in  general  at  Athens  to  the  publica- 
tion of  the  gospel,  must  have  left  a  de- 
pressing effect  on  the  mind  of  the  apostle, 
as  far  as  he  was  not  raised  above  all  de- 
pressing considerations  by  a  conviction  of 
the  victorious  divine  power  of  the  gospel. 
Hence,  he  himself  says,  that  on  his  arrival  at 
Corinth,  he  was  at  the  utmost  remove  from 
attaching  any  importance  to  any  thing  that 
human  means,  human  eloquence,  and  hu- 
man wisdom,  could  furnish  towards  pro- 
curing an  entrance  for  the  publication  of 
the  divine  word  :  that  he  came  and  taught 
among  them  with  a  deep  sen^e  of  his 
human  weakness — with  fear  and  trembling 
as  far  as  his  own  power  was  concerned  ; 
but  at  the  same  time,  with  so  much  greater 
confidence  in  the  power  of  God  working 
through  his  instrumentality.  He  had  ex- 
perienced at  Athens,  that  it  availed  him 
nothing  to  become  a  Greek  to  the  Greeks, 
in  his  mode  of  exhibiting  divine  truths, 
where  the  heart  was  not  open  to  his 
preaching,  by  a  sense  of  spiritual  wants. 
At  Corinth,  he  was  satisfied  with  the 
simple  annunciation  of  the  Redeemer,  who 
died  for  the  salvation  of  sinful  men,  with- 
out adapting  himself,  as  at  Athens,  to  the 
taste  of  the  educated  classes  in  his  style  of 
address.  The  greater  part  indeed  of  the 
persons  with  whom  he  came  in  contact  at 
Corinth,  were  not,  as  at  Athens,  people  of 
cultivated  minds,  but  belonging  to  the 
lower  class,  who  were  destitute  of  all 
refinement ;  for  even  when  Christianity 
had  spread  more  widely  among  the  higher 
classes,  he  could  still  say,  that  not  many 
distinguished  by  human  culture  or  rank 
were  to  be  found  among  the  Christians, 
but  God  had  chosen  such  as  were  despised 
by  the  world,  in  order  to  exemplify  in 
them  the  power  of  the  gospel,  1  Cor.  i.  26, 
Among  these  people  of  the  lower  class, 
were  those  who  hitherto  had  been  given  up 
to  the  lusts  that  prevailed  in  this  sink  of 
moral  corruption,  but  who,  by  the  preach- 
ing of  the  apostle,  were  awakened  to  re- 
pentance, and  experienced  in  their  hearts 
the  power  of  the  announcement  of  the  di- 
vine forgiveness  of  sins  ;  1  Cor,  vi.  11. 
Paul  could  indeed  appeal  to  the  miracles 
by  which  his  apostleship  had  been  attested 
among  the  Corinthians,  2  Cor.  xii,  12  ;  but 
yet  these  appeals  to  the  senses  were  not 
the  means  by  which  the  gospel  chiefly  ef- 

16 


fected  its  triumphs  at  Corinth.  As  the 
gospel  necessarily  appeared  as  foolishness 
to  the  wisdom-seeking  Greeks,  as  long  as 
they  persisted  in  their  conceit  of  wisdom, 
so  also  to  the  sign-seeking  Jews,  as  long 
as  they  persisted  in  their  carnal  mind,  .un- 
susceptible of  the  spiritual  operations  of 
what  was  divine,  and  required  miracles 
cognizable  by  the  senses,  the  gospel  which 
announced'no  Messiah  performing  wonders- 
in  the  manner  their  carnal  conceptions 
had  anticipated,  would  always  be  a  stum- 
bling-block. That  demonstration  which 
Paul  made  use  of  at  Corinth,  was  the  same 
which  in  all  ages  has  been  its  firmest  sup- 
port, and  without  which  all  other  evidences 
and  means  of  promoting  it  will  be  in  vain, 
the  "  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  mid  of 
power ^^  1  Cor.  ii,  4  ;  the  mode  in  which 
the  gospel  operates,  by  its  indwelling  di- 
vine power,  on  minds  rendered  susceptible 
of  it,  in  consequence  of  the  feeling  of  their 
moral  necessities  ;  the  demonstration  aris- 
ing from  the  power  with  which  the  gospel 
operates  on  the  principle  in  human  nature, 
which  is  allied  to  God,  but  depressed  by 
the  principle  of  sin.  Thus  the  sign-seek- 
ing Jews  who  attained  to  faith,  found  in 
the  gospel  a  "  power  of  God"  superior  to 
all  external  miracles,  and  the  believers 
among  the  wisdom-seeking  Greeks,  found 
a  divine  wisdom,  compared  with  which  all 
the  wisdom  of  their  philosophers  appeared 
as  nothing. 

As  was  usual,  Paul  was  obliged  by  the 
hostile  disposition  with  which  the  greater- 
part  of  the  Jews  received  his  preaching  in 
the  synagogue,  to  direct  his  labours  to  the 
Gentiles  through  the  medium  of  the  Pro- 
selytes, and  the  new  church  was  mostly 
formed  of  Gentiles,  to  whom  a  small  num- 
ber of  Jews  joined  themselves.  That  he 
might  devote  all  his  time  and  strength 
without  distraction  to  preaching,  he  soon 
organized  the  small  company  of  believers 
into  a  regular  church,  and  left  the  baptism 
of  those  who  were  brought  to  the  faith  by 
his  preaching,  to  be  administered  by  those 
who  were  chosen  to  fill  the  offices  in  the 
Church,-  1  Cor.  i.  16  ;  xvi.  15. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  acceptance  which 
the  gospel  here  found  among  the  heathen, 
powerfully  excited  the  rage  of  the  Jews, 
and  they  availed  themselves  of  the  arrival 
of  the  new  Proconsul  Annseus  Gallio,  a 
brother  of  Seneca  the  philosopher,  to  ar- 


122 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


[Book  III. 


raign  Paul  before  his  tribunal.  Since,  by 
the'^laws  of  the  empire,  the  right  was  se- 
cured to  them  of  practising  their  own  reli- 
gious institutions,  without  molestation,  they 
Tnferred,  that  whoever  caused  division 
among  them  by  the  propagation  of  doc- 
trines opposed  to  their  own  principles,  en- 
croached on  the  enjoyment  of  their  privi- 
leges, and  was  amenable  to  punishment. 
But  the  Proconsul,  a  man  of  mild  disposi- 
tion,* showed  no  desire  to  involve  himself 
in  the  internal  religious  controversies  of 
the  Jeyvs,  which  must  have  appeared  to  a 
Roman  statesman  as  idle  disputes  about 
words ;  and  the  Gentiles  themselves,  on 
this  occasion,  testified  their  disapprobation 
of  the  accusers.  The  frustration  of  this 
attempt  against  the  apostle  enabled  him  to 
continue  his  labours  with  less  annoyance 
in  this  region,  so  that  their  influence  was 
felt  through  the  whole  province  of  Achaia, 
(1  Thess.  i.  8  ;  2  Cor.  i.  1),  whether  he 
made  use  of  his  disciples  as  instruments, 
or  suspended  his  residence  at  Corinth,  by 
a  journey  into  other  parts  of  the  province, 
and  then  returned  again  to  the  principal 
scene  of  his  ministry. f 

When  he  had  been  labouring  for  some 
time  in  these  parts,  Timothy  returned  from 
Thessalonica,  by  whom  he  received  ac- 
counts of  the  state  of  the  church  there, 
which  were  far  from  pleasing  in  every 
respect.  The  faith  of  the  church  had  in- 
deed been  steadfast  under  its  persecutions, 
and  their  example  and  zeal  had  promoted 
the  farther  spread  of  the  gospel  in  Mace- 
donia, even  to  Achaia,  but  many  had  not 
been  preserved  pure  from  the  corruption  of 
heathen  immorality.  The  expectation  of 
Christ's  reappearance  had  taken  in  the 
minds  of  many  an  enthusiastic  direction, 
so  that  they  neglected  their  stated  employ- 
ments, and  exjjected  to  be  maintained  at 
the  expense  of  their  more  opulent  bre- 
thren. Prophets  rose  up  in  their  assem- 
blies, whose  addresses  contained  much 
that  was  enthusiastic  ;  while  others,  who 
were  on  their  guard  against  these  enthusi- 

*  Known  by  the  name  of  the  dulcis  Gallio. 
Seneca  Pracfat.  natural,  quest,  iv.  Nemo  morta. 
lium  imi  tarn  dulcis  est,  quam  hie  omnibus. 

t  See  2  Thcss.  i.  4,  wlierc  Paul,  in  an  epistle 
written  during  the  hitter  part  of  his  residence  at 
Corinth,  says,  that  in  several  churches,  and  there- 
fore not  merely  in  the  Corinthian,  he  had  spoken 
with  praise  of  the  faith  and  zeal  of  the  Thessalo- 
nian  church. 


astic  exhibitions,  went  so  far  in  an  opposite 
direction  as  to  put  in  the  same  class  the 
manifestations  of  a  genuine  inspiration. 
Probably  from  a  dread  of  enthusiasm, 
they  could  not  endure  that  any  person  who 
felt  himself  inwardly  called,  should  give 
tree  utterance  to  his  sentiments  in  the 
meetings  of  the  church,  for  to  this  Paul's 
exhortation  appears  to  refer,  in  1  Thess. 
V.  19,  "  Quench  not  the  Spirit."  On  all 
these  accounts,  he  considered  it  necessary 
to  address  an  epistle  of  encouragement 
and  exhortation  to  this  church.* 


*  In  this  epistle,  he  evidently  assumes,  that  the 
manner  of  his  <;oming  from  Philippi  to  Thessalo- 
nica  was  still  fresh  in  the  remembrance  of  the 
church,  so  that  he  alludes  to  only  one  residence 
among  them,  after  his  arrival  from  Philippi. 
What  Paul  says  in  1  Thess.  i.  9,  he  could  only 
say  at  a  period  which  was  shortly  subsequent  to 
his  depaiture  from  Thessalonica.  Hence,  it  is 
certain,  that  the  epistle  was  written  at  that  junc- 
ture, and  that  it  is  the  first  among  the  Pauline 
epistles  which  have  reached  us,  an  opinion,  with 
which  its  whole  complexion  well  agrees.  The 
reasons  against  this  view,  maintained  by  Schra- 
der,  some  of  which  we  have  mentioned  and  endea- 
voured to  refute,  are  not  convincing.  The  anxiety 
of  many  persons  in  reference  to  their  deceased 
friends  (iv.  13,)  proves  indeed,  that  some  of  the 
first  Christians  at  Thessnlonica  were  already 
dead,  but  certainly  does  not  justify  the  conclu- 
sion, that  this  church  must  have  already  existed 
a  long  time ;  for  within  a  comparatively  short 
time,  many,  especially  thc-e  who  were  in  years 
or  in  declining  health  at  their  conversion,  might 
have  died.  Also  the  argument,  that  Paul,  in  this 
epistle,  supposes  the  existence  of  a  church  orga- 
nized in  the  usual  manner  with  Presbyters,  will 
prove  nothing  against  the  early  composition  of 
this  epistle.  For  why  should  not  Paul  have  ac- 
complished all  this  during  his  short  stay  at  Thes- 
salonica, or  put  matters  in  a  train  for  its  being 
done  soon  after  his  departure  ?  It  is  evident,  from 
Acts  xiv.  23,  how  important  he  deemed  it  to  give 
the  usual  constitution  to  the  churches  as  soon  as 
they  were  formed  ;  and  this  must  have  been  more 
especially  the  case  with  a  church  which  he  left  in 
such  critical  circumstances,  even  apart  from  per- 
secutors. Indeed,  if  the  rule  laid  down  in  the 
First  Epistle  to  Timothy,  that  no  novice  in  Chris- 
tianity should  be  chosen  to  the  office  of  presbyter, 
had  been  from  the  beginning  an  invariable  prin- 
ciple, we  might  conclude,  that  so  new  a  churcii, 
which  must  consist  entirely  of  novices,  could 
have  no  presbytery.  But  there  is  nothing  to  sup- 
port this  conclusion,  and  the  circumstances  of  the 
primitive  apostolic  age  are  against  it.  The  rules 
given  in  that  epistle,  as  well  as  many  other  points, 
tend  to  prove  that  it  was  written  in  the  latter  part 
of  Paul's  life,  and  in  reference  to  a  churcii  not 
newly  organized.  And  what  we  find  in  Piiilip.  iv. 
6,  by  no  me-ms  obliges  us  to  assume  a  second  visit 
of  Paul  to  Thessalonica,  after  which  both  epistles 
were  written.  He  there  says,  that  during  the 
time  of  the  first  publication  of  the  gospel  among 


Chap.  VI.] 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


123 


In  his  epistle,  he  reminds  the  church  of 
the  manner  in  which  he  conducted  himself 
among  them,  the  example  of  manual  in- 
dustry which  he  set,  and  the  exhortations 
which  he  imparted  to  them.  He  calmed 
their  anxiety  respecting  the  fate  of  those 
who  had  died  during  this  period.  He 
warned  against  making  attempts  to  deter- 
mine the  second  coming  of  Christ.  That 
critical  moment  would  come  unexpectedly; 
the  exact  time  could  be  ascertained  by  no 
one  ;  but  it  was  the  duty  of  Christians  to 
be  always  prepared  for  it.  They  were  not 
to  walk  in  darkness,  lest  that  day  should 
overtake  them  as  a  thief  in  the  night ;  as 
children  of  the  light,  they  ought  to  walk 
continually  in  the  light  and  the  day  ;  and 
to  watch  over  themselves,  that  they  might 
meet  the  appearance  of  the  Lord  with  con- 
fidence. 

After  a  time,  Paul  learnt  that  the  epistle 
had  not  attained  its  end  ;  that  the  enthusi- 
astic tendency  in  the  Thessalonian  church 
had  continued  to  increase.  In  his  former 
epistle,  he  had  considered  it  necessary  to 
guard  them  against  both  extremes ;  to 
warn  them  against  the  entire  suppression 
of  free  prophetic  addresses,  as  well  as 
against  receiving  every  thing  as-  divine 
which  pretended  to  be  so,  without  exami- 
nation. The  higher  life  was  to  be  deve- 
loped and  expressed  freely  without  harass- 
ing restrictions ;  but  all  claims  to  inspira- 
tion ought  to  be  submitted  to  sober  exami- 
nation.* He  must,  therefore,  have  had 
cause  to  suspect  danger  from  this  quarter, 
even  had  he  not  received  more  exact  infor- 
mation. But  he  was  subsequently  inform- 
ed, that  persons  had  come  forward  in  the 
church  who  professed  to  have  received  re- 
velations to  the  effect  that  the  appearance 
of  the  Lord  was  close  at  hand.  They  also 
endeavoured  to  strengthen  their  assertions 

the  heathen,  (which  cr.nnot  be  referred  to  a  later 
period,)  when  he  left  Macedonia,  no  church  ex- 
cepting that  at  Philippi,  had  sent  him  a  contribu- 
tion— first  at  Thcssalonica  before  he  left  Mace- 
doi\ia,  and  then  once  or  twice  at  Corinth,  during 
his  longer  sojourn  there.     2  Cor.  xi.  9. 

*  It  appears  to  me  that  1  Thess.  v.  21,  alto- 
gether relates  to  what  immediately  precedes — 
"  prove  all  things  in  the  communications  of  the 
prophets,  and  retain  whatever  is  good  ;"  but  in 
verse  22,  he  makes  a  transition  to  a  general  re- 
mark, "that  they  should  keep  tiicmselves  at  a 
distance  from  every  kind  of  evil,"  with  which  his 
prayer  for  the  sanctifieation  of  tlic  whole  man  na- 
turally connects  itself. 


by  distorting  certain  expressions  of  the 
apostle,  which  he  had  used  during  his  re- 
sidence at  Thcssalonica.  But  how  since 
the  epistle  of  Paul  was  so  plainly  opposed 
to  the  enthusiastic  tendency  which  aimed 
at  fixing  the  exact  time  of  Christ's  second 
coming  ;  one  of  the  promoters  of  this 
error  ventured  so  far  as  to  forge  another 
epistle  in  Paul's  name,  which  might  serve 
to  confirm- this  expectation,  in  which  pro- 
bably he  took  advantage  of  the  circum- 
stance, that  the  apostle  in  his  first  epistle 
had  satisfied  himself  with  urging  what  was 
of  practical  importance  without  giving  a 
decided  opinion  on  the  nearness  or  remote- 
ness of  that  great  event.*  Such  forgeries, 
were  not  at  all  uncommon  in  this  century 
after  the  beginning  of  the  Alexandrian  pe- 
riod of  literature,  and  their  authors  were 
very  adroit  in  justit'ying  such  deceptions 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  currency  to  cer- 
tain principlesand  opinions. f  This  enthu- 
siastic tendency  also  operated  injuriously 
in  producing  idleness,  and  a  neglect  of  a 
person's  own  affairs,  united  with  a  prying, 
intermeddling  curiosity  respecting  the  con- 
cerns of  others.  Paul,  therefore,  thought 
it  necessary  to  write  a  second  epistle  to 
Thcssalonica. :f  In  this  epistle,  for  the 
purpose  of  guarding  them  against  the  hasty 
expectation  of  that  last  decisive  period,  he 
directed  their  attention  to  the  signs  of  the 
times  which  would  precede  it.  The  reve- 
lation of  the  evil  that  opposed  itself  to  the 


*  The  passage  in  2  Thess.  ii.  2,  might  be  sa 
understood,  as  if  only  the  statements  in  the  First 
Epistle  had  been  misrepresented;  and  it  is  cer- 
tainly possible  to  imagine,  that  they  had  so  mis- 
applied Paul's  comparison  of  a  thief  in  the  night, 
as  if  he  expected  the  appearance  of  Christ  to  be 
an  event  close  at  hand,  and  only  meant  to  say  that 
the  point  of  time  could  not  be  given  more  dis- 
tinctly.  But  these  words  of  Paul  would  naturally 
be  understood  of  the  forgery  of  a  letter  in  his 
n:une,  and  the  manner  in  which  he  guards  against 
similar  forgeries,  by  a  postscript  in  his  own  hand, 
favours  this  opinion. 

t  The  Bishop  Dionysius  very  much  lamented 
the  falsification  of  letters  whicU  he  had  written  to 
various  churches.     Euseb.  iv.  23. 

t  He  had  at  that  time  probably  travelled  from 
Corinth  into  Achaia,  and  founded  other  churches. 
Already  he  had  sustained  many  conflicts  with  the 
enemies  of  the  gospel ;  he  had  occasion  to  request 
the  intercessory  prayers  of  the  churches,  that  he 
might  be  delivered  from  the  machinations  of  evil- 
minded  men  ;  for  such  were  not  wanting,  who 
were  unsusceptible  of  receiving  the  gospel ;  2 
Thess.  iii.  2.  This  reminds  us  of  the  accusations 
made  by  the  Jews  against  Paul. 


124 


PAUL'S  SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 


[Book  III. 


kingdom  of  God — a  self-idolatry  excluding 
the  worship  of  the  living  God — would  first 
rise  to  the  highest  pitch.  The  power  of 
the  delusion,  by  a  hypocritical  show  of 
godliness,  and  by  extraordinary  power, 
apparently  miraculous,  would  deceive  those 
who  were  not  disposed  to  follow  the  sim- 
ple, unadulterated  truth.  The  rejection  of 
the  True  and  the  Divine,  would  be  punish- 
ed by  the  power  of  falsehood.  Those  per- 
sons would  be  ensnared  by  the  arts  of  de- 
ception, who,  because  they  had  suppressed 
the  sense  of  truth  in  their  hearts,  deserved 
to  be  'deceived,  and  by  their  own  criminali- 
ty had  prepared  themselves  for  all  the  de- 
ceptions of  falsehood.  Then  would  Christ 
appear,  in  order  by  his  victorious  divine 
power  to  destroy  the  kingdom  of  evil, 
after  it  had  attained  its  widest  extension, 
and  to  consummate  the  kingdom  of  God. 
As  signs  similar  to  those  which  prognosti- 
cate the  last  decisive  and  most  triumphant 
epoch,  are  repeated  in  all  the  great  epochs 
of  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  it  advances 
victoriously  in  conflict  with  the  kingdom  of 
evil,  Paul  might  believe  that  he  recognised 
in  many  signs  of  his  oivn  time,  the  com- 
mencement of  the  final  epoch.  By  the  light 
of  the  divine  spirit,  and  according  to  the 
intimations  of  Christ*  himself,  he  discern- 
ed the  general  law  of  the  developement  of 
the  kingdom  of  Christ,  which  is  applicable 
to  all  the  great  epochs  down  to  the  very 
last ;  but  he  was  not  aware  that  similar 
phenomena  must  often  recur  until  the  ar- 
rival of  the  final  crisis. f 


*  See  Leben  Jesu,  pp.  558,  612. 

t  Whdn  persons  have  attempted  to  determine 
with  exactness  the  signs  of  the  times  given  by 
Paul,  they  have  failed  in  many  points.  In  the 
first  place,  they  liave  sought  for  the  appearances 
to  which  the  apostle  refers  in  later  ages,  while 
Paul  refers  to  appearances  in  his  own  age,  or  to 
those  which  thoy  seemed  to  forbode.  In  other 
important  periods,  which  preceded  remarkable 
epoclis  for  the  developement  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,  signs  might  be  found  similar  to  those 
which  Paul  ha.s  here  described.  Slill  we  should 
not  be  justified  in  saying  that  tliese  signs  in  this 
particular  form  were  consciously  present  to  Paul's 
mind.  And  thus  we  should  fall  into  error,  if  we 
expected  to  find  what  is  anti-Christian  only  in 
certain  particular  appearances  of  the  Ecclesiasti- 
cal History,  instead  of  recognising  in  these  ap- 
pearances a  Christian  truth  lying  at  their  basis, 
and  tiie  same  anti-Christian  spirit  (by  which  the 
Christian  principle  is  here  disturbed,  and  at  last 
wholly  obscured)  likewise  in  other  appearances. 
When,  too,  these  signs  have  been  looked  for  in 
the  actual  situation  of  the  iipostlc,  the  defective- 


As  Paul  was  unexercised  in  writing  Greek, 
and, amidst  his  numerous  cares  and  labours, 
instead  of  writing  his  epistles  with  his  own 
hand,  dictated  them,  as  was  a  usual  prac- 
tice among  the  ancients,  to  an  amanuensis, 
letters  could  be  more  easily  forged  in  his 
name.  Perhaps  he  had  already  adopted 
the  plan  of  adding  a  few  words  of  saluta- 
tion with  his  own  hand,  in  order  to  give  the 
churches  a  special  proof  of  his  affectionate 
sympathy.  Such  an  autograph  addition 
would  now  be  so  much  the  more  necessary 
for  the  purpose  of  preventing  falsifications 
of  his  epistles ;  accordingly,  in  this  epistle 
to  the  Thessalonians  he  expressly  notices 
this  circumstance,  that  they  might  in  future 
know  all  the  epistles  that  really  were  his 
own  production.* 

Thus  Paul  laboured  during  another  half- 
year  for  the  spread  of  Christianity  in  these 


ness  of  our  knowledge  of  his  situation,  and  of  the 
appearances  peculiar  to  his  times,  has  been  for- 
gotten. Or,  instead  of  estimating  the  great  views 
respecting  the  developement  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  which  the  apostle  here  unfolds,  according  to 
the  ideas  contained,  the  kernel  has  been  tiu'own 
away,  and  the  shell  retained,  and  they  have  been 
compared  with  the  Jewish  fables  respecting  Anti- 
christ. 

*  From  these  words  of  Paul,  2  Thess.  iii.  17, 
we  cannot  infer  with  Schrader,  that  Paul  must 
have  already  written  many  epistles  (to  the  Thes- 
salonians), and,  therefore,  that  this  could  not  be 
the  second  ;  for  if  Paul  had  determined  now  for 
the  first  time  to  employ  this  precaution  against  the 
falsification  of  his  epistle,  he  might  certainly  thus 
express  himself;  it  was  not  necessary  to  use  the 
future  io-Tdi,  and  yet  Paul  might  have  written 
many  epistles  before  this.  For,  might  he  not  al- 
ready have  written  epistles  to  the  churches  in  Cili- 
cia,  and  Syria,  and  others  lately  founded  by  him, 
as  well  as  to  individuals?  We  cannot  certainly 
maintain,  that  the  whole  correspondence  of  the 
great  apostle,  wlio  was  so  active  and  careftil  in 
every  respect,  has  come  down  to  us.  Lastly,  the 
forgery  of  a  letter  under  his  name  was  still  easier 
when  only  a  few,  than  when  many  of  his  epistles 
were  extant.  Therefore  the  proofs  fail  which  are 
employed  partly  for  the  later  origin,  partly  for  the 
spuriousness  of  the  epistle.  And  as  to  the  saluta- 
tion added  by  Paul  as  a  mark  of  his  handwriting, 
it  only  follows  that,  under  the  existing  circum- 
stances, he  determined  to  add  such  a  mark  of  his 
handwriting  to  all  his  epistles,  but  by  no  means 
that,  under  altered  circumstances,  he  adhered  to 
this  resolution ;  nor  could  we  conclude  with  cer- 
tainty, that  in  all  tiiose  epistles  in  which  Paul  has 
not  expressly  remarked  that  the  salutation  was 
penned  by  him,  the  benediction  at  the  close  was 
really  not  in  his  handwriting.  Wlien  once  that 
peculiar  practice  and  his  handwriling  had  become 
generally  known  among  the  churches,  he  might 
make  such  an  addition,  without  expressly  men- 
tioning that  it  was  written  by  himself. 


Chap.  VII.] 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


125 


parts,  and  then  concluded  the  second  period 
of  his  ministry  among  the  heathen,  which 
began  with  tlie  second  missionary  journey. 
We  are  now  arrived  at  a  resting-place, 
from  which  we  shall  proceed  to  a  new 
period  in  his  ministry,  and  in  the  history 
of  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  among  the 
Gentiles. 


CHAPTER  Vri. 

THE  APOSTLE  PAUl's  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH,  AND  HIS 
RENEWED  MISSIONARY  LABOURS  AMONG  THE  HEA- 
THEN. 

After  Paul  had  laboured  during  another 
half-year  for  the  establishment  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  in  Corinth  and  Achaia,  he  re- 
solved, before  attempting  to  form  new 
churches  among  the  heathen,  to  visit  once 
more  that  city  which  had  been  hitherto  the 
metropolis  of  the  Christian-Gentile  world, 
Antioch,  where  possibly  he  had  arranged 
a  meeting  with  other  publishers  of  the  gos- 
pel. This  was  no  doubt  the  principal,  but 
probably  not  the  only,  object  of  his  journey. 
He  felt  it  to  be  very  important  to  prevent 
the  outbreak  of  a  division  between  the 
Jewish  and  the  Gentile  Christians,  and  to 
take  away  from  the  Jews  and  Jewish 
Christians  the  only  plausible  ground  for 
their  accusation,  that  he  was  an  enemy  of 
their  nation  and  the  religion  of  their  fathers. 
On  this  account,  he  resolved  to  revisit  at 
the  same  time  the  metropolis  of  Judaism, 
in  order  publicly  to  express  his  gratitude 
to  the  God  of  his  fathers  in  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem,  according  to  a  form  much  ap- 
proved by  the  Jews,  and  thus  practically 
to  refute  these  imputations.  There  was  at 
that  time  among  the  Jews  a  religious  cus- 
tom, arising  most  probably  from  a  modifi- 
cation of  the  Nazarite  vow,  that  those  who 
had  been  visited  with  sickness  or  any  other 
great  calamity  vowed,  if  they  were  re- 
stored, to  bring  a  thank-offering  to  Jehovah 
in  the  Temple,  to  abstain  from  wine  for 
thirty  days,  and    to    shave   their   heads.* 

*  Josephus,  De  Bello  Jiid.  ii.  15,  tov;  ya^  li  vos-ce 
K:t.Ta.7rovou/u(vou(  «  Tlirtv  uXXa/c  dvd.yKO.t;  i^c;  ili^iir- 
d'ctt  TT^o  k'  ti/us^Zv,  ))C  uTToSwa-ilv  /uiKKoiiv  ^ucrtctf,  olvov 

Ti  dpi'^io-^ui  KdLi  ^vgnrdub^i  TM  KOfx^i.  It  appears 
to  me  quite  necessary  to  change  the  aorist  in  the 
last  clause  into  the  future  ^ug>i7i<rd-eti ;  and  I  would 
translate  the  passage  thus — "they  were  accustomed 
to  vow  that  they  would  refrain  from  wine  and  shave 


Paul  had  probably  resolved  on  the  occasion 
of  his  deliverance  from  some  danger  during 
his  last  residence  at  Corinth,  or  on  his 
journey  from  that  city,*  publicly  to  express 
his  grateful  acknowledgments  in  the  Tem- 
ple at  Jerusalem.  The  form  of  his  doing 
this  was  in  itself  a  matter  of  indifference, 
and  in  the  spirit  of  Christian  wisdom,  he 
felt  no  scruple  to  become  in  respect  of  form, 
to  the  Jew^  a  Jew,  or  to  the  Gentiles  a 
Gentile.  When  he  was  on  the  point  of 
sailing  with  Aquila  to  Lesser  Asia,  from 
CenchrcEa,  he  began  the  fulfilment  of  his 
vow.f     He  left  his   companion  with    his 


their  hair  thirty  days  before  the  presentation  of  the 
offering."  From  comparing  this  with  the  Nazarite 
vow,  we  might  indeed  conclude  that  the  shaving  of 
the  hair  took  place  at  the  end  of  thirty  days,  as 
Meyer  thinks  in  his  commentary;  but  the  words 
of  Josephus  do  not  agree  with  this  supposition,  for 
we  cannot  be  allowed  to  interpolate  another  period 
before  the  ^ve^ntriTSrai,  "and  at  the  end  of  these 
thirty  days."  Also  what  follows  in  Josephus  is 
opposed  to  it,  and  Paul's  shaving  his  hair  several 
weeks  before  his  arrival  at  Jerusalem,  will  not  har- 
monize with  such  a  supposition. 

*  From  how  many  dangers  he  was  rescued,  and 
how  much  would  be  required  to  complete  the  nar- 
rative given  in  the  Acts,  we  learn  from  2  Cor.  xi. 
26,  27. 

t  Unnecessary  difficulties  have  been  raised  re- 
specting Acts  xviii.  18.  Paul  in  the  18th,  and  the 
verso  immediately  following,  is  the  only  subject  to 
which  every  thing  is  referred ;  and  the  words  re- 
lating to  Aquila  and  Priscilla  form  only  a  paren- 
tliesis.  All  that  is  here  expressed  must  tiierefore 
be  referred  to  Paul  and  not  to  Aquila,  who  is  men- 
tioned only  incidentally.  Schneckenburger,  in  his 
work  on  the  Acts,  p.  66,  finds  a  reason  for  mention- 
ing such  an  unimportant  circumstance  respecting 
a  subordinate  person  in  this,  that  a  short  notice  of 
a  man,  who  for  half  a  year  lived  in  tlie  same  house 
as  Paul,  would  serve  as  an  indirect  justification  of 
the  apostle  against  the  accusations  of  his  Judaizing 
opponents ;  but  this  is  connected  with  the  whole 
hypothesis,  of  which,  for  reasons  already  given,  I 
cannot  approve. 

Besides,  Aquila  could  not  have  taken  such  a 
vow,  because  he  did  not  travel  to  Jerusalem,  v.'here 
the  offering  ought  to  be  presented.  We  must 
therefore  suppose  that  he  hud  made  a  vow  of  an- 
other kind,  that  ha  would  not  allow  his  hair  to  be 
cut  till  he  had  left  Corinth  in  safety,  like  the  Jews 
who  bound  themselves  by  a  vow  to  do  or  not  to  do 
something  till  they  had  accomplished  what  they 
wished,  as,  for  example,  not  to  take  food  ;  compare 
Acts  xxiii.  14,  and  the  legends  from  the  ibetyyixiov 
K-xy  'E0^ctio'j;,  in  Jerome  de  v.  i.  c.  ii.  But  such 
unmeaning  folly  no  one  can  attribute  to  Aquila. 
And  Luke  would  hardly  liavc  related  any  thing  so 
insignificant  of  Aquila,  who  was  not  the  hero  of 
his  narrative.  But  Meyer  thinks  he  has  found  a 
special  proof  that  this  relates  not  to  Paul  but  to 
Aquila ;  because,  in  Acts  xviii.  18,  the  name  of 
Priscilla  is  mentioned  not  as  it  is  in  v,  2  and  26, 


126 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


[Book  III. 


wife  behind  at  Ephesus,  whither  he  promised 
to  return,  and  hastened  to  Jerusalem,  where 
he  visited  the  church,  and  presented  his 
ofieri'ng  in  the  temple.*'  He  then  travelled 
to  Antioch,  where  he  stayed  a  long  time, 
and  met  with  Barnabas,  and  other  friends 
and  former  associates  in  publishing  the 
gospel.  The  apostle  Peter  also  joined  the 
company  of  preachers  of  the  gospel  here 
assembled,  who  beheld  the  apostles  of  the 
Jews,  and  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  united 
in    true    Christian    fellowship    with    one 


and  contrary  to  the  usage  of  antiquity,  with  a  de- 
sign to  make  the  reference  here  designed  to  Aquila 
more  pointed.  We  might  allow  some  weight  to 
this  consideration,  if  we  did  not  find  the  same  ar- 
rangement of  the  names  in  Rom.  xvi.  3,  and  2 
Tim.  iv.  19.  Hence  we  shall  find  a  common  ground 
of  explanation  for  what  appears  a  striking  deviation 
Irom  the  customs  of  antiquity,  that  although  Pris- 
cilla  was  not  a  public  instructress,  which  would 
have  been  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  church,  yet 
she  was  distinguished  even  more  than  her  husband 
for  her  Christian  knowledge,  and  her  zeal  for  the 
promotion  of  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  that  in  this 
respect  Paul  stood  in  a  more  intimate  relation,  a 
closer  alliance  of  spirit  to  her,  as  Bleak  has  sug- 
gested in  his  Introduction  to  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  p.  422.  And  thus  we  find  in  this  unde- 
signed departure  from  the  prevailing  usage,  on  a 
point  so  unimportant  in  itself,  an  indication  of  the 
higher  dignity  conferred  so  directly  by  Christianity 
on  the  female  sex. 

*  The  words  in  Acts  xviii.  21,  cannot  prove  that 
Paul  travelled  to  Jerusalem,  for  the  original  ex- 
pression onl}'  makes  it  highly  probable.  "  I  will 
return  to  you  again,  God  willing;"  and  all  the  rest 
is  only  a  gloss.  If,  therefore,  we  do  not  find  the 
journey  to  Jerusalem  indicated  in  the  uva0x;  and 
K3.Tijiii  of  V.  22,  we  must  assume  that  Paul  on  this 
journey  came  only  as  far  as  Antioch,  and  not  to 
Jerusalem,  and  then  the  interpretation  of  Acts 
xviii.  18,  given  in  the  text,  must  be  abandoned.  It 
is  also  remarkable  that  Luke,  in  referring  to  Paul's 
sojourn  at  Jerusalem,  should  mention  only  his  sa- 
luting the  church,  and  say  nothing  of  tiie  presen- 
tation of  his  offering;  and  that  James,  who,  on 
Paul's  former  visit  to  Jerusalem,  had  advised  him 
to  such  a  line  of  conduct,  should  not  have  appealed 
to  the  example  given  by  himself  of  such  an  ac- 
commodation  to  the  feelings  of  the  Jews.  But 
Luke  is  never  to  be  regarded  as  the  author  of  a 
history  complete  in  all  its  parts,  but  simply  as  a 
writer  who,  without  historical  art,  put  together 
what  he  heard  and  saw,  or  what  became  known 
to  him  by  the  reports  of  others.  Hence  he  nar- 
rates several  loss  important  circumstances,  and 
passes  over  those  which  would  be  more  important 
for  maintaining  the  fconnexion  of  the  history.  Also, 
to  a  reader  familiar  with  Jewish  customs,  it  might 
be  sufficiently  clear  that  Paul,  according  to  what 
is  mentioned  in  xviii.  18,  must  iiavo  brought  an 
offering  to  Jerusalem.  At  all  events,  if  wc  wish 
to  refer  v.  22  only  to  Cassarea,  the  uv^tySac  must  be 
superfluous,  and  the  KdTtfii,  would  not  suit  the  geo- 
graphical relation  of  Caesarea  to  Antioch. 


another,  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of 
the  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Council  at 
Jerusalem. 

But  this  beautiful  unanimity  was  dis- 
turbed by  some  Judaizing  zealots,  who 
came  from  Jerusalem  probably  with  an 
evil  design,  since  what  they  had  heard  of 
the  free  publication  of  the  gospel  among 
the  heathen  was  offensive  to  their  contracted 
feelings.  For  a  considerable  tiine  the 
pharisaically-minded  Jewish  Christians  ap- 
peared to  have  been  silenced  by  the  apos- 
tolic decisions,  but  they  could  not  be  in- 
duced to  give  up  an  opposition  so  closely 
allied  with  a  mode  of  thinking  exclusively 
Jewish,  against  a  completely  free  and  in- 
dependent gospel.  The  constant  enlarge- 
ment of  Paul's  sphere  of  labour  among  the 
heathen,  of  which  they  became  more  fully 
aware  by  his  journeys  to  Jerusalem  and 
Antioch,  excited  afresh  their  suspicion  and 
jealousy.  Though  they  professed  to  be 
delegates  sent  by  James  from  Jerusalem,* 
it  by  no  means  follows  that  they  were  jus- 
tified in  so  doing  ;  for  before  this  time  such 
Judaizers  had  falsely  assumed  a  similar 
character.  These  persons  were  disposed 
not  to  acknowledge  the  uncircumcised  Gen- 
tile Christians  who  observed  no  part  of  the 
Mosaic  ceremonial  law,  as  genuine  Chris- 
tian brethren,  as  brethren  in  the  faith,  en- 
dowed  with  privileges  equal  to  their  own  in 
the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah.  As  they 
looked  upon  them  as  still  unclean,  they  re- 
fused to  eat  with  them.  The  same  Peter 
who  had  at  first  asserted  so  emphatically  the 
equal  rights  of  the  Gentile  Christians,  and 
afterwards  at  the  last  apostolic  convention 
had  so  strenuously  defended  them — now 
allowed  himself  to  be  carried  away  by  a 
regard  to  his  countrymen,  and  for  the 
moment  was  faithless  to  his  principles. 
We  here  recognise  the  old  nature  of  Peter, 
which,  though  conquered  by  the  Spirit  of 
the  gospel,  was  still  active,  and  on  some 
occasions  regained  the  ascendency.  The 
same  Peter  who,  after  he  had  borne  the 
most  impressive  testimony  to  the  Redeemer, 
at  the  sight  of  danger  for  an  instant  denied 
him.  The  example  of  an  apostle  whose 
character  stood  so  high,  influenced  other 
Christians  of  Jewish  descent,  so  that  even 


*  This  is  not  necessarily  contained  in  the  words 
rtvK  dcTo  ''iax.ai^ov,  which  may  simply  mean  that 
these  persons  belonged  to  the  church  at  Jerusalem, 
over  which  James  presided. 


Chap.  VIL] 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


127 


Barnabas  withdrew  from  holding  inter- 
course with  Gentile  Christians.  Paul,  who 
condemned  what  was  evil  without  respect 
of  persons,  called  it  an  act  of  hypocrisy. 
He  alone  remained  faithful  to  his  principles, 
and  in  the  presence  of  all  administered  a 
^  severe  reprimand  to  Peter,  and  laid  open 
the  inconsistency  of  his  conduct.  "  Why, 
if  thou  thyself,  he  said,  although  thou  art 
a  Jew,  hast  no  scruple  to  live  as  a  Gentile 
with  the  Gentiles,  why  wilt  thou  force  the 
Gentiles  to  become  Jews  ?  We  are  born 
Jews — ice,  if  the  Jews  are  right  in  their 
pretensions,  were  not  sinners  like  the  Gen- 
tiles, but  clean  and  holy  as  born  citizens  of 
the  theocratic  nation.  But  by  our  own 
course  of  conduct,  we  express  our  contrary 
conviction.  With  all  our  observance  of 
the  law,  we  have  acknowledged  ourselves 
to  be  sinners  who  are  in  need  of  justifica- 
tion as  well  as  others,  well  knowing  that 
by  works  such  as  the  law  is  able  to  pro- 
duce,* no  man  can  be  justified  before  God  ; 
but  this  can  only  be  attained  by  faith  in 
Christ,  and  having  been  convinced  of  this, 
we  have  sought  justification  by  him  alone. 
But  this  conviction  we  contradict,  if  we 
seek  again  for  justification  by  the  works  of 
the  law.  We  therefore  present  ourselves 
again  as  sinnersf  needing  justification,  and 

*  We  may  here  notice  briefly  what  will  be  more 
fully  developed  when  we  come  to  treat  of  the  apos- 
tolic  doctrine,  that  Paul,  by  i^yot;  vo/aov,  under- 
stands works  which  a  compulsory,  threatening 
law  may  force  a  man  to  perform,  in  the  absence 
of  a  holy  disposit'ion.  The  idea  comprehends  the 
mere  outward  fulfilling-  of  the  law,  in  reference  to 
what  is  moral  as  well  as  what  is  ritual.  Both 
which  are  so  closely  connected  in  Judaism,  main- 
tain  their  real  importance  only  as  an  expression  of 
the  truly  pious  disposition  oi" ^uma-vvn.  The  idea 
of  the  moral  or  the  ritunl  predominates  only  ac- 
cording to  the  varied  antithetical  relation  of  the 
phrase.  In  this  passage,  a  special  reference  is 
made  to  the  ritual. 

t  The  Words,  Gal.  ii.  18,  "If  what  I  have  de- 
stroyed  (tjie  Mosaic  law)  I  build  up  again,  (like 
Peter,  who  had  practically  testified  again  to  the 
universal  obligation  of  the  Mosaic  law),  I  must 
look  upon  myself  as  a  transgressor  of  the  law,  as 
a  sinner."  (Paul  here  supposes  Peter  to  express 
the  conviction  that  he  had  done  wrong  in  depart, 
ing  from  the  law,  that  he  was  guilty  of  transgress- 
ing a  law  that  was  still  binding.)  I  cannot  per- 
fectly agree  with  Ruckert's  exposition,  who  sup- 
poses these  words  to  be  used  by  Paul  in  reference 
to  himself.  For  this  general  proposition  would 
not  be  correct,  "  Whoevtr  builds  up  again  what 
he  has  pulled  down  pursues  a  wrong  course."  If 
he  had  done  wrong  in  pulling  down,  he  would  do 
right  in  building  up  what  had  been  pulled  down ; 
and  even  the  opponents  of  Paul  maintained  the 


Christ,  instead  of  justifying  us  from  sin, 
has  deprived  us  of  the  only  means  of  jus- 
tification, and  led  us  into  sin,  if  it  be  sin  to 
consider  yourselves  freed  from  the  law.  Far 
be  this  from  us."* 

If  we  fix  this  controversy  of  Paul  and 
Peter,t    which    as    the    following    history 


first ;  they  could  not  therefore  be  afl^ected  by  that 
proposition,  and  the  logical  Paul  would  have  takeri  " 
good  care  not  \o  express  it. 

*  Paul's  reprimand  of  Peter  (Gal.  ii.)  appears  to 
reach  only  as  far  as  the  18th  verse,  excl.  AVhat 
follows,  by  the  transition  from  the  plural  to  the 
singular,  and  by  the  yn^,  is  shown  to  be  a  com- 
mentary by  Paul  on  some  expressions  which, 
uttered  in  the  warmth  of  feeling,  might  be  some- 
what obscure,  and  evidently  not  a  continuation  of 
his  address.  As  to  the  date  of  this  interview  with 
Peter,  we  readily  allow  that  we  cannot  attain  to 
absolute  certainty.  Paul  himself  nnrrates  the  oc- 
currence immediately  after  speaking  of  that  jour- 
ney to  Jerusalem  which  we  find  reasons  for  con- 
sidering as  his  third.  And,  accordingly,  we  suppose 
that  this  event  followed  the  apostolic  convention  at 
Jerusalem.  And  probably  many  peisons  would  be 
induced,  by  the  report  of  what  had  taken  place 
among  the  Gentile  Christians,  (which  to  Jewish 
Christians  must  have  appeared  so  very  extraordi- 
nary), to  resort  to  the  assembly  of  the  Gentile 
Christians  at  Antioch,  partly  in  order  to  be  wit- 
nesses of  the  novel  transactions,  and  partly  out  of 
suspicion.  According  to  what  we  have  before  re- 
marked, it  is  not  impossible  that  these  Judaizers, 
so  soon  after  the  resolutions  for  acknowledging 
the  equal  rights  of  Gentile  Christians  were  passed, 
became  unfaithful  to  them,  because  they  explained 
them  differently  from  their  original  intention.  But 
there  is  greater  probability,  that  these  events  did 
not  immediately  succeed  the  issuing  of  those  reso- 
lutions.  It  is  by  no  means  evident,  that  Paul,  in 
this  passage  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Gaiatians,  in- 
tended to  observe  chronological  exactness.  He 
rather  appears  to  be  speaking  of  an  event  which 
was  quite  fresh  in  his  memory,  and  had  happened 
only  a  short  time  before.  Besides  the  two  suppo- 
sitions here  mentioned,  a  third  is  possible,  which 
has  been  advocated  by  Hug  and  Sneckenburgh ; 
namely,  that  this  event  took  place  before  the  apos- 
tolic convention.  But  though  Paul  here  follows 
no  strict  chronological  order,  yet  it  is  difficult  to 
believe  that  he  would  not  place  the  narrative  of 
an  event— so  closely  connected  with  the  contro- 
versies which  gave  occasion  to  his  conferences 
with  tlie  apostles  at  Jerusalem — at  the  beginning, 
instead  of  letting  it  follow  as  supplementary, 

t  Confessedly  a  mistaken  reverence  for  the  apos- 
tle led  many  persons  in  the  ancient  (especially  the 
eastern)  church  to  a  very  unnatural  view  of  this 
controversy.  They  adopted  tlio  notion  tliat  Peter 
and  Paul  had  an  understanding  with  one  another, 
that  both,  tiie  one  for  the  advantage  of  the  Jews, 
the  other  for  the  advantage  of  the  Gentile  Chris- 
tians, committed  an  qfjieiusum  mendaciiim,  in 
order  that  no  stain  might  rest  on  Peter's  conduct. 
Augustin,  ill  his  E|)istle  to  Jerome,  and  in  his 
book  De  Mendncio,  has  admirably  combated  this 
prejudice,  and  the  false  interpretation  founded 
upon  it. 


128 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


[Book  III. 


shows,  produced  no  permanent  separation 
between  them — exactly  at  this  period,  it 
will  throw  much  light  on  the  connexion  of 
events.  Till  now  the  pacification  concluded 
at  Jerusalem  between  the  Jewish  and  Gen- 
tile Christians  had  been  maintained  invio- 
late. Till  now  Paul  had  to  contend  only 
with  Jewish  opponents,  not  with  Judaizers 
in  the  churches  of  Gentile  Christians  ; — but 
now  the  opposition  between  the  Jewish  and 
Gentile  Christians,  which  the  apostolic 
resolutions  had  repressed,  again  made  its 
appearance.  As  in  this  capital  of  Gentile 
Christianity,  which  formed  the  central  point 
of  Christian  missions,  this  controversy  first 
arose,  so  exactly  in  the  same  spot  it  broke 
forth  afresh,  notwithstanding  the  measures 
taken  by  the  apostles  to  settle  it;  and  having 
once  been  renewed,  it  spread  itself  through 
all  the  churches  where  there  was  a  mixture 
of  Jews  and  Gentiles.  Here  Paul  had  first 
to  combat  that  party  whose  agents  after- 
wards persecuted  him  in  every  scene  of  his 
labours.  It  might  at  first  appear  strange, 
that  this  division  should  break  out  exactly 
at  that  time;  at  the  very  time  when  the 
manner  in  which  Paul  had  just  appeared  at 
Jerusalem,  having  become  to  the  Jews  a 
Jew,  might  have  served  to  make  a  favourite 
impression  on  the  minds  of  those  Chris- 
tians who  were  still  attached  to  Judaism. 
But  although  it  might  thus  operate  on  the 
most  moderate  among  them,  yet  the  event 
showed,  that  on  the  fanatical  zealots,  whose 
principles  were  too  contrary  to  admit  of 
their  being  reconciled  to  him,  it  produced 
quite  an  opposite  effect,  when  they  saw  the 
man  who  had  spoken  so  freely  of  the  law 
— who  had  always  so  strenuously  main- 
tained the  equal  rank  of  the  uncircumcised 
Gentile  Christian  with  the  Jewish  Chris- 
tians, and  whom  they  had  condemned  as  a 
despiser  of  the  law,  when  they  saw  this 
man  representing  himself  as  one  of  the  be- 
lieving Jewish  people.  They  well  knew 
how  to  make  use  of  what  he  had  done  at 
Jerusalem  to  his  disadvantage;  and  by 
representing  his  actions  in  a"  false  light, 
they  accused  him  of  inconsistency,  and  of 
artfully  attempting  to  flatter  the  Gentile 
Christians. 

The  influence  of  this  party  soon  extended 
itself  through  the  churches  in  Galatia  and 
Achaia.  It  is  true  that  Paul,  when,  after 
leaving  his  friends  at  Antioch,  he  visited 
once  more  the  churches  in  Phrygia  and 


Galatia,  on  his  way  to  Ephesus,  whither 
he  had  promised  to  come  on  his  return — 
observed  no  striking  change  among  them.* 


*  He  expresses  to  the  Galatian  churches  his 
astonishment  that  they  had  deserted  so  soon  after 
his  departure,  the  evangelical  doctrine  for  which 
they  had  before  shown  so  much  zeal;  Gal.  i.  6. 
As  several  modern  writers  (particularly  Rilckert) 
have  maintained  it  as  an  ascertained  fact,  that 
Paul  during  his  second  residence  among  the  Gala- 
tian churches,  had  to  oppose  their  tendency  to 
Judaism,  we  must  examine  more  closely  the 
grounds  of  this  assertion.  As  to  Gal.  i.  9,  I  can- 
not acknowledge  as  decisive  the  reasons  alleged 
by  Rilckert,  Usteri,  and  Schott,  against  these 
words  being  an  impassioned  asseveration  of  the 
sentiment  in  the  preceding  verse,  and  in  favour  of 
their  being  a  reference  to  what  he  had  said,  when 
last  with  them.  Might  it  not  be  a  reference  to 
what  was  written  before,  as  Eph.  iii.  3  ;  2  Cor.  vii; 
2  ?  For  that  what  he  refers  to,  in  both  these  pas- 
sages, is  rather  more  distant,  makes  no  difference 
in  the  form  of  the  expression.  But  if  these  words 
must  refer  to  something  said  by  Paul  at  an  earlier 
period,  yet  the  consequence  which  Riickert  believes 
may  be  drawn  from  them,  does  not  follow ;  for 
though  Paul  had  no  cause  to  be  dissatisfied  with 
the  church  itself,  yet  after  what  he  had  experienced 
at  Antioch,  added  to  the  earlier  leaning  of  a  part 
of  the  churcli  to  Judaism,  he  might  consider  it 
necessary  to  charge  it  upon  them  most  impres- 
sively, that  under  whatever  name,  however  revered, 
another  doctrine  might  be  announced  to  them,  than 
what  he  had  preached — such  doctrine  would  de- 
serve no  credit,  but  must  be  Antichristian.  Al- 
tliough  Gal.  v.  21,  certainly  refers  to  something 
said  by  the  apostle  at  an  earlier  period,  yet  nothing 
further  can  be  concluded  from  it:  for  in  every 
church,  he  must  have  held  it  very  necessary  to 
make  it  apparent,  that  men  would  only  grossly 
flatter  themselves  if  they  imagined  that  they  could 
enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven  without  a  complete 
change  of  heart  and  conduct;  1  Thess.  iv.  6;  Eph. 
v.  5,  6.  The  words  in  Gal.  v.  2,  3,  must  be  thus 
understood,  "  As  I  said,  that  whoever  allows  him- 
self to  be  circumcised  renounces  his  fellowship 
with  Christ,  so  I  testify  to  such  an  one  again,  that 
he  is  bound  to  fulfil  the  whole  law."  Evidently, 
the  second  and  third  verses  relate  to  one  another ; 
the  thoughts  are  correlative.  If  Paul  intended  to 
remind  the  Galatians  of  warnings  he  had  given 
them  by  word  of  moutli,  why  did  he  not  insert  the 
vx-kt^  in  verse  2  ?  since  what  is  there  expressed 
forms  the  leading  thought,  and  requires  the  strong- 
est emphasis  to  be  laid  upon  it.  Also  in  the  fact, 
that  without  any  preparation  as  in  his  other  epis- 
tles, he  opens  this  with  such  vehement  rebuke,  I 
cannot  with  Ruckert  find  a  proof  that  during  his 
former  residence  among  tliese  churches,  he  had 
detected  the  Judaizing  tendency  among  them,  and 
was  forced  to  involve  all  in  blame,  in  order  to  bring 
them  back  to  the  right  path.  This  very  peculiar- 
ity in  the  tone  with  which  the  epistle  begins  may 
be  easily  explained,  if  we  suppose  that  since,  du- 
ring his  presence  among  them,  he  had  perceived 
no  departure  from  the  doctrine  announced  to  them 
— and  had  warned  them  beforehand  of  the  artifices 
of  the  Judaizers — the  sudden  information  of  the 


Chap.  VII.] 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


m 


But  still,  he  remarked,  that  these  Judaizing 
teacherTS  sought  to  gain  an  entrance  into 
the  churches,  that  they  made  a  show  of 
great  zeal  for  their  salvation,  and  that  the 
Gentiles  might  attain  to  the  full  enjoyment 
of  the  privileges  and  benefits  of  the  Mes- 
siah's kingdom — and  that  they  strove  to 
imbue  them  with  the  false  notion,  that  un- 
less they  allowed  themselves  to  be  circum- 
cised, they  could  not  stand  on  a  level  with 
the  Jewish  Christians.  Still  he  had  cause  to 
be  satisfied  with  the  manner-in  which  they 
maintained  their  Christian  freedom  against 
these  persons  ;  Gal.  iv.  18.  And  besought 
only  to  confirm  them  still  more  in  this  Chris- 
tian mode  of  thinking  and  acting,  while  he 
endeavoured  to  impress  on  their  hearts 
afresh — the  lesson — that  independently  of 
any  legal  observance,  salvation  could  be 
obtained  only  by  faith  in  Christ,  and  ear- 
nestly put  them  on  their  guard  against  every 
thing  which  opposed  or  injured  this  truth. 
This  was  interpreted  by  his  Judaizing  op- 
ponents, who  were  wont  to  misrepresent 
all  his  actions  and  words,  and  in  every 
way  to  infuse  distrust  of  him,  as  if  he  had 
grudged  the  Galatians  those  higher  privi- 
leges which  they  might  have  obtained  by 
the  reception  of  Judaism ;  Gal.  iv.  16. 

Paul  now  chose  as  the  scene  of  his 
labours  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  the 
centre  of  intercourse  and  traffic  for  a  large 
part  of  Asia,  the  city  of  Ephesus,  the 
most  considerable  place  of  commerce  on 
this  side  of  the  Taurus,  But  here  also  was 
a  central  point  of  mental  intercourse ;  so 
that  no  sooner  was  Christianity  introduced, 
than  it  was  exposed  to  new  conflicts  with 
foreign  tendencies  of  the  religious  spirit, 
which  either  directly  counteracted  the  new 
divine  element,  or  threatened  to  adulterate 


effect  produced  among-  them  by  this  class  of  per- 
sons, had  more  painfully  surprised,  more  violently 
affected  him  ;  and  the  whole  epistle  bears  the  marks 
of  such  an  impression  on  his  mind.  Whichever 
among  the  conflicting  interpretations  of  the  words 
in  ch.  iv.  18,  may  be  taken,  this  much  is  evident, 
that  Paul  wished  that  they  would  act  during  liis 
absence  as  they  had  done  during  his  presence.  And 
this  he  surely  could  not  have  said,  if  already  during 
his  former  residence,  they  had  given  him  such 
cause  for  dissatisfaction.  It  is  arbitrary  to  refer 
this  only  to  his  first  residence  among  them.  Had 
he  during  that  residence  noticed  such  things  among 
them — he  would  also  have  felt  that  uTro^ia.  in  re- 
ference to  them,  he  would  have  perceived  the  ne- 
cessity of  d^^^t|-lt/  TDv  <fm>iv,  and  have  already  made 
use  of  this  new  mode  of  treatment,  v.  20. 

17 


it.  Here  was  the  seat  of  heathen  magic, 
which  originally  proceeded  from  the  mystic 
worship  of  Artemis,*  and  here  also  the 
Jewish  magic,  connecting  itself  with  the 
heathenish,  sought  to  find  entrance.  The 
spirit  of  the  times,  dissatisfied  with  all  the 
existing  religions,  and  eager  after  something 
new,  was  favourable  to  all  such  attempts. 

After  Paul  had  preached  the  gospel  for 
three  months  in  the  synagogue,  he  was" 
induced,  by  the  unfriendly  disposition  ma- 
nifested by  a  part  of  the  Jews,  to  turn  his 
attention  to  the  Gentiles,  and  met  his 
hearers  daily  in  a  school  belonging  to  one 
of  their  number,  a  rhetorician,  named  Ty- 
rannus.  It  was  most  important  that  the 
divine  power  which  accompanied  the  pro- 
mulgation of  the  gospel  should  manifest  itself 
in  some  striking  manner,  in  opposition  to 
the  magic  so  prevalent  here,  which  by  its 
apparently  great  effects  deceived  and  cap- 
tivated many — in  order  to  rescue  men  from 
these  arts  of  deception,  and  prepare  their 
hearts  to  receive  the  truth.  And  though  a 
carnal  "  seeking  after  signs"  might  have 
tempted  men  (like  the  Goes  Simon)  to  cleave 
solely  to  the  sensible  phenomenon  in  which 
the  power  of  the  divine  was  manifested,  and 
to  regard  Christianity  itself  as  a  new  and 
higher  kind  of  magic, — a  most  powerful 
counteraction  against  such  a  temptation 
proceeded  from  the  genius  of  Christianity, 
when  it  really  found  an  entrance  into  the 
heart.  One  remarkable  occurrence  which 
took  place  at  this  time,  greatly  contributed 
to  set  in  the  clearest  light  the  opposition 
which  Christianity  presented  to  all  such 
arts  of  jugglery.  A  number  of.  Jewish 
Goetae  frequented  these  parts,  who  pretend- 
ed that  they  could  expel  evil  spirits  from 
possessed  persons  by  means  of  incantations, 
fumigations,  the  use  of  certain  herbs,  and 
other  arts,  which  they  had  derived  from 
King  Solomon  ;t  and  these  people  could  at 
times',  whether  by  great  dexterity  in  deceiv- 
ing the  senses  or  by  availing  themselves 
of  certain  powers  of  nature  unknown  to 
others,  or  by  the  influence  of  an  excited 


*  In  the  mysterious  words  on  her  statue,  higher 
mysteries  were  sought,  and  a  special  magical  power 
ascribed  to  them.  See  Clem.  Strom.  V.  568,  and 
after  these,  forms  of  incantation  were  constructed, 
which  were  supposed  to  possess  great  efficacy,  the 
so-called  E<pi7iA  y^A/x/nstTn. 

t  See  Justin.  Dial.  c.  Tryph.  Jud.  f.  311,  ed. 
Colon. 


130 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


[Book  III. 


imagination,  produce  apparently  great  ef- 
fects, though  none  which  really  promoted 
the  welfare  of  mankind,*  When  these 
Jewish  Goetse  beheld  the  effects  which  Paul 
produced  by  calling  on  the  name  of  Jesus, 
they  also  attempted  to  make  use  of  it  as  a 
magical  formula  for  the  exorcism  of  evfl 
spirits.  The  unhappy  consequences  of  this 
attempt  made  a  powerful  impression  on 
many,  wh'o,  as  it  appeared,  had  certainly 
been  moved  by  the  miraculous  operations 
of  the  apostle,  so  as  to  acknowledge  Jesus 
as  the  author  of  divine  powers  in  men,  but 
imag'ned  that  these  powers  could  be  em- 
ployed in  the  services  of  their  sinful  prac- 
tices, and  in  connexion  with  their  vain 
magical  arts.  But  terrified  by  the  disaster 
to  which  we  have  referred,  they  now  came 
to  the  apostle,  and  professed  repentance  for 
their  sinful  course,  and  declared  their  reso- 
lution to  forsake  it.  Books  full  of  magical 
formulce,  which  amounted  in  value  to  more 
than  "  fifty  pieces  of  silver,"  were  brought 
together  and  publicly  burnt.  This  triumph 
of  the  gospel  over  all  kinds  of  enthusiasm 
and  arts  of  deception  was  often  repeated, 

Ephesus  was  a  noted  rendezvous  for 
men  of  various  kinds  of  religious  belief, 
who  flocked  hither  from  various  parts  of 
the  East,  and  thus  were  brought  under  the 
influence  of  Christianity  ;  amongst  others, 
Paul  here  met  with  twelve  disciples  of  John 
the  Baptist,  the  individual  who  was  com- 
missioned by  God  to  prepare  for  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  Redeemer  among  his 
nation  and  contemporaries  ;  but,  as  was 
usual  with  the  preparatory  manifestations 
of  the  kingdom  of  God,  different  effects 
were  produced  according  to  the  difi^erent 
susceptibility  of  his  hearers.  There  were 
those  of  his  disciples  who,  following  his  di- 
rections, attained  to  a  living  faith  in  the  Re- 
deemer, and  some  of  whom  became  apostles  ; 
others  only  attained  a  very  defective  know- 
ledge of  the  person  and  doctrine  of  Christ; 
others  again,  not  imbibing  the  spirit  of  their 
master,  held  fast  their  former  prejudices,  and 
assumed  a  hostile  attitude  towards  Chris- 
tianity ;  probably  the  first  germ  of  such  an 
opposition  appeared  at  this  time  from  which 
the  sect  of  the  disciples  of  John  was  formed, 


*  The  cures  they  performed  were  sometimes  fol- 
lowed  by  still  greater  evils,  as  Christ  himself  in. 
timates  would  be  the  case;  Luke  xi.  23.  See  also 
Leben  Jesu,  p.  29L 


which  continued  to  exist  in  a  later  age. 
Those  disciples  of  John  with  whom  Paul 
met  at  Ephesus,  belonged  to  the  second  of 
these  classes.  Whether  they  had  become 
the  disciples  of  John  himself  in  Palestine 
and  received  baptism  from  him,  or  whether 
they  had  been  won  over  to  his  doctrine  by 
means  of  his  disciples  in  other  parts, — 
(which  would  serve  to  prove  that  John's 
disciples  aimed  at  forming  a  separate  com- 
munity, which  necessarily  would  soon  as- 
sume a  jealous  and  hostile  position  against 
Christianity  on  its  first  rapid  spread) — at 
all  events,  they  had  received  the  little  they 
had  heard  of  the  person  and  doctrine  of 
Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  to  whom  John  pointed 
his  followers,  and  considered  themselves 
justified  in  professing  to  be  Christians*  like 
others,  Paul  believed  that  he  should  find 
them  such ;  but,  on  further  conversation 
with  them,  it  appeared  that  they  understood 
nothing  of  the  power  of  the  glorified  Sa- 
viour, and  of  the  communication  of  divine 
life  through  him,  that  they  knew  nothing 
of  a  Holy  Spirit,  Paul  then  imparted  to 
them  more  accurate  instruction  on  the 
relation  between  the  ministry  of  John  and 
that  of  Christ,  between  the  baptism  of  John 
and  the  baptism  which  would  innitiate  them 
into  communion  with  Christ,  and  into  a 
participation  of  the  divine  life  that  pro- 
ceeded from  him.  After  that,  he  baptized 
them  in  the  name  of  Christ,  with  the  usual 
consecration  by  the  sign  of  the  laying  on 
of  hands  and  the  accompanying  prayer ; 
and  their  reception  into  Christian  fellow- 
ship was  sealed  by  the  usual  manifestations 
of  Christian  inspiration, 

Paul's  residence  at  Ephesus  was  not 
only  of  considerable  importance  for  the 
spread  of  Christianity  throughout  Asia 
Minor,  for  which  object  he  incessantly  la- 
boured either  by  undertaking  journeys 
himself,  or  by  means  of  disciples  whom 
he  sent  out  as  missionaries  ;  but  it  was  also 
a  great  advantage  for  the  churches  that 
were  already  formed  in  this  region,  as 
from  this  central  point  of  intercourse  he 
could  most  easily  receive  intelligence  from 
all  quarters,  and,  by  means  of  letters  or 
messengers,  could  attend  to  their  religious 


*  The  name  //aS-j)T5t/,  Acts  xix.  1,  without  any 
other  designation,  can  certainly  be  understood  only 
of  the  disciples  of  Jesus;  and  the  manner  in  which 
Paul  addressed  them,  implies,  that  they  were  con- 
sidered to  be  Christians, 


Chap.  VII.] 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


m 


and  moral  condition,  as  the  necessities  of 
the  churches  might  require.  His  anxiety 
for  these  his  spiritual  children  always  ac- 
companied him  ;  he  often  reminded  them 
that  he  remembered  them  daily  in  his 
prayers  with  thanksgiving  and  interces- 
sion ;  thus  he  assured  the  Corinthians  in 
the  overflowing  of  his  love,  that  he  bore 
them  continually  in  his  heart ;  and  vividly 
depicted  his  daily  care  for  all  the  churches 
he  had  founded  by  his  touching  interroga- 
tions, "  Who  is  weak  in  fait-h  and  I  am  not 
weak?  Who  meets  with  a  stumbling- 
block  and  I  am  not  disturbed  even  more 
than  himself?"     2  Cor.  xi.  29. 

Cases  of  the  latter  kind  must  often  have 
excited  the  grief  of  the  apostle  ;  for  as  the 
Christian  faith  gradually  gained  the  ascen- 
dancy and  affected  the  general  tone  of 
thinking  in  society,  new  views  of  life  in 
general,  and  a  new  mode  of  feeling,  were 
formed  in  the  Gentile  world  ;  and  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  immoral  licentiousness  of  hea- 
thenism, which  men  were  led  to  renounce 
by  the  new  principles  of  the  Christian  life, 
an  anxiously  legal  and  Jewish  mode  of 
thinking,  which  burdened  the  conduct  with 
numberless  restraints,  was  likely  to  find  an 
entrance,  and  must  have  disturbed  the 
minds  of  many  who  had  not  attained  set- 
tled Christian  convictions. 

Probably  it  was  soon  after  his  arrival  at 
Ephesus  that  Paul  received  information  re- 
specting the  state  of  the  Galatian  churches 
which  awakened  his  fears.  During  his 
last  residence  among  them,  he  had  per- 
ceived the  machinations  of  a  Judaizing 
party,  which  were  likely  to  injure  the  pu- 
rity of  the  Christian  faith  and  the  freedom 
of  the  Christian  spirit.  He  was  aware  of 
the  danger  which  threatened  from  this 
quarter,  and  had  taken  measures  to  coun- 
terwork it ;  he  was  not  successful,  how- 
ever, in  averting  the  approaching  storm, 
as  he  now  experienced  to  his  great  sorrow. 

The  adversaries  whom  he  had  here  to 
contend  with  were  unwilling  to  acknow- 
ledge his  apostolic  authority,  because  he 
had  not  been  instructed  and  called  to  the 
apostleship  immediately  by  Christ  himself; 
they  maintained  that  all  preaching  of  the 
gospel  must  rest  on  the  authority  of  the 
apostles  who  were  appointed  by  Christ 
himself;  they  endeavoured  to  detect  a 
contrariety  between  the  doctrine  of  Paul 
and  the  doctrine  of  the  apostles,  who  had 


allowed  the  observance  of  the  law  in  their 
churches,  and  accused  him  in  consequence 
of  a  departure  from  the  pure  doctrine  of 
Christ.  They  could  also  appeal  to  the 
fact,  that  he  represented  himself  when 
among  the  Jews  as  a  Jew  observing  the 
law,  and  therefore,  when  he  taught  other- 
wise among  the  Gentiles,  he  could  only  do 
it  in  order  to  flatter  them,  to  the  injury  of 
their  true  interest.  • 

Although  the  anti-pauline  tendency  in 
the  Galatian  churches  was  connected  with 
that  party  which  had  its  principal  seat  in 
Palestine,  yet  persons  who  proceeded  from 
the  midst  of  the  Gentile  Christians,*  and 
had  submitted  to  circumcision,  acted  here 
principally  as  the  organs  of  this  party,  and 
exercised  the  greatest  influence.  To  such 
the  words  of  Paul  in  Gal.  vi.  13,  must  re- 
late ;  that  even  those  who  were  circum- 
cised, or  wished  to  be  so,  did  not  them- 
selves observe  the  law.  These  must  have 
been  originally  Gentiles,  and,  on  this  sup- 
position, it  is  less  difficult  to  understand, 


*  This  entirely  depends  upon  whether  we  adopt 
the  lectio  recepta  in  Gal.  vi.  13,  Trie^nifxvofAivoi,  or 
the  reading  of  the  codex  Vaticanus  approved  by 
Lachmann  [and  Tischendorff]  Tn^iriTfAH/uivoi.  I 
cannot  help  considering  the  first  (which  has  the 
greatest  number  of  original  authorities  in  its 
favour)  as  the  correct  reading,  partly  on  this  ac 
count,  that  we  cannot  imagine  any  reason  why 
any  one  should  be  induced  to  explain  the  latter,  a 
word  requiring  no  explanation,  by  the  former,  a 
more  difficult  one,  and  on  the  contrary,  it  may  be 
easily  accounted  for,  how  a  person  might  think  of 
explaining  the  former  by  the  latter.  If  the  lectio 
recepta  be  the  correct  one,  still  the  expression  can- 
not refer  to  circumcised  Jews,  but  only  to  Gen. 
tiles  who  suffered  themselves  to  be  circumcised. 
That  the  most  influential  seducers  of  the  Galatian 
churches  were  such,  appears  to  me  to  be  intimated 
by  the  word  ai7rox.o~\.ovTctt,  v.  12..  Hence  may  be 
better  explained  the  impassioned  terms  proceeding 
from  a  truly  holy  zeal,  with  which  Paul  speaks 
against  these  persons.  If  circumcision  be  not 
enough  for  them,  let  them  have  excision  also;  if 
falling  away  from  the  religion  of  the  spirit,  they 
seek  'their  salvation  in  these  outv/ard  wortiiless 
things  and  would  make  themselves  dependent 
upon  them.  The  pathos  with  which  he  here 
speaks,  testifies  his  zeal  for  tlie  salvation  of  souls, 
and  for  the  elevated  spiritual  character  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  against  all  ceremonial  services,  by 
which  Christianity  and  human  nature  would  be 
degraded.  And  there  is  no  occasion  for  the  apo- 
logy made  by  Jerome,  although  what  he  says  is 
correct,  that  we  must  still  look  on  the  apostle  as  a 
man  subject  to  human  affections:  "Nee  mirura 
esse  si  Apostolus,  ut  homo  et  adiiuc  vasculo 
clausus  infirmo  semel  fucrit  hoc  loquutus,  ia 
quod    frequenter    sanctos   vires   cadere   perspici- 


132 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


[Book  Ill- 


how  he  could  say  of  them  that  they  them- 
selves  did  not  observe  the  law, — for  to  per- 
sons who  had  grown  up  in  heathenism,  it 
could' not  be  so  easy  a  matter  to  practise 
the  complete  round  of  Jewish  observances. 
But,  as  is  most  generally  the  case  with 
proselytes,  they  were  peculiarly  zealous 
for  the  party  to  which,  notwithstanding 
their  Grecian  descent,  they  had  devoted 
themselves,  and  their  influence  with  their 
countrymen  was  far  more  dangerous  than 
that  of  the  Jewish  false  teachers. 

Such  a  mixture  of  Judaism  and  Chris- 
tianity threatened  to  destroy  the  whole 
essence  of  Christianity,  and  to  substitute  a 
Jewish  ceremonial  service  in  the  place  of  a 
genuine  Christian  conversion  proceeding 
from  a  living  faith,  and  the  danger  which 
thus  threatened  the  divine  work  made  a 
deep  impression  on  the  apostle.  In  order 
to  give  the  Galatian  Christians  an  evidence 
of  his  love,  of  which  the  Judaizers  wished 
to  excite  a  mistrust,  and  to  make  it  evident 
what  importance  he  attached  to  the  sub- 
ject, he  undertook  to  write  an  epistle  to 
them  ivith  his  oivn  hand^  contrary  to  his 
usual  custom,  and  a  diflicult  task  for  one 
who,  amidst  his  manifold  engagements, 
had  little  practice  in  writing  Greek.* 


*  Although  the  proper  meaning  of  the  Greek 
w))^<xo<c,  Gal.  vi.  11,  would  lead  us  to  understand 
it  as  referring  to  the  large  unshapely  letters  of  an 
unpractised  writer,  yet  I  could  never  find  in  the 
words  so  understood,  an  expression  corresponding 
to  the  earnestness  of  the  apostle,  and  the  tone  of 
the  whole  epistle.  Why  should  he  not  have  ex- 
pressed, in  a  more  natural  manner,  how  toilsome 
he  had  found  the  task  of  merely  writing  in  this 
language?  See  Schott's  Commentary.  We  are 
inclined  to  believe,  that  he  uses  the  word  in  the 
less  proper  sense  for  wo^ot^,  as  in  the  later  Latin 
authors  we  often  find  qiinnti  for  quot.  And  we 
may  refer  it  most  naturally  to  the  whole  epistle, 
as  written  with  his  own  hand.  It  will  also  agree 
with  the  use  of  the  word  y^v./u/uctra,  when  applied 
to  an  epistle.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  use  of 
the  dative  in  this  case  is  unusual,  and  not  agreea- 
ble to  the  Pauline  phraseology,  and  to  tlie  frequent 
use  of  the  word  \vittox>i,  for  an  epistle.  The 
reason  of  his  writing  the  whole  epistle  with  his 
own  hand,  was  certainly  not  to  guard  against  a 
falsification  of  it,  or  the  forgery  of  another  in  his 
name,  for  his  opponents,  in  this  instance,  were 
under  no  temptation  to  do  this,  since  they  were 
not  desirous  of  ascribing  to  him  any  other  doc- 
trine  than  that  of  his  own,  but  were  at  issue  with 
him  respecting  the  truth  of  that  doctrine,  and 
actually  impugned  his  apostolic  authority.  The 
connexion  of  the  passage  plainly  shows  lis  for 
what  purpose  he  so  expressly  stated  that  he  had 
written  the  whole  with  his  own  hand,  namely,  to 


He  begins  his  epistle  with  declaring  that 
his  apostolic  call  was  given  him  immedi- 
ately by  Christ  himself,  as  to  the  other 
apostles  ;  he  assures  the  Galatian  Chris- 
tians in  a  most  solemn  manner  that  there 
could  be  no  other  gospel  than  that  which 
he  had  announced  to  them,  and  that  it  was 
far  from  his  thoughts  to  be  influenced  by 
the  desire  of  his  pleasing  men  in  his  mode 
of  publishing  the  gospel  ;*  though  when 
enthralled  in  Pharisaism,  he  was  actuated 
only  by  a  regard  to  human  authority.  But 
since  he  had  devoted  himself  to  the  service 
of  Christ,  he  had  renounced  all  such  con- 
siderations, and  taught  and  acted  in  obe- 
dience to  the  divine  call,  as  responsible  to 
God  alone.f  He  proved  to  them  by  a 
lucid  statement  of  facts,  that  from  the  first 
he  published  the  gospel  in  consequence  of 
immediate  divine  illumination,  and  inde- 
pendently of  all  human  authority ;  and 
that  the  other  apostles  had  acknowledged 
his  independent  apostolic  character.:]:  With 


testify  that  his  love  for  them  induced  him  to  un- 
dergo any  labour  on  their  account,  in  contrast 
with  the  false  teachers  whom  he  had  described  in 
the  following  verses  as  seeking  their  own  glory. 

*  The  Judaizers  accused  him  of  this  in  refe- 
rence to  the  Gentiles. 

t  Schrader  misunderstands  Gal.  i.  10,  when  he 
applies  it  only  to  Jews  and  Judaizing  Christians. 
If  we  apply  the  assertion  here  made  in  the  most 
general  terms,  according  to  the  sense  intended  by 
Paul,  we  shall  understand  it  of  Gentiles  and  Gen- 
tile Christians.  Paul  wished  to  defend  himself 
against  the  accusation  of  the  Jews,  that  he  wil- 
fully falsified  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  in  order  to 
make  it  acceptable  to  the  heathen.  The  agrt 
marks  the  opposition  of  his  conduct  as  the  S'ovm; 
Xgit^'rou  to  his  former  Pharisaism,  of  which  he 
afterwards  speaks  more  at  large.  This  view  of 
the  passage  docs  away  with  an  inference  which 
Schrader  attempts  to  draw  from  it,  that  Paul 
wrote  this  epistle  during  the  time  of  his  imprison- 
ment at  Rome. 

t  The  chief  points  which  it  was  important  for 
the  apostle  to  establish  were  these  : — that  before 
he  made  his  first  journey  to  Jerusalem,  after  his 
conversion,  he  had  appeared  as  an  independent 
preacher  of  the  gospel — that  his  first  journey  to 
Jerusalem  had  altogether  a  different  object  from 
being  taught  by  the  apostles  the  right  method  of 
preaching  the  gospel — and  that  it  was  not  till 
after  he  had  preached  the  gospel  alone  for  some 
years,  that  he  conversed  with  the  most  distin- 
guished of  the  apostles,  to  whom  the  Judaizers 
themselves  were  wont  to  appeal,  respecting 
their  different  method,  and  notwithstanding  that 
difference,  they  still  acknowledged  him  as  a 
genuine  apostle.  Paul's  object  by  no  means  re- 
quired a  recital  of  all  his  journeys  to  Jerusalem. 
See  the  remarks  of  Bauer  in  the  "  Tubinger  Zeit- 
schrift,"  1831,  part  4,  p.  112. 


Chap.  VH.] 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTTOCH. 


183 


the  firmest  conviction  that  salvation  and 
all  theTulness  of  the  divine  life  were  to  be 
found  only  by  faith  in  the  Crucified,  he 
turns  to  the  Galatian  Christians  with  the 
exclamation,  "  Ye  fools,  who  hath  so  be- 
witched you  !  to  forget  Jesus  the  Crucified, 
whom  we  have  set  forth  before  your  eyes 
as  the  only  ground  of  our  salvation,  and 
to  seek  in  outward  things,  in  the  Avorks  of 
the  law,  that  salvation  for  which  ye  must 
be  indebted  to  him  alone  !  Are  ye  so  void 
of  understanding,  that  after'ye  have  begun 
your  Christianity  in  the  spirit,  in  the  di- 
vine life  which  proceeds  from  faith,  ye  can 
seek  after  something  higher  still  (the  per- 
fecting of  your  Christianity),  in  the  low, 
the  sensuous,  and  the  earthly,  in  that 
which  can  have  no  elevating  influence  on 
the  inner  life  of  the  Spirit,  in  the  obser- 
vance of  outward  ceremonies  ?"  He  ap- 
peals to  the  evidence  of  their  own  experi- 
ence, that  though  from  the  first  the  gospel 
had  been  published  to  them  independently 
of  the  law,  yet  by  virtue  of  faith  in  the 
Redeemer  alone,  the  divine  power  of  the 
gospel  had  revealed  itself  among  them  by 
manifold  operations,  among  which  he 
reckoned  the  miracles  to  which  he  alludes 
in  ch.  iii.  5. 

As  his  opponents  supported  themselves 
on  the  authority  of  the  Old  Testament, 
Paul  shows,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the 
final  aim  of  its  contents  was  to  prepare  for 
the  appearance  of  the  Redeemer,  by  whom 
the  wall  of  separation  that  had  hitherto 
existed  among  men  was  to  be  taken  away, 
and  all  men  by  virtue  of  faith  in  him  were 
to  receive  a  divine  life ;  that  the  promises 
given  to  Abraham  were  annexed  to  the 
condition  of  faith,  and  would  be  fulfilled  in 
all  who  were  followers  of  Abraham  in 
faith,  as  his  genuine  spiritual  children ; 
that  the  manllestation  of  the  law  formed 
only  a  preparatory  intervening  period  be- 
tween the  giving  of  the  promise  and  its 
fulfilment  by  the  appearance  of  the  Re- 
deemer. He  placed  Judaism  and  heathen- 
ism— though,  in  other  respects,  he  viewed 
these  religions  as  essentially  ditTerent — 
in  one  class  in  relation  to  Christianity; 
the  standing-point  of  pupilage  in  religion, 
in  relation  to  the  standing-point  of  matu- 
rity which  the  children  of  God  attained  for 
the  full  enjoyment  of  their  rights;  the 
standing-point  of  the  dependence  of  reli- 
gion on  outward,  sensible  things,  an  out- 


ward cultus,  consisting  in  various  ceremo- 
nies in  relation  to  the  standing-point  of  a 
religion  of  freedom  (which  proceeded  from 
faith)  of  the  spirit,  and  of  the  inward  life. 
As  his  opponents  charged  him  with  a 
want  of  uprightness,  and  with  releasing 
the  Gentiles  from  the  burdensome  obser- 
vance of  the  law,  merely  from  a  wish  to 
ingratiate  himself  with  them,  he  could, 
adopt  no  rryDre  suitable  method  of  vindica- 
ting himself,  and  of  infusing  confidence 
into  the  Galatian  Christians,  than  by  pro- 
posing the  example  of  his  own  life  for 
imitation.  He  lived  among  the  Gentiles  as 
a  Gentile,  without  submitting  to  the  restric- 
tions of  the  Mosaic  Law,  which  certainly 
he  would  not  have  done  if  he  had  believed 
that  it  was  impossible  to  attain  the  full  pos- 
session of  the  blessings  of  the  Messiah's 
kingdom  without  the  observance  of  the 
law.  Hence  he  made  this  dernand  on  the 
Galatians  (iv.  12),  "  Become  as  I  am  (in 
reference  to  the  non-observance  of  the 
law),  for  I  am  become  as  you  are,  like 
you  as  Gentiles  in  the  non-observance  of 
the  law,  although  a  native  Jew."*  Now, 
if  his  method  of  becoming  to  the  Jews  a 
Jew,  by  observing  the  ceremonies  of  the 
law  when  amongst  them  in  Palestine,  had 
been  at  all  inconsistent  with  what  he  here 
said  of  himself,  he  would  not  have  appeal- 
ed with  such  confidence  to  his  own  exam- 
ple. But,  according  to  his  own  principles, 
such  a  contradiction  could  not  exist ;  for, 
if  he  did  not  constantly  observe  the  cere- 
monies of  the  law,  but  only  under  certain 
relations  and  circumstances  ;  this  suffi- 
ciently showed  that  he  no  longer  ascribed 
to  them  an  objective  importance,  that  ac- 
cording to  his  conviction  they  could  con- 
tribute nothing  to  the  justification  and  sanc- 
tificalion  of  men ;  and  as  this  was  his 
principle  in  reference  to  all  outward,  and 
in  themselves  indifferent  things,  he  only 
submitted  to  them  for  the  benefit  of  others, 
according  to  the  dictates  of  wisdom  and 
love. 


*  I  agrree  with  Usteri  in  the  explanation  of  these 
words,  That  the  Galatians  had  at  that  time  adopted 
the  practice  of  .Jewish  ceremonies,  and  therofore 
Paul  could  not  in  this  respect  say,  '*  I  am  become 
like  you," — can  form  no  valid  objection  to  this  in- 
terpretation ;  for  the  Galatian  Christians,  all  of 
whom  certainly  had  not  devoted  themselves  to  the 
observance  of  the  law,  still  belonged  to  the  stock 
of  the  Gentiles,  and  with  this  view,  the  term  t/^Jc 
is  used. 


134 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


[Book  Ill- 


Paul  called  upon  the  Galatlans  to  stand 
firm  in  the  liberty  gained  for  them  by 
Christ,  and  not  to  bring  themselves  again 
under  ,the  yoke  of  bondage.  He  assured 
them,  that  if  they  were  circumcised,  Christ 
would  profit  them  nothing;  that  every  man 
who  submitted  to  circumcision  was  bound 
to  observe  the  whole  law  ;  that  since  they 
sought  to  be  justified  by  the  law,  they  had 
renounced  their  connexion  with  Christ, 
they  were  fallen  from  the  possession  of 
grace.  What  he  here  says,  is  by  no  means 
inconsistent  with  his  allowing  Timothy  to 
be  circumcised,  and  accommodating  him- 
self in  outward  usages  to  the  Jewish  Chris- 
tians.* For  he  means  not  outward  cir- 
cumcision considered  in  itself,  but  in  its 
connexion  with  the  religious  principle  in- 
volved in  it,  as  far  as  the  Gentile  who  sub- 
mitted to  circumcision  did  so  in  the  convic- 
tion that  by  it,  and  therefore  by  the  law  (to 
whose  observance  a  man  was  bound  by 
circumcision)  justification  was  to  be  ob- 
tained. And  this  conviction  stood  in  direct 
opposition  to  that  disposition  which  felt  in- 
debted to  the  Saviour  alone  for  salvation. 

The  apostle,  in  contrasting  his  true  up- 
right love  to  the  Galatian  Christians,  with 
the  pretended  zeal  of  the  Judaizers  for 
their  salvation,  said  to  them,  "They  have 
a  zeal  on  your  account,  but  not  in  the  right 
way;  but  they  wish  to  exclude  you  from 
the  kingdom  of  God  in  order  that  you  may 
be  zealous  about  them,  that  is,  they  wish 
to  persuade  you,  that  you  cannot  as  uncir- 
cumcised  Gentiles  enter  the  kingdom  of  God, 
in  order  that  you  may  emulate  them,  that 
you  may  be  circumcised  as  they  are,  as  if 
thus  only  you  can  become  members  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Those  who  are  disposed 
of  their  outward  pre-eminence  (of  outward 
Judaism),  compel  you  to  be  circumcised 
only  that  they  may  not  be  persecuted  with 
the  cross  of  Christ,  that  is,  with  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ  the  Crucified,  as  the  only 
ground  of  salvation,  that  they  may  not  be 
obliged  to  owe  their  salvation  to  Him  alone, 
and  to  renounce  all  their  merits,  all  in 
which  they  think  themselves  distinguished 


above  others.*     They  wish  you  to  be  cir- 
circumcised  only  that  they  may  glory  in 


*  Keil  believes  that  he  has  detected  an  inconsis- 
tency in  principle,  and  hmcc  concluded,  that  this 
epistle  belonged  to  an  earlier  period  in  the  apostle's 
life,  preceding  the  apostolic  convocation,  since  in 
his  first  zeal  after  his  conversion  he  indulged  in  a 
rude  vehemence  against  Judaism,  which  afterwards 
was  softened. 


*  I  here  adopt  an  interpretation  of  the  words  in 
Gal.  vi.  12,  different  from  that  which  from  ancient 
times  has  been  received  by  most  expositors,  and 
which,  without  being  closely  examined,  has  been 
mentioned  by  Usteri  only  with  unqualified  disap- 
probation. I  will  therefore  state  a  few  things  in 
its  favour.  The  common  explanation  of  the  pas- 
sage is,  "These  persons  compel  you  to  be  circum- 
cised, only  because  they  are  not  willing  to  be  per- 
secuted for  the  cross  of  Christ ;  that  is,  in  order 
to  avoid  the  persecutions  which  the  publication  of 
the  doctrine  of  justification  through  faith  alone,  in 
Jesus  the  Crucified,  will  bring  upon  them  fiom  the 
Jews."  The  use  of  the  dative  suits  this  inter- 
pretation, although  I  believe  that  Paul,  if  he  had 
wished  to  give  utterance  to  this  simple  thought, 
would  have  expressed  himself  more  plainly.  Gal. 
V.  11  is  in  favour  of  this  interpretation,  where  Paul 
says  of  himself,  that  if  he  still  preached  the  ne- 
cessity of  circumcision,  then  the  offence  which  the 
Jews  took  at  Christianity,  on  account  of  the  doc- 
trine that  a  man  by  faith  in  the  Crucified,  might 
become  an  heir  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  without 
the  observance  of  the  law — would  at  once  be  taken 
away,  and  that  no  reason  would  be  left  for  perse- 
cuting him  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel.  But  in 
order  to  avoid  such  persecutions  on  the  part  of 
the  Jews,  these  persons  need  only  observe  the  law 
strictly  themselves,  and  beware  of  publishing  the 
doctrine,  that  a  man  could  be  justified  without  the 
works  of  the  law  ;  by  no  means  would  they  there- 
by be  obliged  to  press  circumcision  so  urgently  on 
the  Gentiles  already  converted,  nor  does  Paul  ever 
ascribe  to  his  Judaizing  opponents  the  design  of 
avoiding  the  persecution  that  threatened  them  by 
such  conduct.  And  if,  according  to  the  indications 
that  have  been  pointed  out,  the  most  influential  op- 
ponents of  Paul  in  the  Galatian  churches  were  of 
Gentile  descent,  this  interpretation  would  still  less 
hold  good,  for  Gentiles  might  bring  persecutions 
on  themselves  sooner  by  the  observance  of  Jewish 
ceremonies,  than  by  the  observance  of  the  Christian 
religion,  which  was  not  conspicuous  in  outward 
rites.  And  how  would  this  interpretation  suit  the 
connexion  ?  Paul  says  (Gal.  vi.  12),  "Those  who 
wish  to  have  some  pre-eminence  in  outward  things 
(some  outward  distinction  before  others)  oblige  you 
to  be  circumcised."  After  this,  we  expect  some- 
thing related  to  it,  in  the  clause  beginning  with 
ivoL  fXYi,  something  that  may  serve  as  an  exegesis, 
or  to  fix  the  meaning.  But,  according  to  that  in- 
terpretation, something  quite  foreign  would  follow 
— that  thereby  they  wish  to  avoid  persecution.  If 
this  thought  followed,  Paul  would  have  said  at  first 
— "  Those  who  long  after  ease  for  the  flesh,  or  who 
are  afraid  to  bear  the  cross  of  Christ  (or  something 
of  the  kind),  force  circumcision  upon  you,"  &-c. 
Verse  14  also  shows,  that  all  the  emphasis  is  laid 
on  glorying  alone  on  the  cross  of  Christ,  which  is 
opposed  to  setting  a  high  value  on  any  other  ^Zory- 
xng.  The  thought  arising  from  that  interpretation 
appears  quite  foreign  to  the  context,  both  before 
and  after.  On  the  other  hand,  the  interpretation 
I  have  adopted  suits  it  entirely.  That  iiiTrgjjTuvut 
ev  a-ii^)ti,  that  xay;^>i,ua  jcara  o-agxa  is  taken  away, 
if  men  can  glory  only  in  the  cross  of  Christ.  Hence 


Chap.  VII.] 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


135 


your  flesh,  that  is,  in  the  change  M'hich 
they  have  outwardly  effected  in  you,  by 
bringing  you  over  altogether  to  the  Jewish 
Christian  party."  The  apostle,  lastly,  ad- 
jured the  Galatians  that  ihey  would  not 
give  him  any  I'urther  trouble,  since  he  bore 
in  his  body  the  mark  of  the  sufferings  he 
had  endured  for  the  cause  of  Christ.* 

During  his  residence  at  Ephesus,  the 
afl^airs  of  the  Corinthian  church  demanded 
his  special  attention.  The  history  of  this 
community  presents  us  wi'th  an  image  of 
those  appearances  and  disturbances  which 
have  been  often  repeated  in  later  periods 
of  the  church  on  a  larger  scale.  A  variety 
of  influences  mingled  their  action  on  this 
church,  and  it  is  impossible  to  deduce  every 
thing  from  one  common  ground  of  expla- 
nation, such  as  the  relationf  between  the 
diff^erent  parties ;  although  one  common 
cause   may  be   found  which  will    explain 


they  consider  the  cross  of  Christ,  that  is,  the  doc- 
trine of  faith  in  the  Crucified,  the  only  sufficient 
means  of  salvation,  as  something-  wearing  a  hos- 
tile aspect  towards  them,  by  which  they  are  per- 
secuted, since  it  obliges  them  to  renounce  their 
fancied  superiority.  With  the  positive  clause  in 
V.  12,  "those  who  wish  to  have  some  pre-eminence 
accordiuiT  to  the  flesh,"  the  negative  clause  agrees 
very  well,  "  that  they  may  not  be  persecuted  with 
or  by  the  cross  of  Christ,"  (the  cross  of  Christ  is 
something  subjective  to  them,  by  wiiich  they  are 
persecuted).  The  mention  of  the  cross  first,  ac- 
cording to  the  best  accredited  reading  adopted  by 
Lachmann,  suits  this  view  of  the  passage.  Accord- 
ing to  the  other  view,  all  the  emphasis  is  to  be 
placed  on  the  not  being  persecuted.  On  the  whole, 
the  leading  idea  of  the  whole  passage  appears  to 
be.  Glorying  in  the  cross  of  Christ,  in  opposition 
to  glorying  in  the  flesh. 

*  If  we  only  consider  what  is  narrated  in  the 
Acts  of  his  sufl^erings  hitherto,  though  it  is  evi- 
dent  from  a  comparison  with  9  Cor.  xi.  that  all  is 
not  mentioned,  we  shall  be  as  little  disposed  as  by 
what  the  apostle  says  of  the  persecutions  of  the 
Jews,  to  apply  these  words  (with  Schrader)  to  his 
imprisonment  at  Rome.  What  Paul  says  in  ci). 
ii.  10,  respecting  the  fulfilment  of  obligations  to 
the  poor  at  Jerusalem,  might  favour  the  later 
composition  of  his  epistle,  but  proves  nothing; 
for  the  words  by  no  means  lead  us  to  think  of 
that  last  large  collection,  of  which  he  undertook 
to  be  the  bearer  to  Jerusalem.  He  might  very 
ofl^en  have  sent  separate  contributions  from  the 
churches  of  Gentile  Christians  to  Jerusalem,  al- 
though, owing  to  the  imperfections  of  church  his- 
lory,  we  have  no  certain  information  respecting 
them.  On  his  last  journey  preceding  his  last 
visit  to  the  Galatians,  he  might  have  brought 
with  him  one  of  these  smaller  collections. 

t  By  attempting  to  deduce  too  much  from  this 
single  cause,  Storr  has  indulged  in  many  forced 
interpretations  and  suppositions. 


many  of  these  influences,  in  the  particular 
situation  of  the  Christian  church,  which 
the  new  Christian  spirit  had  but  partially 
penetrated,  opposed  as  it  was  by  former 
habits  of  life  and  the  general  state  of  so- 
ciety. Many  of  the  easily  excited  and 
mobile  Greeks  had  been  carried  away  by 
the  powerful  impression  of  Paul's  ministry 
made  at  Corinth,  and  at  first  showed  great 
zeal  for  Christianity;  but  the  essence  of 
Christianity  had  taken  no  deep  root  in  their 
unsettled  dispositions.  In  a  city  like  Co- 
rinth, where  so  great  a  corruption  of  morals 
prevailed,  and  so  many  incentives  to  the 
indulgence  of  the  passions  were  presented 
on  every  side,  such  a  superficial  conver- 
sion was  exposed  to  the  greatest  danger. 
In  addition  to  this,  after  Paul  had  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  church,  other  preachers 
followed  him  who  published  the  gospel  partly 
in  another  form,  and  partly  on'other  princi- 
ples, and  who,  since  their  various  constitu- 
tional peculiarities  were  not  properly  subor- 
dinated to  the  essential  principles  of  the 
gospel,  gave  occasion  to  many  divisions 
among  the  Greeks,  a  people  naturally 
inclined  to  parties  and  party  disputes.* 
Theref  were  at  first  persons  of  the  same 
spirit  as  those  false  teachers  of  the  Gala- 


*  Owing  to  this  national  characteristic,  the  efli- 
ciency  of  the  gospel  among  them  was  much  dis- 
turbed and  weakened  in  after  ages. 

t  Ruekert  thinks  that  the  order  in  which  the 
parties  are  mentioned  in  1  Cor.  i.  12,  corresponds 
to  the  period  of  their  first  formation  ;  that  first  the 
preaching  of  Apollos  occasioned  the  formation  of 
such  a  division  in  the  church,  who  felt  a  greater 
partiality  to  Apollos  than  to  Paul,  and  were  no 
longer  satisfied  with  the  latter,  though  they  had 
not  yet  formed  themselves  into  a  particular  party  ; 
then  the  Judaizers  would  take  advantage  of  such 
a  state  of  feeling,  and  join  the  favourers  of  Apollos 
in  opposition  to  Paul  :  thus  two  parties  would  be 
formed.  But,  in  course  of  time,  the  original  par- 
tisans of  Apollos  would  discover  that  they  could 
not  agree  with  the  Judaizers,  who  had  at  first,  in 
order  to  find  an  entrance,  concealed  their  pecu- 
liarities, and  thus  at  last  tiicre  would  be  three 
distinct  piirties.  But  this  passage  (i.  12)  cannot 
avail  for  determining  the  chronological  relation  of 
these  parties  to  one  another.  Paul  here  follows 
the  logical  relation,  without  adverting  to  the  chro- 
nological order.  He  places  the  partisans  of  Apol- 
los next  to  those  of  Paul,  because  they  only  formed 
a  particular  section  of  the  Pauline  party  ;  he  then 
mentions  those  who  were  their  most  strenuous 
opponents,  and  lastly,  those  through  whose  exist- 
ence the  other  parties  would  be  presupposed.  We 
have  throughout  no  data  by  which  to  determine 
the  chronological  connexion  of  the  three  first 
parties. 


136 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


[Book  111. 


tian  churches,  who  wished  to  introduce  a  | 
Christianity  more  mingled  with  Judaism —  ] 
who  could  not  endure  the  independence  and 
freedom  with  which  the  Gospel  published 
by  Paul  was  developed  among  the  Gentiles, 
althoug^h  they  were  not  so  violent  as  the 
Galatian  false  teachers,   and  accordmgly 
named  themselves,  not  after  James,  whom 
the  most  decided  Judaizers  made  their  chief 
authority,  but  after  Peter.     Moreover,  we 
must  carefully  nx)tice  the  diffengnce  of  cir^ 
cumstances.    The  Galatian  chlirches  could 
be  more  easily  operated  upon  by  organs  of 
the    Judaizing   party    who   came   forward 
from  among  themselves  ;  it  was  altogether 
different  at  Corinth,  where   the  Judaizers 
had  to  operate  upon  men  of  a  decidedly 
Grecian  character,  who  were  not  so  sus- 
ceptible of  the  influence  of  Judaism.   Hence 
they  could  not  venture  to  come  forward  at 
once,  and  disclose  their  intentions  :  it  was 
necessary  first  to  prepare  the  soil  before 
they   scattered    the   seed  ; — to   act   warily 
and  gently ;  to  accomplish  their  work  gra- 
dually ;  to  employ  a  variety  of  artifices  in 
order  to  undermine  the  principles  on  which 
Paul  preached  the  gospel  ;  to  infuse  a  mis- 
trust of  his  apostolic  character,  and  thus 
to  alienate  the  affections  of  his    converts 
from     him.*     They    began   with    casting 
doubts  on  Paul's  apostolic  dignity,  for  the 
reasons  which  have  been  before  mentioned; 
they  set  in  opsosition  to  him,  as  the  only 
genuine  apostles,  those  who  were  instructed 
and    ordained   by  Christ   himself     They 
understood  besides  how  to  instil  into  anxious 
minds  a  number  of  scruples,  to  which  a 
life    spent   ir>-  intercourse    with    heathens 
would  easily  give  rise,  and  which  persons 
who  had  been   previously  proselytes  to  Ju- 
daism must  have  been  predisposed  to  enter- 
tain. 

Persons  whose  minds  took  this  direc- 
tion, placed  Peter  as  an  apostle  chosen  by 
the  Lord  himself,  and  especially  distin- 
guished by  him,  in  opposition  to  Paul,  who 
had  assumed  the  office  at  a  later  period. 
When  the  strongly  marked  peculiarities  of 
any  of  the  apostles  were  blended  with  their 
views  of  Christianity,  and  it  presented  them 
in  a  varied  form,  it  was  in  accordance 
with  the  different  spheres  of  activity  as- 


signed them  by  God,  and  served  not  to  in- 
jure the  unity  of  the  Christian  spirit,  but 
rather  in  this  very  manifoldness  to  illus- 
trate its  excellence  ;  but  now  among  those 
who  attached  themselves  to  this  or  the 
other  apostles,  one-sided  tendencies  became 
prominent,  and  that  variety  which  might 
have  consisted  with  unity,  was  formed  by 
them  into  an  exclusive  contrariety.  As  a 
one-sided  Petrine  party  was  formed  in  the 
<;^orinthian  church,  so  a  one-sided  Pauhne 
party  sprung  up  in  opposition  to  it,  which 
recognised  the  Pauline  as  the  only  genuine 
form  of  Christianity,  ridiculed  the  nice.dis- 
tinctions  of  scrupulous  consciences,  and  set 
themselves  in  stern  opposition  to  every 
thing  Jewish.  In  one  of  their  tendencies 
we  find  the  germ  of  the  later  Judaizing 
sects,  and  in  the  other  that  of  the  later 
Marcionite  error. 

But  in  the  Pauline  party  itself,  a  two- 
fold direction  was  manifested,  on  the  follow- 
ing grounds.  Among  the  disciples  of  John 
who  came  to  Ephesus,  and  considered  them- 
selves  as  Christians,  though  their  knowledge 
was  very  defective,  was  Apollos,  a  Jew  of 
Alexandria,  who  had  received  the  Jewish- 
Grecian  education,  peculiar  to  the  learned 
among  the  Alexandrian  Jews,  and  a  great 
facility  in  the  use  of  the  Greek  language.* 
Aquila  and  his  wife  instructed  him  more 
accurately  in  Christianity,  and  when  he 
was  about  to  sail  to  Achaia,  commended 
him  to  the  Corinthian  church  as  a  man 
who,  by  his  zeal  and  peculiar  gifts,  would 
be  able  to  do  much  for  the  furtherance  of 


*  See  the  remarks  of  Bauer,  in  his  essay  on  the 
Christ-party  in  the  Corinthian  church  (in  the 
Tuhinger  Zeitschrift  fur  Theologie,  1831,  part  iv. 
p.  83). 


*  The  epithet  uv«g  xoyiot  given  to  him  in  Acts 
xviii.  24,  probably  denotes,  not  an  eloquent  but  a 
learned  man,  which  would  best  suit  an  Alexan- 
drian, since  a  learned  literary  education,  and  not 
eloquence,  was  the  precise  distinction  of  the 
Alexandrians ;  and  his  disputation  with  the  Jews 
at  Corinth  suits  this  meaning-  of  Koyiot,  taken  from 
the  Jewish  standing-point.  In  this  sense  the  word 
is  found  both  in  Josephus  and  Piailo  ;  in  the  first, 
Myioi  is  opposed  to  iStceTutc,  De  Bel.  Jud.  vi.  5,  §  3 ; 
and  by  Philo,  De  Vita  Mosis,  i.  §  5,  AiyuTTTiivv  oi 
xcyini.  But  another  meaning  of  the  word  as  it 
was  used  at  that  time  is  also  possible,  and  since  it 
appears  from  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
that  Apollos  was  also  a  man  eloquent  in  the  Greek 
language,  so  that  we  are  left  in  some  uncertainty 
how  to  understand  this  epithet.  According  to  the 
first  interpretation,  "(TuvaToc  o'v  h  tuI;  ^ga<|)*/f," 
would  only  more  precisely  express  what  is  con- 
tained in  hcyior,  according  to  the  second,  it  would 
be  a  perfectly  new  and  distinct  characteristic. 
This  exegetical  question  is  of  no  importance  his- 
torically, for  certainly  both  epithets  are  applicable 
to  Apollos. 


Chap.  VII.] 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


137 


the  divine  cause,  especially  at  Corinth, 
where  his  Alexandrian  education  would 
procure  him  a  more  ready  access  to  a  part 
of  the  Jews  and  Gentiles.  His  Alexandrian 
mode  of  developing  and  representing  Chris- 
tian truths,  as  it  approached  to  the  Grecian 
taste,  was  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  edu- 
cated classes  at  Corinth  ;  but  fascinated  by 
it,  they  attached  too  great  importance  to 
this  peculiar  form,  and  despised,  in  contrast 
with  it,  the  simple  preaching  of  Paul,  who, 
when  he  taught  among  them,  determined 
to  know  nothing  save  Jesus  the  Crucified. 
We  here  see  the  germ  of  that  Gnosis  which 
sprung  up  in  the  soil  of  Alexandria,  and 
aimed  at  exalting  itself  above  the  simple 
faith  (Pistis)  of  the  gospel. 

But  it  has  been  lately  maintained,*  that 
the  difference  between  the  Pauline  party 
and  that  of  Apollos,  related  not  to  any  dif- 
ference in  the  form  of  doctrine,  but  only 
to  the  position  in  which  Paul  and  Apollos 
stood  to  the  founding  of  the  Corinthian 
church,  as  the  apostle  himself,  in  1  Cor.  iii. 
6,  7,  indicates,  that  it  was  made  a  question, 
whether  he  who  laid  the  foundation,  or  he 
who  raised  the  superstructure,  deserved  the 
pre-eminence.  But  if  we  follow  this  hint, 
it  will  conduct  us  much  further.  We  can- 
not stop  short  at  these  merely  outward  re- 
lations, but  must  seek  in  the  characteristic 
qualities  of  these  two  men,  who  stood  in 
such  different  relations  to  the  church,  for 
the  reason,  that  some  were  more  attached 
to  the  one,  and  some  to  the  other.  We 
may  presume  that  the  manner  in  which 
one  laid  the  foundation,  and  the  other 
raised  the  superstructure,  depended  on  the 
difference  in  their  characteristic  quali- 
ties. To  this  difference  Paul  himself  ad- 
verts, when  after  speaking  of  the  merely 
outward  relations  between  himself  and 
Apollos,  he  represents  in  figurative  lan- 
guage how  every  genuine  teacher  of  Chris- 
tianity ought  to  proceed  in  building  on  the 
foundation  that  has  been  once  laid ;  1  Cor. 
iii.  12.  The  connexion  evidently  shows, 
that  Paul  had  primarily  in  view  his  relation 
to  the  party  of  Apollos  ;  every  other  expla- 
nation   is    forced. t     If    we   compare    the 

*  By  a  disting-uisbcd  young'  theolog-ian,  the 
licentiate  Daniel  Schenkel,  in  liis  "  Inquisitio  cri- 
tico-historica  de  Ecclesia  Corintliiacii,  primsva, 
Basileae  18.38,"  with  wJiich  De  Wette,  in  his  late 
Commentary  on  the  Epistles  to  the  Corintliians, 
has  expressed  his  concurrence. 

t  We  must  carefully  distinguish  those  who,  by 

18 


I  qualities  possessed  by  the  apostle  and  his 
I  fellow-labourer,  as  far  as  our  information 
extends,  we  may  easily  infer  the  difference 
in  their  mode  of  teaching,  and  in  their  re- 
spective partisans.  That  Paul  possessed 
great  force  and  command  of  language,  we 
I  may  conclude  with  certainty  from  his  epis- 
tles, as  is  also  evinced  by  his  discourse  at 
Athens.  In  that  eloquence  which  is  adapted 
to  seize  powerfully  on  men's  minds,  he  was 
inferior 'to  no  preacher  of  the  gospel,  not 
even  to  Apollos  himself.  It  was  his  pecu- 
liar natural  gift,  sanctified  and  elevated  by 
spiritual  influence  for  the  cause  of  the  gos- 
pel, in  which  he  was  probably  superior  to 
Apollos  ;  and  if  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
is  to  be  attributed  to  the  latter,  and  we  com- 
pare it  with  those  of  Paul,  it  would  serve 
to  confirm  the  opinion.  In  dialectic  power 
also,  which  was  founded  on  the  peculiar 
character  of  his  intellect,  and  developed 
and  improved  by  his  youthful  training  in 
the  schools  of  the  Pharisees,  as  well  as  in 
j  the  skilful  interpretation  and  use  of  the  Old 
1  Testament,  he  was  surpassed  by  none. 
i  But  still  between  himself  and  Apollos  a 
I  difference  not  unimportant  existed,  which 
!  affected  their  peculiar  style  of  teaching ; 
j  the  latter,  as  an  Alexandrian,  had  received 
an  education  more  adapted  to  the  Grecian 
mind  and  taste,  and  possessed  a  greater 
familiarity  with  the  pure  Grecian  phraseo- 
logy, in  w"hich  Paul  was  defective,  as  we 
may  gather  from  his  epistles,  and  as  he 
expressly  asserts ;  2  Cor.  xi.  6.  Now,  in 
making  the  gospel  known  at  Corinth,  he 
had  special  reasons  for  rejecting  all  the 
aids  that  otherwise  were  at  his  command 
for  recommending  evangelical  truth,  and 
for  using  only  the  "  demonstration  of  the 
spirit  and  of  power,"  which  accompanied 
its  simple  annunciation.  The  Alexandrian 
refinement  of  Apollos  must  have  formed  a 
striking  contrast  to  the  simplicity  of  Paul's 
preaching  ;  and,  if  we  take  into  account 
the  circumstances  and  social  relations  of 


assailing-  the  unchangeable  foundation  of  Chris- 
tianity, destroyed  the  temple  of  God  in  the 
church,  1  Cor.  iii.  16  and  17,  from  those  of  whom 
Paul  judged  far  more  leniently,  because  they  pre- 
served inviolate  the  foundation  that  was  laid, 
though  they  added  to  it  wjiat  was  more  or  less 
human.  Of  the  latter,  he  affirms  that,  since  they 
held  fast  the  foundation  of  salvation,  they  would 
finally  be  partakers  of  salvation,  though  after  a 
painful  and  repeated  process  of  purification  ;  of 
the  others,  that  they  would  come  to  ruin  because 
they  had  destroyed  the  work  of  God. 


138 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


[Book  III. 


the  Corinthians,  we  cannot  wonder  that  a 
preference  for  such  a  style  of  address  led 
to  the  formation  of  a  distinct  party  in  the 
Corinthian  church.  It  was  not  the  peculiar 
style  of  Apollos  in  itself  which  Paul  con- 
demned ; — it  became  every  teacher  to  work 
with  the  gifts  entrusted  to  him,  according 
to  the  standing-point  on  which  the  Lord 
had  placed  him; — but  he  combated  the  one- 
sided and  arrogant  over-valuation  of  this 
talent,  the  excessive  estimation  in  which 
this  form  of  mental  culture  was  held.  It 
by  no  means  follows,  that  he  attributed  a 
false  wisdom  to  Apollos  himself;*  but  the 
one-sided  direction  of  his  partisans,  in 
which  the  tfoipiav  ^rirsn/  predominated,  would 
easily  produce  a  false  wisdom,  by  which 
evangelical  truth  would  be  obscured  or 
pushed  into  the  background.  Paul  per- 
ceived this  threatening  danger,  and  hence 
felt  himself  impelled  strenuously  to  combat 
the  principle  on  which  such  a  tendency 
was  founded. 

Besides  the  parties  already  mentioned, 
we  find  a  fourth  in  the  Corinthian  church, 
whose  peculiarities  it  is  more  difficult  to 
ascertain,  since,  judging  from  its  name,  we 
cannot  readily  suppose  that  it  belonged  to 
a  sect  blamed  by  the  apostle,  and  in  no 
other  part  of  the  first  epistle  of  Paul  to  the 
Corinthians,  do  we  find  any  distinct  refer- 
ences to  it  Irom  which  we  might  infer  its 
specific  character  ;  it  was  composed  of  per- 
sons who  said  that  they  were  "  of  Christ;'''' 
1  Cor.  i.  12.  If  we  consider  this  party  as 
involved  in  the  censure  expressed  by  the 
apostle,"!"  which  the  grammatical  construc- 


*  This  charo^e  agfainst  Apollos,  in  the  opinion 
of  Schenkcl  and  De  Wette,  is  well  founded,  but 
by  no  means  follows  from  the  view  taken  by  our- 
selves and  others  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  party 
of  Apollos. 

t  The  interpretation  which  has  been  proposed 
by  Pott  and  Schott,  and  according  to  which,  all 
conjectures  respecting  the  peculiar  character  of  a 
Christ-party  at  Corinth  would  be  superfluous,  is 
grammatically  possible.  It  assumes  that  Paul,  in 
this  passage,  only  enumerated  historically  the  va- 
rious parties  in  the  Corinthian  church,  without 
concluding  that  all  who  are  specified  came  under 
the  censure  of  the  apostle.  Those  indeed  who 
firmly  adhered  to  the  doctrine  taught  by  Paul,  and 
esteemed  iiim,  as  he  wished,  only  as  an  organ  of 
Christ, — those  who  wished  to  keep  aloof  from  all 
party  contentions,  and  called  themselves  only  after 
Christ  their  common  head,  must  be  represented  as 
a  particular  party  in  relation  to  the  other  Corin- 
thian parties,  and  hence  Paul  distinguished  them 
by  the  name  which  they  assumed  in  opposition  to 


tion  of  the  passage  seems  to  require,  we 
must  believe  that  these  persons  did  not 
wish  to  be  "  of  Christ,"  in  the  sense  in 
which  Paul  desired  that  all  the  Corinthians 
should  be,  but  they  appropriated  Christ 
to  themselves  in  an  erroneous  sense,  and 
wished  to  make  him,  as  it  were,  the  head 
of  their  party.  And  we  must  then  suppose 
that  the  apostle,  though  with  an  allusion  in 
the  first  instance  to  their  party  designation 
yet  including  a  reference  to  all  the  Corin- 
thian parties,  said,  "Is  the  one  Christ  be- 
come divided?  Has  each  party  their  por- 
tion of  Christ,  as  their  own  Christ?  No! 
there  is  only  one  Christ  for  all,  who  was 
crucified  for  you,  to  whom  ye  were  devoted 
and  pledged  by  baptism." 

We  have  now  to  inquire  what  can  be 
determined  respecting  the  character  and 
origin  of  this  Christ-party?  U  we  pay 
any  regard  to  its  being  mentioned  next  to 
the  party  of  Peter,  and  compare  it  with 
the  collocation  of  the  parties  of  Apollos 
and  Paul,  we  might  think  it  most  probable 
that  the  relation  between  the  two  former 
was  similar  to  that  which  existed  between 
the  two  latter  ;  and  that,  therefore,  a  sub- 
division of  the  general  party  of  Jewish 
Christians  was  intended.  And  as  part  of 
these  attached  themselves  to  Peter,  and  part 
to  James,  we  might  be  induced  to  imagine 
a  party  belonging  to  James  along  with  the 
Petrine ;  the  former  more  tenacious  and 
violent  in  their  Judaism  ;  the  latter  more 
liberal  and  moderate.  But  this  supposition 
is  not  at  all  favoured  by  the   designation, 

all  party  feelings.  If  these  words  in  this  con- 
nexion only  contained  an  historical  enumeration 
of  the  various  parties,  such  an  interpretation 
might  be  valid.  But  this  is  not  the  case.  Paul 
evidently  mentions  these  parties  in  terms  of  cen- 
sure. The  censure  applies  to  all  equally  as  parties 
who  substituted  something  in  the  place  of  that 
single  relation  to  Christ  which  alone  was  of  real 
worth.  "  Has  then  Christ  become  divided  ?"  he 
proceeds  to  ask.  "  No — he  will  not  allow  himself 
to  be  divided.  Ye  ought  all  to  call  yourselves 
after  that  one  Ciirist  who  redeemed  you  by  his 
death  on  the  cross,  and  to  whom  ye  were  devoted 
by  baptism."  These  words  are  directed  equally 
against  all  parties,  and  perhaps  exactly  in  this 
form,  owing  to  the  preceding  designation  of  those 
who  arrogantly  named  themselves  ol  toZ  y^g^i^Tov. 
But  if  these  persons  had  assumed  this  title  in  the 
sense  which  Paul  approved,  he  would  not  have 
classed  them  with  those  who  incurred  his  cen- 
sure ;  these  words  could  not  have  applied  to  them, 
but  he  must  have  expressed  his  approbation  of 
their  spirit,  which  must  have  appeared  to  him  as 
the  only  right  one. 


Chap.  VII.] 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


139 


"  01  roJ  j^^^irfTou,"  for  it  seems  very  unna- 
tual  that  the  adherents  of  James  should  so 
name  themselves,  as  some  have  imagined,* 
because  the  epithet  dSsXipog  tou  x^^<^-tou  was 
given  to  that  apostle  as  a  title  of  honour. 
There  can  be  doubt  that  if  such  a  party- 
had  existed  in  Corinth,  they  would  have 
called  themselves  6<  rou  laxt^i^ov. 

If  we  believe  that  the  Christ-party  was 
composed  of  Jewish  Christians,  such  a 
view  must  be  stated  and  developed  very 
differently  in  order  to  bring  it  nearer  to 
probability.!  The  name  oi  tou  )(;^((j'roG', — 
it  may  be  said — was  one  which  the  parti- 
sans of  Peter  assumed  in  opposition  to  Paul 
and  his  disciples,  in  order  to  mark  them- 
selves as  those  who  adhered  to  the  genuine 
apostles  of  Christ,  from  whom  they  had 
received  the  pure  doctrine  of  Christ,  and 
thus  by  their  teachers  were  connected  with 
Christ  himself:  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
by  applying  this  title  exclusively  to  their 
own  party,  they  intended  to  brand  the  other 
Christians  at  Corinth,  as  those  who  did  not 
deserve  the  name  of  Christians,  who  were 
not  the  disciples  of  Christ,  nor  the  scholars 
of  a  genuine  apostle  of  Christ,  but  of  a 
man  who  had  adulterated  the  pure  Chris- 
tian doctrine,  and  had  promulgated  a  doc- 
trine of  his  own  arbitrary  invention  as  the 
doctrine  of  Christ.  This  view  would  ap- 
pear perfectly  to  correspond  with  the  phrase 
6(  Tov  x^idrov,  and  might  be  confirmed  by 
many  antithetical  references  in  both  the 
epistles  in  which  Paul  vindicates  his  genu- 
ine apostolic  character,  and  asserts,  that 
he  could  say  with  the  same  right  as  any 
one  else,  that  he  was  "  of  Christ ;"  2  Cor. 
X.  7.  But  while  such  passages  certainly 
are  directed  against  those  who,  on  the 
grounds  already  mentioned,  disputed  Paul's 
apostolic  authority,  they  by  no  means  prove 
the  existence  of  such  a  party-name  among 
the  Jews.  And  one  difficulty  still  remains, 
namely,  that  by  the  position  of  the  phrase 
hi  T0i3  5(^i(rroi}  we  are  led  to  expect  the  de- 
signation of  a  party  in  some  way  differing 
from  the  Petrine,  though  belonging  to  the 


same  general  division ;  but,  according  to 
this  view,  the  Christ-party  would  differ 
from  the  Petrine  only  in  name,  which 
would  be  quite  contradictory  to  the  relation 
of  this  party-name  to  those  that  preceded 
it.*  Accordingly,  this  view  can  only  be 
tenable,  if  not  a  merely  formal,  but  a  ma- 
terial difference  can  be  found  between  the 
two  last  parties.  And  it  might  be  said  that 
not  all  the  members  of  the  Petrine  party, 
but  only  the  most  rigid  and  violent  in  theic 
Judaism,  who  would  not  acknowledge  the 
Pauline  Gentile  Christians  as  standing  in 
communion  with  the  Messiah,  had  applied 
to  their  Judaizing  party  the  exclusive  epi- 
thet of  01  TOU  jfgitfrou. 

But  it  has  always  appeared  to  us  to  be 
contrary  to  historical  analogy,  that  those 
persons  who  adhered  to  another  apostle, 
and  considered  him  alone  as  genuine  in 
opposition  to  Paul,  should  not  name  them- 
selves after  one  whom  they  looked  upon  as 
the  necessary  link  of  their  connexion  with 
Christ.  In  the  epistle  itself,  we  cannot  find 
allusions  that  would  establish  this,  since 
the  passages  which  contain  these  references 
can  be  very  well  understood  without  it, 

VVe  cannot  hope  in  this  inquiry  to  attain 
to  conclusions  altogether  certain  and  sure, 
for  the  marks  and  historical  data  are  not 
sufficient  for  the  purpose.  But  we  shall 
best  guard  against  arbitrary  conjectures, 
and  arrive  at  the  truth  most  confidently,  if 
we  first  attend  to  what  may  be  gathered 
from  the  name  itself  and  its  position,  in 
relation  to  the  other  party-names,  and  then 
compare  this  with  the  whole  state  of  the 
Corinthian  church.  In  the  results  which 
may  thus  be  obtained,  we  must  then  en- 
deavour to  separate  the  doubtful  and  dis- 
putable from  the  certain  and  probable. 

We  shall  by  no  means  be  justified  in 
concluding  that,  by  virtue  of  the  logical 
connexion  of  the  two  members  of  the  sen- 
tence to  one  another,  the  persons  who 
named  themselves  after  Christ  must  have 
borne  the  same  relation  to  the  Petrine  party 


*  Attributed  by  Storr,  or  as  by  Berthold,  to 
several  uS'tK.^ovi;  tou  ku^i^.u  among  the  first  preach- 
ers of  the  gospel. 

+  As  it  has  lately  been  developed  with  much 
acuteness,  in  the  essay  already  referred  to,  by 
Bauer,  in  the  "  Tubinger  Zeilschrift  fur  Theolo- 
gie"  1831,  which  no  persons  can  read  without 
instruction,  even  if  they  do  not  agree  with  the 
views  of  the  writer  on  this  point. 


*  Bauer  says  indeed,  p.  77,  "  The  apostle's  ob- 
ject  in  accumulating  so  many  names,  might  be  to 
depict  the  party  spirit  prevalent  in  the  Corinthian 
church,  which  sliovved  itself  in  their  delighting  in 
the  multiplication  of  sectarian  names,  wliich  de- 
noted various  tints  and  shades,  but  not  absolutely 
distinct  parties."  But  if  this  were  the  case,  that 
explanation  only  of  one  of  these  party-names  can 
be  correct,  by  which  a  different  shade  of  party  is 
pointed  out. 


140 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


[Book  III. 


as  the  adherents  of  Apollos  to  those  of 
Paul.  This  conclusion,  if  correct,  would 
be  favourable  to  the  view  which  we  last 
considered.  But  the  relation  of  the  two 
members  is  not  logical  only,  but  subject  to 
certain  historical  conditions.  Paul  does 
not,  as  in  other  cases,  form  the  members 
of  the  antithesis  merely  from  the  thoughts; 
but  the  manner  in  which  he  selected  his 
terms  was  determined  by  matters  of  fact. 
As  the  Judaizers  formed  in  reality  only  one 
party,  Paul  could  designate  them  only  by 
one  name,  and  since  he  was  obliged  to 
choose  his  terms  according  to  the  facts,  he 
could  not  make  the  two  members  exactly 
correspond  to  one  onother. 

From  the  name  of  this  party  viewed  in 
relation  to  other  party-names,  we  shall 
arrive  at  the  following  conclusion  with 
tolerable  certainty.  There  were  those  who, 
while  they  renounced  the  apostles,  pro- 
fessed to  adhere  to  Christ  alone,  to  acknow- 
ledge him  only  as  their  teacher,  and  to  re- 
ceive what  he  announced  as  truth  from  him- 
self without  the  intervention  of  any  other 
person.  This  was  such  a  manifestation  of 
self-will,  such  an  arrogant  departure  from 
the  historical  process  of  developement  or- 
dained by  God  in  the  appropriation  of 
divine  revelation,  as  would  in  the  issue 
lead  to  arbitrary  conduct  respecting  the 
contents  of  Christian  doctrine;  for  the 
apostles  were  the  organs  ordained  and 
formed  by  God,  by  whom  the  doctrine  of 
Christ  was  to  be  propagated,  and  its  mean- 
ing communicated  to  all  men.  But  it  might 
easily  happen,  while  some  were  disposed 
to  adhere  to  Paul  alone,  others  to  Apollos, 
and  a  third  party  to  Peter,  at  last  some  per- 
sons appeared  who  were  averse  to  acknow- 
ledge any  of  these  party-names,  and  pro- 
fessed to  adhere  to  Christ  alone,  yet  with 
an  arrogant  self-will  which  set  aside  all 
human  instrumentality  ordained  by  God. 
If  we  now  view  this  as  the  result  which 
presents  itself  to  us  with  tolerable  certainty, 
that  there  was  at  Corinth  such  a  party 
desirous  of  attaching  themselves  to  Christ 
alone,  independently  of  the  apostles,  who 
constructed  in  their  own  way  a  Christianity 
different  from  that  announced  by  the  apos- 
tles, we  may  imagine  three  different  ways 
in  which  they  proceeded.  For  this  object 
they  might  make  use  of  a  collection  Of  the 
sayings  of  Christ,  which  had  fallen  into 
their  hands,  and  set  what  they  found  there 


in  opposition  to  the  apostolic  character ;  or 
they  might  pretend  to  derive  their  Christi- 
anity from  an  inward  source  of  knowledge, 
either  a  supernatural  inward  light  or  the 
light  of  natural  reason,  either  a  more  mys- 
tical or  a  more  rational  direction.  If  we 
assented  to  the  first  supposition,  still  we 
could  not  satisfy  ourselves,  without  ima- 
gining a  certain  subjective  element  in  the 
manner  of  explaining  those  discourses  of 
Christ ;  for  without  the  infusion  of  such  an 
element,  the  tendency  to  this  separation 
from  the  apostolic  instrumentality  could 
not  have  originated,  and  thus  the  principal 
question  would  still  remain  to  be  answered, 
whether  we  are  to  consider  the  subjective 
element  as  mystical  or  rational. 

According  to  a  hypothesis*  lately  de- 
veloped with  great  acuteness,  but  resting  on 
a  number  of  arbitrary  suppositions,  the 
tendency  we  are  speaking  of  must  have 
been  mystical.  As  Paul  had  considered 
the  immediate  revelation  of  Christ  to  him- 
self as  equivalent  to  the  outward  election  of 
the  other  apostles ;  so  there  were  other 
persons  who  thought  that  they  could  ap- 
peal to  such  an  inward  revelation  or  vision, 
who  from  this  standing-point  assailed  the 
apostolic  authority  of  Paul,  while  they 
sought  to  establish  their  own,  and  threat- 
ened to  substitute  an  inward  ideal  Christ 
for  the  historical  Christ.  These  represent- 
atives of  the  one-sided  mystical  tendency, 
must  have  been  the  principal  opponents 
with  whom  Paul  had  to  contend.  But  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  we  can  find 
no  trace  of  such  a  tendency  combated  by 
him  ;  and  in  all  the  passages  to  which  the 
advocates  of  this  hypothesis  appeal,  a  refer- 
ence to  it  seems  to  be  arbitrarily  imposed. 

When  Paul,  at  the  beginning  of  the  first 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  so  impressively 
brings  forward  the  doctrine  of  Christ  the 
Crucified,  and  says  that  he  had  published 
this  in  all  its  simplicity  without  attempting 
to  support  it  by  the  Grecian  philosophy, 
there  is  not  the  slightest  intimation  that 
such  a  tendency  (as  we  have  alluded  to) 
existed  in  the  Corinthian  church,  which 
aimed  at  substituting  another  Christ  in  the 
room  of  Christ  the  Crucified.  In  a  place 
where,  by  the  over-valuation  of  any  kind 
of  philosophy,  the  simple  gospel  was  liable 


*  By  Schenkel  in  the  essay  before  mentioned, 
and  advocated  by  De  Wette  in  his  Commentary 
on  the  two  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians. 


Chap.  VII.  ] 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


141 


to  be  set  in  the  background,  such  language 
might  very  properly  be  used,  even  though 
no  ideal  or  mystical  Christ  were  substituted 
instead  of  the  historical ;  and  it  is  evident 
to  what  false  conclusions  we  should  be  led, 
if  we  inferred  from  such  a  declaration  the 
existence  of  a  tendency  that  denied  Christ 
the  Crucified.  Paul  opposed  the  preach- 
ing of  Jesus  the  Crucified  to  two  tendencies, 
— the  Jevvish  fondness  for  signs,  and  the 
arrogant  philosophy  of  the  Greeks,  but 
never  to  a  mystical  tendency  which  would 
depreciate  the  historical  facts  of  Christi- 
anity. Against  a  tendency  of  this  kind,  he 
would  certainly  have  argued  in  a  very  dif- 
ferent manner. 

The  sensuous  tendency  of  the  Jewish 
spirit  we  should  expect  to  meet  with  in  the 
Jewish  part  of  the  Corinthian  church, — the 
pride  of  philosophy  in  those  who  attached 
themselves  to  Apollos,  since  from  what  has 
been  said  we  must  suppose  that  there  was 
a  distinct  party  composed  of  such  persons. 
As  Paul  when  he  spoke  against  the  Gre- 
cian pride  of  philosophy,  had  this  party  of 
Apollos  specially  in  his  mind,  by  a  natural 
transition  he  spoke  in  the  next  place  of  his 
relation  to  Apollos. 

The  passage  in  2  Cor.  xi.  4  has  been 
adduced  to  prove  that  Paul's  opponents 
preached  another  Christ  and  another  gos- 
pel. Paul  reproached  the  Corinthians  with 
having  given  themselves  up  to  such  erro- 
neous teachers.  But  in  that  whole  section 
he  occupies  himself,  not  with  combating  a 
false  doctrine,  as  he  must  have  done  if  the 
representatives  of  a  mysticism  that  under- 
mined the  foundations  of  the  Christian  faith 
had  been  his  opponents ;  but  he  had  only 
to  combat  the  pretensions  of  persons  who 
wished  to  make  their  own  authority  su- 
preme in  the  Corinthian  church,  and  not 
to  acknowledge  him  as  an  apostle.  These 
people  themselves, — he  says  in  the  context 
— ^could  not  deny,  that  he  had  performed 
every  thing  which  could  be  required  of  an 
apostle  as  founder  of  a  Church,  for  he  had 
preached  to  them  the  gos])el  of  Jesus  the 
Crucified  and  the  Risen,  and  had  commu- 
nicated to  them  the  powers  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  by  his  ministry.  With  justice  these 
persons,  he  said,  might  appear  against  him, 
and  assume  the  management  of  the  church, 
if  they  could  really  show  that  there  was 
another  Jesus  than  the  one  announced  by 
Paul,  another  gospel  than  that  which  he 


proclaimed,  or  another  Holy  Spirit  than 
that  whose  powers  were  efficient  among 
them.* 

The  opponents  of  these  vievvs  of  this 
passage  believe  like  many  others,  that 
those  who  called  themselves  oi  tou  ^([gio'Tou- 
are  mentioned  by  Paul  himself  in  2  Cor. 
X.  7.  But  here  only  such  can  be  under- 
stood who  boasted  of  a  special  internal  con- 
nexion with  Christ.  But  I  do  not  perceive 
why  the  epithet  should  not  be  applied  to 
every  person  who  thought  that  in  any 
sense  they  particularly  belonged  to  Christ, 
or  could  boast  of  any  special  connexion 
with  him.  From  the  expression  xara. 
'ff^oo'aj'jrovf  it  is  clear  that  these  persons 
boasted  of  an  outward  connexion  with 
Christ,  which  certainly  would  not  suit  the 
representatives  of  a  mystical  tendency. 
Indeed,  throughout  the  whole  section  he 
distinguishes  the  opponents  of  whom  he  is 
speaking,  as  those  who  wished  to  establish 
a  purely  outward  pre-eminence  (2  Cor.  xi. 
8),  founded  on  their  Jewish  descent,  and 
their  connexion  with  the  apostles  chosen  by 
Christ  himself,  and  with  the  original  church 
in  Palestine.     Would  Paul,  if  he  had  to  do 


*  I  account  for  the  irregularity  in  the  dm;)(_erBi, 
2  Cor.  xi.  4,  in  this  way, — that  Paul  was  penetrated 
with  the  conviction,  that  the  case,  which  in  form 
he  had  assumed  to  be  possible,  was  in  fact  impos- 
sible. This  fourth  verse  is  thus  connected  with 
the  preceding ;  I  fear  that  you  have  departed  from 
Christian  simplicity;  for  if  it  were  not  so,  you 
could  not  have  allowed  yourselves  to  be  governed 
by  persons  who  could  impart  to  you  nothing  but 
what  you  have  received  from  me ;  for  I  consider 
(v.  5)  myself  to  stand  behind  the  chief  apostles  in 
no  respect.  By  this  analysis,  the  objections  ot"  De 
Wette  against  this  interpretation  are  at  once  ob- 
viated. Against  the  other  mode  of  explanation,  I 
have  to  object  that  it  does  not  suit  the  connexion 
with  v.  5 ;  that  the  words  would  then  be  unneces- 
sarily multiplied  ;  that  Paul  would  then  hardly 
have  used  the  words  Trvi-J/u^  irse^ov  xa^/3«v£T£,  which 
refer  only  to  receiving  the  Holy  Spirit.  I  also 
think  that  he  would  then  have  said,  not  'Jdtsuv, 
but  ^^tc-rov,  for  these  mystics  would  rather  have 
preached  another  Christ  than  this  historical  person 
Jesus  ;  or  as,  at  a  later  period,  the  Gnostics,  who 
held  similar  notions,  taught  that  there  was  not  a 
twofold  Jesus,  but  a  twofold  Christ,  or  distinguished 
between  a  heavenly  Christ  and  a  human  Jesus.  On 
the  contrary,  according  to  the  interpretation  which 
1  have  followed,  Paul  would  of  course  say,  "  an- 
other Jesvs  than  the  one  I  preach,"  referring  to  an 
historical  personage,  and  the  events  of  his  life. 

t  A  comparison  of  the  passage  in  2  Cor.  v.  12, 
(where  the  h  TrgoTUiTTa,  is  opposed  to  icag/'f*),  appears 
to  me  to  prove  that  ilic  words  must  be  so  under- 
stood ;  the  antithesis  of  the  outward  and  the  in- 
ward is  quite  in  Paul's  style. 


142 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


[Book.  III. 


with  such  idealizing  mystics,  have  only  con- 
ceded to  them  that  they  stood  in  connexion 
with  Christ,  that  they  could  call  themselves 
his  servants?  Would  he  not  from  the 
first  have  made  it  a  question  whether  it  was 
the  true  .Christ  after  whom  they  called  them- 
selves ?  And  how  can  it  be  imagined  that 
Paul,  if  his  opponents  were  of  this  class, 
would  have  used  expressions  which  are 
directed  rather  against  the  sensuous  perver- 
sion of  the  religious  sentiment,  and  might 
easily  be  misinterpreted  in  favour  of  that 
false  spiritualism  ?  Would  he  have  said, 
"  Yea,  though  we  have  known  Christ  after 
the  flesh,  yet  now  henceforth  know  we  him 
no  more;  but  only  a  spiritual  Christ  who 
is  exalted  above  all  limited  earthly  rela- 
tions, with  whom  we  can  now  enter  into 
communion  in  a  spiritual  manner,  since  we 
have  a  share  in  the  new  spiritual  creation 
proceeding  from  him;"  2  Cor.  v.  16-17.* 

When  Paul  appealed  to  the  revelations 
imparted  to  him,  it  was  not  for  the  confuta- 
tion of  those  who  supported  themselves 
only  by  such  inward  experiencies  ;  but  of 
those  principally  who  would  not  acknow- 
ledge him  as  a  genuine  apostle,  equal  to 
those  who  were  chosen  by  Christ  during 
his  earthly  life, — the  same  persons,  against 
whom  he  maintained  his  independent  apos- 
tolic commission,  as  delivered  to  him  by 
Christ  on  his  personal  appearance  to  him ; 
1  Cor.  ix.  1,  2. 

Had  he  been  called  to  oppose  the  ten- 
dency of  a  false  mysticism  and  spiritualism, 
he,  who  understood  so  well  how  to  strike  at  the 
root  of  error  and  delusion,  would  have  cer- 
tainly entered  more  fully  into  conflict  with 
an  erroneous  direction  of  the  religious  sen- 
timent so  dangerous  to  genuine  Christianity, 
for  which  he  would  have  had  the  best  oppor- 
tunity in  treating  of  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit. 

We  must  then  consider  this  view  of  the 
Christ-party,  as  entirely  unsupported  by 
this  epistle  of  Paul,  and  only  deduced  from 
it  by  a  number  of  arbitrary  interpretations.! 


*  These  words  contain  a  contrast  to  his  former 
Jewish  standing-point,  and  his  earlier  conception 
of  the  character  of  the  Messiah ;  also  to  all  that 
was  antecedent  to  Christianity,  and  independent 
of  it ;  for  from  this  standing-point  all  things  must 
in  some  measure  hecome  new. 

t  I  find  no  ground  for  a  comparison  with  Mon- 
tanism,  Marcion,  and  the  Clementines,  and  I  must 
consider  as  arhitrary  the  explanations  that  have 
been  given  of  the  first  epistle  of  Clemens  Roman- 
U8  (to  which,  too,  I  cannot  ascribe  so  high  an  an- 


While  those  whose  views  we  are  opposing, 
trace  the  origin  of  such  a  party  to  a  cer- 
tain tendency  of  Judaism,  we,  on  the  con- 
trary, are  obliged  to  refer  it  to  a  Grecian 
element. 

From  the  peculiar  qualities  of  the  Gre- 
cian mind,  which  was  not  disposed  to  sub- 
mit itself  to  an  objective  authority,  but 
readily  moulded  every  thing  in  a  manner 
conformable  to  its  own  subjectivity,  such  a 
tendency  as  that  we  have  been  speaking  of, 
might  easily  proceed.*  At  that  time,  there 
were  many  educated  and  half-educated  in- 
dividuals, who  were  dissatisfied  with  the 
popular  Polytheism.  These  persons  lis- 
tened to  the  words  of  Christ,  which  im- 
pressed them  by  their  sublimity  and  spiritu- 
ality, and  believed  that  in  him  they  had 
met  with  a  reformer  of  the  religious  condi- 
tion of  mankind,  such  as  they  had  been 
longing  for.  We  have  already  remarked, 
that  a  collection  of  the  memorable  actions 
and  discourses  of  Christ,  had  most  pro- 
bably been  in  circulation  from  a  very 
early  period.  Might  they  not  have  procured 
such  a  document,  and  then  constructed  by 
means  of  it,  a  peculiar  form  of  Christian 
doctrine,  modelled  according  to  their  Gre- 
cian subjectivity  ?  These  persons  pro- 
bably belonged  to  the  class  of  the  wisdom- 
seeking  Greeks,  at  which  we  need  not  be 
surprised,  although  the  Christian  Church 
made  little  progress  among  the  higher 
classes,  since  in  this  city  a  superior  degree 
of  refinement  was  universally  prevalent, 
and  from  the  words  which  tell  us,  that  in  the 
Corinthian  church,  not  many  of  the  phi- 
losophically trained,  not  many  of  the 
highest  class  were  to  be  found,  we  may  in- 
fer, that  &ome  such  persons  must  have  be- 
longed to  it :  one  individual  is  mentioned 
in  Romans  xvi.  23,  who  filled  an  important 
civil  office  in  Corinth. f 

tiquity),  in  order  to  elucidate  the  affairs  of  the 
Corinthian  church  in  the  times  of  the  apostle  Paul. 

*  The  reasons  alleged  by  Bauer,  in  his  late  es- 
say  on  this  subject,  why  such  a  form  of  error  could 
not  exist  at  this  time,  do  not  convince  me. 

t  Bauer  says  (p.  11),  "  Religion,  not  philosophy, 
would  lead  to  Christianity."  But  it  is  not  alto- 
gether improbable,  that  a  person  might  be  led  by 
a  religious  interest,  which  could  find  no  satisfac- 
tion in  the  popular  religion,  to  philosophy,  and  by 
the  same  interest  be  carried  onwards  to  Christian- 
ity, without  adopting  it  in  its  unalloyed  simplicity. 
Why  should  not  such  phenomena,  which  certainly 
occurred  in  the  second  century,  have  arisen  from 
the  same  causes  at  this  period  ? 


Chap.  VII.] 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


143 


But  against  this  supposition,  the  same  ob- 
jections may  be  urged,  which  we  made 
against  another  view  of  the  Christ-party, 
that"  Paul  has  not  specially  directed  his 
argumentation  against  the  principles  of  such 
a  party,  though  they  threatened  even  more 
than  those  of  other  parties  to  injure  apos- 
tolic Christianity,  Still  what  he  says  on 
other  occasions,  respecting  the  only  source 
of  the  knowledge  of  truths  that  rest  on 
divine  Revelation; — and  against  the  pre- 
sumption of  unenlightened  reason,  setting 
herself  up  as  an  arbitress  of  divine  things  ; 
and  on  the  nothingness  of  a  proud  philoso- 
phy, (I  Cor.  ii.  11,)  forms  the  most  power- 
ful argumentation  against  the  fundamental 
error  of  this  party,  though  he  might  not 
have  it  specially  in  view  ;  and  it  is  a  never- 
failing  characteristic  of  the  apostle's  mode 
of  controversy,  that  he  seizes  hold  of  the 
main  roots  of  error,  instead  of  busying 
himself  too  much  (as  was  the  practice 
of  later  ecclesiastical  polemics)  with  its 
branches  and  offsets.  Nor  is  it  altogether 
improbable,  that  the  adherents  of  this  party 
were  not  numerous,  and  exercised  only  a 
slight  influence  in  the  church.  They  oc- 
cupied too  remote  a  standing-point  to  re- 
ceive much  benefit  from  the  warnings  and 
arguments  of  Paul,  and  he  had  only  to  set 
the  church  on  its  guard  against  an  injurious 
intercourse  with  such  persons.  "Be  not 
deceived  (said  he),  evil  communications 
corrupt  good  manners."     1  Cor.  xv.  33. 

The  opposition  between  the  Pauline  and 
Petrine  parties,  or  the  Jewish  and  Gentile 
Christians,  was  in  reference  to  the  relations 
of  life,  the  most  influential  of  all  these 
party  differences,  and  gave  rise  to  many 
separate  controversies.  The  Jews  and 
Jewish  Christians  when  they  lived  in  inter- 
course with  heathens,  suffered  much  dis- 
quietude, if  unawares  they  partook  of 
any  food  which  had  been  rendered  unclean 
by  its  connexion  with  idolatrous  rites. 
Various  rules  were  laid  down  by  the  Jew- 
ish theologians  to  determine  what  was,  and 
what  was  not  defiling,  and  various  methods 
were  devised  for  guarding  against  such  de- 
filement, on  which  much  may  be  found  in 
the  Tal  mud.  Now,  as  persons  might  easily 
run  a  risk  of  buying  in  the  market  portions 
of  the  fiesh  of  animals  which  had  been 
offered  in  sacrifice,  or  might  have  such  set 
before  them  in  houses  where  they  were 
guests,  their  daily  life  was  harassed  with 


constant  perplexities.  Scruples  on  this 
point  were  probably  found,  not  merely  in 
those  who  were  avowedly  among  the  Ju- 
daizing  opponents  of  Paul,  but  also  seized 
hold  of  many  Christians  of^  weaker  minds. 
As  faith  in  their  false  gods  had  previously 
exercised  great  influence  over  them,  so 
they  could  not  altogether  divest  themselves 
of  an  impression,  that  beings  whom  they 
had  so  lately  reverenced  as  deities,  were 
something  more  than  creatures  of  the  ima- 
gination* But  from  their  new  standing- 
point,  this  reflection  of  their  ancient  faith 
assumed  a  peculiar  form.  As  the  whole 
system  of  heathenism  was  in  their  eyes  the 
kingdom  of  darkness,  their  deities  were 
now  transformed  into  evil  spirits,  and 
they  feared  lest,  by  partaking  of  the  flesh 
consecrated  to  them,*  they  should  come 
into  fellowship  with  evil  spirits.f  That  these 
scruples  affected  not  merely  Judaizers,  but 
other  Christians  also,  is  evident  from  a 


*  Thus  Peter,  in  the  Clementines,  says  to  the 
heathens,  "  7r^o<^A(Tii  tZv  f^iyo/jdvav  lipo^uToiv  vaxe- 
TTcev  ScitfAovm  i/uTriTTKid-d-i."  Horn.  xi.  ^  15. 

t  The  passage  in  1  Cor.  viii.  7,  may  be  under- 
stood of  persons  who,  though  they  had  passed  over 
to  Christian  monotheism,  were  still  in  some  mea- 
sure entangled  in  polytheism,  and  could  not  en- 
tirely free  themselves  from  the  belief  tiiat  the  gods 
whom  they  had  formerly  served  were  divinities  of 
a  subordinate  class  ;  so  that  now  such  persons — 
since  by  partaking  of  the  flesh  of  the  victims  they 
supposed  that  they  entered  again  into  connexion 
with  tliese  divine  beings — would  be  led  to  ima- 
gine, that  their  former  idolatry  was  not  wholly 
incompatible  with  Christianity,  and  thus  might 
easily  form  an  amalgamation  of  heathenism  and 
Christianity.  In  later  times,  something  of  this 
kind  we  allow  took  place,  in  the  transition  from 
polytheism  to  monotheism  ;  but  in  this  primitive 
age,  Christianity  came  at  once  into  such  direct 
conflict  on  these  particulars  with  heathenism,  that 
an  amalgamation  of  tliis  kind  cannot  be  thought 
natural.  Whoever  had  not  wholly  renounced 
idolatry  would  certainly  not  be  received  into  the 
Christian  church,  nor  would  have  so  mildly  passed 
judgment  on  such  a  weakness  of  faith.  From 
such  passages  as  Gal.  v.  20,  1  Cor.  vi.  9,  we  cannot 
conclude  with  certainty  that,  among  those  who 
had  professed  Christianity,  there  would  be  such 
who,  after  they  had  been  led  to  Christianity  by  an 
impression  which  was  not  deep  enough,  allowed 
themselves  again  to  join  in  the  worship  of  idols  ; 
for  Paul  might  here  designedly  class  the  vices  he 
named  with  idolatry,  in  order  to  indicate  that 
whoever  indulged  in  the  vices  connected  with 
idolatry,  deserved  to  be  ranked  with  idolaters.  If 
we  compare  these  passages  with  I  Cor.  v.  11,  it 
will  afipear  tliat  some  such  instances  occurred  of 
a  relapse  into  idolatry,  but  those  who  were  thus 
guilty  of  participating  in  idolatry  must  have  been 
excluded  from  all  Christian  communion. 


14  i 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


[Book  111. 


case  ia  reference  to  which  Paul  gives  spe- 
cific directions.  He  supposes,  namely,  the 
case,  that  such  wealc  believers  were  guests 
at  the  table  of  a  heathen.*  Now  we  may 
be  certain,  that  none  who  belonged  to  the 
Judaizers  would  make  up  their  minds  to 
eat  with'  a  heathen.f 

Those  who  in  their  own  estimation  were 
Pauline  Christians,  ridiculed  a  scrupulosity 
that  thus  made  daily  life  uneasy,  and  fell 
into  an  opposite  error.  They  hafl  indeed 
formed  right  conceptions  of  the  Pauline 
principles  in  reference  to  theory,  but  erred 
in  the  application,  because  the  spirit  of  love 
and  wisdom  was  wanting.  They  said  : 
"Idols' are  in  themselves  nothing,  mere 
creatures  of  the  imagination  ;  hence,  also 
the  eating  of  the  flesh  that  has  been  de- 
voted to  them,  is  a  thing  in  itself  indifferent. 
The  Christian  is  bound  by  no  law  in  such 
outward  and  indifferent  things ;  all  things 
are  free  to  him  ;  ifav^a  s^sdriv  was  their 
motto.  They  appealed  to  their  knowledge, 
to  the  power  which  they  possessed  as  Chris- 
tians ;  yvuKfig,  s^ovdia,  were  their  watch- 
words. They  had  no  consideration  for  the 
necessities  of  their  weaker  brethren  ;  they 
easily  seduced  many  among  them  to  follow 
their  example  from  false  shame,  that  they 
might  not  be  ridiculed  as  narrow-minded 
and  scrupulous  ;  such  an  one,  who  allowed 
himself  to  be  induced  by  outward  conside- 
rations to  act  contrary  to  his  convictions, 
would  afterwards  be  disturbed  in  his  con- 
science. "  Thus,"  said  Paul,  "  through 
thy  knowledge  shall  the  weak  brother 
perish    for  whom    Christ   died.":]:     Many 


went  such  lengths  in  this  pride  of  know- 
ledge and  this  abuse  of  Christian  freedom, 
that  they  scrupled  not  to  take  part  in  the 
festive  entertainments,  consisting  of  the 
flesh  that  was  left  after  the  sacrifices  had 
been  presented,  which  the  heathens  were 
wont  to  give  to  their  friends ; — and  thus 
they  were  easily  carried  on  to  indulge  in 
those  immoral  excesses,  which  by  the  de- 
crees of  the  apostolic  convention  at  Jeru- 
salem, were  forbiden  in  connexion  with 
the  eating  of  flesh  sacrificed  to  idols.  In 
fact,  we  here  find  the  germ  of  a  one-sided 
over-valuation  of  theoretic  illumination,  a 
misunderstanding  of  Christian  freedom,  a 
false  adiaphorism  in  morals,  which  a  later 
pseudo-pauline  gnostic*  tendency  carried 
so  far  as  to  justify  the  grossest  immorali- 
ties. But  such  wickedness  certainly  can- 
not be  laid  to  the  charge  of  the  perverters 
of  Christian  freedom  at  Corinth.  Though 
the  heathen  corruption  of  morals  had  in- 
fected many  members  of  the  Corinthian 
church,  yet  they  were  far  from  wishing  to 
justify  this  immorality  on  such  grounds, 
and  had  this  been  the  case,  Paul  would 
have  spoken  with  far  greater  severity 
against  such  a  palliation  of  sin.f 


*  The  scrupulosity  of  the  Jews  in  this  respect, 
appears  in  the  Jewish-Christian  work  of  the  Cle- 
mentines (though  on  other  points  sufficiently  libe- 
ral), where  the  following  words  are  ascribed  to 
the  apostle  Peter,  "  Tg«3-S(^«c  i^vZv  obx.  CiTroKsLvifAiv, 
uTi  St)  oiiSi  {niVi^TlaT^a.!  oLiiTol';  i'vv'J./j.ivot  Sin.  TO  uxa- 
-^-agraic  avrw;  /S(oi;p."  No  exception  could  be  made 
ia  favour  of  parents,  children,  brothers  or  sisters. 

+  By  the  t/-,  1  Cor.  x.  58,  on  account  of  the  re- 
btion  to  the  first  t;c,  v.  28,  we  understand  it  to 
mean  the  same  person,  tiie  heathen  host, — and  it 
would  be  a  very  unlikely  thing  that  such  a  person 
v.'ould  remind  his  Christian  guest,  that  lie  had  set 
before  him  meat  that  had  been  offered  to  idols  ; 
but  we  must  ratlier  refer  it  to  tlie  weak  Cliristian, 
who  considered  it  to  be  his  duty  to  warn  his  un- 
scrupulous  brother  against  partaking  of  such  food, 
the  same  weak  Christian  whose  conscience  is 
spoken  of  in  v.  29. 

X  We  might  here  make  use  of  tlie  words  attri- 
buled  to  Christ,  taken  from  an  apocryphal  gospel, 
and  quoted  in  Luke  vi.  4,  by  the  Codex.  Cantab. : 


^3.T(i)   ilTiV    dl/Tft)'    uvbgayTTi,  ti  JUIV   OlSuc;    ft    TTOliK,  jUO.- 
X-dglOQ  it  il   Si  fj.i1  OlSctc,    iTrtKXTJ^'i.'TC.i    K*l    7ragct/2*T>)j 

it  Tiv  vofAov.'" — See  Das  Leben  Jesu,  140. 

*  As  was  the  case  with  those  whom  Porphyry 
mentions  in  his  book  De  Abstinentia  Carnis.,  i.  § 
43,  who  agree  in  their  mode  of  expression  very 
remarkably  with  the  unscrupulous  persons  de- 
scribed by  Paul :  ou  yng  ii/ua;  fAoKvvu  tci  ji^ct/x^TdL 
(said  they),  ua-Tng^  ouSi  tuv  S-aAaTTav  to.  gtiTraga,  Ta>v 
giv/uxTm  nv^ii-jc/uiv  (like  the  Corinthian  i'^cuo-icn^o- 
fxiv)  yJ.^  Tuv  aTretvTa'V,  JtaS-dTs^  ii  ^rfKctTtra.  Tm  vy- 
^m  TTAvTcev.     'Eav  iuAd/ihd^a/^iy  ^guiTiv,  iSouxaid-njuiv 

TO)    TOU    (po/2oU    ^^OVtlfAUTI,    Sit    Si    TTSL)!^''  tj/ulv  UTroTiTa.- 

X^e,°"-     Tliny  appeal  to  their  /?u&oc  i^ovtT-fJ.;. 

t  The  departure  from  Christian  truth  in  theory 
to  so  great  an  extent  in  tlie  church  at  Corinth,  has 
been  received  by  many,  owing  to  a  misunderstand- 
ing of  the  apostle's  language.  They  have  been 
led  to  entertain  this  opinion,  from  believing  that 
there  is  a  strict  objective  connexion  between  what 
Paul  says  in  1  Cor.  vi.  12,  and  the  beginning  of  v. 
13,  and  what  he  says  of  the  words  to  Si  ctZ/ua,  and 
from  supposing  Ihit  from  v.  12,  lie  had  the  same 
thought  in  view.  But  a  comparison  of  vi.  ]  2,  with 
X.  23,  will  siiow,  that  Paul  at  first  meant  only  to 
speak  of  tlie  partaking  of  the  meat  offered  to  idols, 
and  to  explain  the  subject  more  fully.  With  this 
reference,  lie  had  said  in  v.  13,  the  food  and  the 
stomach,  whose  wants  it  satisfies,  arc  both  transi- 
tory, designed  only  for  this  eartlily  existence.  On 
these  things  the  essence  of  the  Christian  calling 
cannot  depend,  which  relates  to  the  eternal  and  the 


Chap.  VII.] 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


145 


The  opposition  between  the  Petrine  and 
Pauline  parties,  had  probably  an  influence 
on  the  diiierent  views  of  the  married  and 
single-  life.  It  was  indeed  the  peculiar 
eflect  of  Christianity,  that  it  elevated  all 
the  moral  relations  based  in  human  nature, 
in  their  pure  human  form,  to  a  higher  sig- 
nificance, so  that  after  the  original  fountain 
of  divine  life  had  assumed  humanity,  in 
order,  by  revealing  himself  in  it,  to  sanc- 
tify and  glorify  it — the  striving  after  the 
godlike,  was  no  more  to  show  itself  in 
an  unearthly  direction,  overstepping  the 
bounds  of  human  nature,  but  every  where, 
the  Divine  humanized  itself,  the  divine  life 
revealed  itself  in  the  forms  of  human  de- 
velopement.  Yet,  as  at  first,  before  the 
elevating  and  all-penetrating  influence .  of 
Christianity  had  manifested  itself  in  all  the 
relations  of  life,  the  eai-nest  moral  spirit  of 
the  gospel  came  into  conflict  with  a  world 


heavenly.  Compare  1  Cor.  viii.  8,  Rom,  xiv.  17, 
Mat.  XV.  17,  and  thus  he  was  led  to  the  contrast, 
"but  the  form  alone  of  tlie  body  is  transitory." 
According  to  its  nature,  the  body  is  designed  to 
be  an  imperishable  organ  devoted  to  the  Lord, 
which  will  be  awakened  again  in  a  nobler  glori- 
fied form  for  a  higher  existence.  It  must,  there- 
fore, be  even  now  withdrawn  from  the  service  of 
lust,  and  be  formed  into  a  sanctified  organ  belong- 
ing to  the  Lord.  It  might  be,  that  there  was  float- 
ing in  the  apostle's  mind  a  possible  misunderstand- 
ing of  his  words,  against  which  he  wished  to  guard, 
or  his  controversy  with  the  deniers  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  resurrection  at  Corinth.  In  either  case  he 
would  be  led  by  these  recollections  to  leave  the 
topic  with  which  he  began,  and  to  speak  against 
those  excesses  in  the  Corinthian  church  of  which 
he  had  not  thought  at  first.  And  this  again  led 
him  to  answer  the  questions  proposed  to  him  re- 
specting the  relation  of  the  sexes.  After  that  he 
returns  again,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Sth  chapter, 
to  the  subject  of  "  things  offered  to  idols,"  but  from 
another  point,  and  after  several  digressions  to  other 
subjects  whicli  may  easily  be  explained  from  the 
association  of  ideas,  he  begun  again  in  ch.  x.  v. 
23,  the  exposition  of  his  sentiments  in  the  same 
form  as  in  ch.  vi.  v.  12.  What  Billroth  has  said 
in  his  commentary,  p.  83,  against  this  interpreta- 
tion, that  tlius  we  lose  the  evident  contrast  and 
parallelism  between  the  words  to.  /2^a)^i«T=t  tji  mi- 
Xfct,  K.ctt  H  KoiKia.  TOtg  B^osfAAo-t,  and  to  Si  a-ii)fji.a,  ou  tK 
Trogviiit,  oLKXct-  Tu)  Kv^tce,  Kui  0  Ku^io;  TOD  <ya>fj.;iTi,  ap- 
pears without  foundation.  It  is  only  assumed  tliat 
Paul  formed  this  contrast  fiom  a  more  general  view 
of  tlie  subject,  and  without  limiting  it  to  a  perver- 
sion of  the  doctrine  of  Christian  liberty,  actually 
existing  in  the  church.  What  De  Wette  has  lately 
advanced  in  his  commentary  against  this  interpre- 
tation, has  not  altered  my  views,  thougli  I  have  ex- 
amined with  pleasure  the  reasons  advanced  by  this 
distinguished  critic. 

19 


under  the  domination  of  sinful  lusts;  so, 
for  a  short  time,  an  ascetic  tendency  averse 
fi'om  the  marriage  union  (which  though  not 
in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  gospel^ 
might  be  excited  by  the  opposition  it  made 
to  the  corruption  of  the  world) — would 
easily  make  its  appearance,,  especially 
since  there  was  an  expectation  of  the 
speedy  passing  away  of  all  earthly  things, 
antecedently  to  the  perfect  developement  of 
the  kingdom  of  God.  The  conviction,  that 
ere  the  kingdom  of  God  would  attain  its 
perfection,  the  earthly  life  of  mankind  must 
in  all  its  forms  be  penetrated  by  the  life  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,  and  that  all  these 
forms  would  be  made  vehicles  of  its  mani- 
festation—-this  conviction  could  be  formed 
only  by  degrees  from  the  historical  course 
of  the  developement.  And  as  to  what  con- 
cerns marriage  especially,  Christ  had  cer- 
tainly by  presenting  the  idea  of  it  as  a 
moral  union,  requisite  for  the  complete  de- 
velopement of  the  type  of  humanity  as 
transformed  by  the  divine  principle  of  life, 
and  thus  for  the  realization  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  in  a  moral  union  of  the  sexes,  de- 
signed for  their  mutual  completement — by 
all  this,  he  had  at  once  disowned  the  as- 
cetic contempt  of  marriage,  which  views 
it  only  on  its  sensuous  side,  and  rejects  its 
true  idea  as  realized  in  the  divine  life.  Yet 
till  Christianity  had  penetrated  more  into, 
the  life  of  humanity,  and  thereby  had  re- 
alized this  idea  of  marriage  as  a  peculiar 
form  of  manifestation  belonging  to  the  king- 
dom of  God,  zeal  for  the  kingdom  of  God 
might  view  marriage  as  a  relation  tending  to 
distract  the  mind,  and  to  withdraw  it  from, 
that  one  fundamental  direction.  Aqd  be-, 
sides,  though  the  Christian  view  in  all  its 
purity  and  completeness,  was  in  direct  op- 
position to  the  ascetic  over-valuation  of 
celibacy  ;  yet  Christianity  was  equally  re- 
pugnant to  the  ancient  Jewish  notion,  ac- 
cording to  which  celibacy  was  considered 
a  disgrace  and  a  curse.  As  Christianity 
made  every  thing  depend  on  the  disposition^ 
as  it  presented  the  means  of  salvation  and 
improvement  for  all  conditions  of  human 
kind,  and  a  higher  life  which  would  find 
its  way  into  all  states  of  suffering  humanity 
and  open  a  source  of  happiness  under 
suffering ;— so  it  also  taught,  that  a  single 
life,  where  circumstances  rendered  it  neces- 
sary, might  be  sanctified  and  ennobled  by 
its  relation  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  and 


146 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  ANTIOCH. 


[Book  III. 


become  a  peculiar  means  for  the  further- 
ance of  that  object.* 

Thus  Christianity  had  to  maintain  a  con- 
flict in  the  Corinthian  church  with  two  op- 
posing one-sided  tendencies  of  the  moral 
sentiinpnts, — the  ascetic  over-valuation  of 
celibacy,  and  the  tendency  which  would 
enforce  marriage  as  an  unconditional,  uni- 
versal law,  without  admitting  that  variety 
of  the  social  relations,  under  which  the 
kingdom  of  God  was  capable  of  exhibiting 
itself 

The  first  tendency  certainly  did  not  pro- 
ceed from  the  Judaizing  section  of  the 
church,  for  those  apostles  to  whose  autho- 
rity the  Petrine  party  specially  appealed, 
were  married;  and  took  their  wives  with 
them  on  their  missionary  journeys  ;  1  Cor. 
ix.  5  ;  besides,  that  such  ascetism  was  to- 
tally foreign  to  their  national  manners. 
From  the  Hebrew  standing-point  a  fruitful 
marriage  appeared  as  a  peculiar  blessing 
and  honour ;  while  unmarried  life,  or  a 
childless  marriage,  was  esteemed  a  dis- 
grace. Though  by  the  feeling  of  sadness 
at  the  passing  away  of  the  glory  of  the 
ancient  theocracy,  and  of  dissatisfaction 
with  the  existing  religion,  and  by  the  infu- 
sion of  foreign  oriental  elements,  ascetic 
tendencies  were  produced  in  the  later  Ju- 
daizers;  still  the  spirit  of  the  original  He- 
brewf"  system  made  itself  felt,  and  coun- 
teracted to  a  certain  extent  the  a§cetic  ten- 
dencies, both  in  Judaism  and  Christianity.^ 


*  Compare  Matthew  xix.  11,  12,  Lehen  Jesu,  p. 
567.  If  we  think  of  the  desolations  that  took  place 
at  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  the  national 
migrations, — how  important  was  it  for  such  times, 
tliiTt  Christianity  should  allow  a  point  of  view  from 
which  a  single  life  might  be  esteemed  as  a  charism, 
though  this  point  of  view  might  be  chosen  owing 
to  an  ascetic  bias.  How  important  that  that  which 
was  occasioned  by  the  pressure  of  circumstances, 
should  be  made  a  means  of  blessing,  (by  the  edu- 
cation of  the  rude  nations  effected  by  the  monkish 
orders). — See  the  valuable  remarks  of  F.  v.  Meyer, 
in  his  review  of  Olshausen's  Commentary. 

t  Hence  also  the  ascetic  tendency  of  the  Esse- 
nes  was  corrected  by  a  party  who  introduced  mar- 
riage into  this  sect. 

t  This  opposition  appeared  among  the  later  de- 
scendants of  the  Judaizers  of  this  age.  Thus  in 
the  Clementines,  it  is  given  as  the  characteristic 
of  a  true  prophet,  yA/uov  vo/utri-ju,  iyx-^-XTuav  crvy- 
Xa>^i'^  Hum.  iii.  §  16.  It  is  enjoined  on  the  over- 
seers of  the  church  §'68,  vsw  ^m  ^^vov  nnTiTruyir- 
ctiTAv  Touc  yufx'.jjc,  a.KK'X  nat  tcdv  Tr^'j^i/innoTm.  Epi- 
phannus  says  of  that  class  of  Ebronites  whom  he 
describes,  that  they  reject  vet^&tvtx ;  "  nvstyitt^ova-t 
ft  KO-t  TTO.^  MKiKUy  hyufjii^ova-tlcu!  vMuc  i^  s^<7gowJ)f 


But  among  the  Pauline  party,  an  over- 
valuation of  the  single  life  more  or  less 
prevailed,  and  in  this  respect  they  thought 
themselves  countenanced  by  the  example 
of  their  apostle.  The  Judaizers,  on  the 
other  hand,  remained  on  the  ancient  He- 
brew standing-point,  as  uncompromising 
opponents  of  celibacy,* 

The  opposition  against  the  rigidness  of 
Judaism,  and  that  false  liberalism  which 
actuated  many,  disposed  them  to  break 
through  several  wholesome  moral  restraints. 
It  was  maintained,  and  with  justice,  that 
Christianity  had  broken  down  the  wall  of 
separation  between  the  sexes,  in  reference 
to  the  concerns  of  the  higher  life,  and  had 
freed  woman  from  her  state  of  servitude. 
But  seduced  by  the  spirit  of  false  freedom, 
individuals  had  been  led  to  overstep  the 
limits  prescribed  by  nature  and  sound 
morals,  and  rendered  sacred  by  Christi- 
anity. Women,  contrary  to  the  customs 
prevalent  among  the  Greeks, f  appeared 
in  the  Christian  assemblies  unvailed,  and, 
putting  themselves  on  an  equality  with  the 
men,  assumed  the  office  of  public  teachers. 

The  want  of  Christian  love  was  also 
evinced  by  the  disputes  that  arose  respecting 
property,  which  the  parties  were  not  wil- 
ling to  decide,  as  had  been  hitherto  customary 
in  the  Jewish  and  Christian  churches,  by 
arbitrators  chosen  from  among  themselves  ; 
these  Gentile  Christians,  boastful  of  their 
freedom,  set  aside  the  scruples  which  re- 
strained Jewish  Christians,  and  appealed 
without  hesitation  to  a  heathen  tribunal. 

By  this  defect  in  the  spirit  of  Christian 
love,  those  religious  feasts  which  were  par- 
ticularly fitted  to  represent  the  loving  com- 
munion of  Christians  and  to  maintain  its 
vigour,  lost  their  true  significance,  those 
Christian  Agapse,  which  composed  one 
whole  with  the  celebration  of  the  Last  Sup- 


eTwSsv  Tm  TTctg''  oLuTol;  (T/tfao-^tct^aiv."  Similar  things 
are  found  in  the  religious  books  of  the  Zabians 
against  monkery. 

*  When  Paul  in  1  Cor.  vii.  40,  recommends  celi- 
bacy in  certain  cases,  he  appears  to  have  in  view 
the  Judaizers,  who  set  themselves  against  an  apos- 
tolic authority  ;  for  in  the  words  "  cfcKM  Si  Klya, 
Ttvvoixa.  hfj~j  i^iiv"  he  appears  to  contradict  those 
who  believed  and  asserted  that  they  alone  had  the 
Spirii  of  God. 

t  This  appears  to  me  the  most  simple  and  natu- 
ral interpretation.  What  has  been  said  by  some 
respecting  the  difference  of  the  Roman  and  Greek 
customs  of  aperto  or  operto  capite  sacra  facere, 
seems  hardly  applicable  here. 


Chap.  VII.] 


THE  CHURCH  AT  CORINTH. 


14"^ 


per.  At  these  love-feasts,  the  power  of 
Christian  fellowship  was  shown  in  over- 
coming all  the  differences  of  rank  and  edu- 
cation"; rich  and  poor,  masters  and  slaves, 
partook  with  one  another  of  the  same  sim- 
ple meal.  But  in  the  Corinthian  church, 
where  those  differences  were  so  strongly 
marked,  this  could  not  be  attained.  There 
existed  among  the  Greeks  an  ancient  cus- 
tom of  holding  entertainments  at  which 
each  one  brought  his  food  with  him,  and 
consumed  it  alone.*  The  Agapse  in  the 
Corinthian  church  were  conducted  on  the 
plan  of  this  ancient  custom,  although  the 
peculiar  object  of  the  institution  was  so 
different ;  consequently,  the  distinction  of 
rich  and  poor  was  rendered  peculiarly 
prominent,  and  the  rich  sometimes  indulged 
in  excesses  which  desecrated  the  character 
of  these  meetings. 

The  predominant  Grecian  character  and 
constitution  of  the  Corinthian  church,  ap- 
peared in  zeal  for  mutual  communication  by 
speaking  in  their  public  assemblies,  and 
for  the  cultivation  of  those  charisms  which 
related  to  oral  religious  instruction  ;  but  it 
took  a  one-sided  direction,  which  showed 
its  baneful  influence  at  a  later  period  in  the 
Greek  church,  an  aspiring  rather  after  ex- 
traordinary powers  of  discourse,  than  after 
a  life  of  eminent  practical  godliness. f  This 
unpractical  tendency,  and  the  want  of  an 
all-animating  and  guiding  love,  were  also 
shown  in  their  mode  of  valuing  and  apply- 
ing the  various  kinds  of  charisms  which 
related  to  public  speaking ;  in  their  one- 
sided over-valuation  of  gifts  they  sought  for 
the  more  striking  and  dazzling,  such  as 
speaking  in  new  tongues,  in  preference  to 
those  that  were  more  adapted  to  general 
edification. 

To  which  of  the  parties  in  the  Corinthian 
church,  the  opponents  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  resurrection  belonged  cannot  be  deter- 
mined with  certainty,  since  we  have  no 
precise  account  of  their  peculiar  tenets. 
No  other  source  of  information  is  left  open 


*  See  Xenoph.  Memorabil.  iii.  14.  The  o-vfATroa-ta. 
fiiKtuu  bore  a  greater  resemblance  to  the  Agapse ; 
at  these  feasts,  all  that  each  brought  was  made  a 
part  of  a  common  meal,  which  the  chronicler  Jo- 
hannes Malala  mentions  as  continuing  to  be  prac- 
tised even  in  his  time.  See  vii.  Chronograph,  e. 
collect.  Niebuhr.  p.  180. 

+  Paul  reminds  them  in  1  Cor.  iv.  20,  that  a  par- 
ticipation in  the  kingdom  of  God  is  shown  not  in 
high-sounding  words,  but  in  the  power  of  the  life. 


to  us,  than  what  we  may  infer  from  the 
objections  against  the  doctrine  of  the  resur- 
rection which  Paul  seems  to  presuppose, 
and  from  the  reasons  alleged  by  him  in 
its  favour,  and  adapted  to  the  standing- 
point  from  which  they  assailed  it.  As  to 
the  former,  Paul  might  construct  these  ob- 
jections, (as  he  had  often  done  on  other 
occasions  when  developing  an  important 
subject,)  without  our  being  authorized  to 
infer  that  they  were  exactly  the  objectiona 
which  had.  been  urged  by  the  impugners 
of  the  doctrine.  And  as  to  the  latter,  in 
his  mode  of  establishing  the  doctrine,  he 
might  follow  the  connexion  with  other 
Christian  truths  in  which  this  article  of 
faith  presented  itself  to  his  own  mind,  and 
without  being  influenced  by  the  peculiar 
mode  of  the  opposition  made  to  it. 

When  Paul,  ibr  example,  adduced  the 
evidence  for  the  truth  of  the  resurrection  of 
Christ,  this  will  not  justify  the  inference,,that 
his  Corinthian  opponents  denied  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ ;  for,  without  regarding  their 
opposition,  he  might  adopt  this  line  of  argu- 
ment, because  to  his  own  mind,  faith  in  the 
resurrection  of  Christ  was  the  foundation 
of  faith  in  the  resurrection  of  the  redeemed. 
He  generally  joins  together  the  doctrines  of 
the  resurrection  and  of  immortality,  and 
hence  some  may  infer  that  his  opponents 
generally  denied  personal  immortality.  But 
still  it  remains  a  question,  whether  Paul 
possessed  exact  information  respecting  the 
sentiments  of  these  persons,  or  whether  he 
did  not  follow  the  connexion  in  which  the 
truths  of  the  Christian  faith  were  presented 
to  his  own  mind,  and  his  habit  of  seeing  in 
the  opponents  of  the  doctrines  of  the  resur- 
rection those  also  of  the  doctrine  of  immor- 
tality, since  both  stood  or  fell  together  in 
the  Jewish  polemical  theology. 

This  controversy  on  the  resurrection  has 
been  deduced  from  the  ordinary  opponents 
of  that  doctrine  among  the  Jews,  the  Sad- 
duce.es,  and  it  has  hence  been  concluded 
that  it  originated  with  the  Judaizing  party 
in  the  Corinthian  church.  This  supposi- 
tion appears  to  be  confirmed  by  the  circum- 
stance that  Paul  particularly  mentions,  as 
witnesses  for  the  truth  of  Christ's  resurrec- 
tion, Peter  and  James,  who  were  the  most 
distinguished  authorities  of  the  Judaizing 
party;  but  this  cannot  be  esteemed  a  proof, 
for  he  must  on  any  supposition  have  laid 
special    weight   on    the   testimony  of  the 


148 


THE  CHURCH  AT  CORTNTH. 


[Book  HI. 


apostles  collectively,  and  of  these  in  par- 
ticular, for  the  appearance  of  Christ  re- 
peated to  them  after  his  resurrection.  Had 
he  thought  of  the  Sadducees,  he  would 
have  joined  issue  with  them  on  their  pecu- 
liar mode  of  reasoning  from  the  alleged 
silence  of  the  Pentateuch,  just  as  Christ 
opposed  the  Sadducees  from  this  standing- 
point.  But  we  no  where  find  an  example 
of  the  mingling  of  Sadduceeism  and  Chris- 
tianity, and  as  they  present  no  points  of 
connexion  with  one  another,  such  an  amal- 
gamation is  in  the  highest  degree  impro- 
bahle. 

A  similar  reply  must  be  made  to  those 
who  imagine  that  the  controversy  on  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  and  the  denial 
of  that  of  immortality,  may  be  explained 
from  a  mingling  of  the  Epicurean  notions 
with  Christianity.  Yet  the  passages  in  1 
Cor,  XV.  32-35,  may  appear  to  be  in  favour 
of  this  view,  if  we  consider  the  practical 
consequence  deduced  by  Paul  from  that 
denial  of  the  resurrection  as  a  position  laid 
down  in  the  sense  of  tlie  Epicureans,  if  we 
find  in  that  passage  a  warning  against  their 
God-forgetting  levity,  and  against  the  in- 
fectioiis  example  of  the  lax  morals  which 
were  the  offspring  of  their  unbelief  Yet 
the  objections  would  not  apply  with  equal 
force  to  this  interpretation  as  to  the  first."^ 
From  tlie  delicacy  and  mobility  of  the  Gre- 
cian character,  so  susceptible  of  all  kinds 
of  impressions,  we  can  more  easily  ima- 
gine such  a  mixture  of  contradictory  men- 
tal elements  and  such  inconsistency,  than 
from  the  stiffness  of  Jewish  nationality,  and 
the  strict,  dogmatic,  decided  nature  of 
Sadduceeism.  To  this  may  be  added,  that 
the  spirit  of  the  times,  so  very  much  dis- 
posed to  Eclecticism  and  Syncretism, 
tended  to  bring  nearer  one  another  and  to 
amalgamate  modes  of  thinking  that,  at  a 
difl^Drent  period,  would  have  stood  in  most 
direct  and  violent  opposition.  Yet  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  in  Christianity,  whether 
viewed  on  the  doctrinal  or  ethical  side,  any 
thing  which  could  attract  a  person  who 
was  devoted  to  the  Epicurean  philosophy, 
and  induce  him  to  include  something  Chris- 
tian in  his  Syncretism,  unless  we  think  of 
something  entirely,  without  reference  to  all 
the  remaining  peculiarities  of  Christianity, 


*  As  Baur  correctly  remarks  in  his  Essay  on 
the  Christ-party,  p.  81. 


relating  only  to  the  idea  of  n  monotheistic 
universal  religion,  in  opposition  to  the  popu- 
lar superstitions,  and  some  moral  ideas 
detached  from  their  connexion  with  the 
whole  system ;  but  this  would  be  at  least 
not  very  probable,  and  might  more  easily 
happen  in  an  age  when  Christianity  had 
long  been  fermenting  in  the  general  mind, 
rather  than  on  its  first  appearance  in  the 
heathen  world.  All  history,  too,  testifies 
against  this  supposition;  for  we  always 
see  the  Epicurean  philosophy  in  hostility 
to  Christianity,  and  never  in  the  first  ages 
do  we  find  any  approximation  of  the  two 
standing-points.  As  to  the  only  passage 
which  may  appear  to  favour  this  view,  1 
Cor.  XV.  32-35,  it  is  not  clear  that  the  op- 
ponents of  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection 
had  really  brought  forward  the  maxims 
here  stated.  It  might  be,  that  Paul  here 
intended  only  to  characterize  that  course  of 
living  which  it  appeared  to  him  must  pro- 
ceed from  the  consistent  carrying  out  of  a 
philosophy  that  denied  the  distinction  of 
man  to  eternal  life;  for  the  idea  of  eter- 
nal life  and  of  the  reality  of  a  striving 
directed  to  eternal  things  were  to  him  cor- 
relative ideas.  And  when  persons  who 
had  made  a  profession  of  Christianity  could 
fall  into  a  denial  of  eternal  life,  it  appeared 
to  him  as  an  infatuation  of  mind  proceed- 
ing from  ajxcc^Tia,  and  hurrying  a  man 
away  to  sinful  practice  ;  a  forgetfulness  of 
God,  or  the  mark  of  a  state  of  estrange- 
ment from  God,  in  which  a  man  knows 
nothing  of  God.  It  is  much  more  probable, 
that  philosophically  educated  Gentile  Chris- 
tians were  prejudiced  against  the  doctrine 
of  the  resurrection  from  another  standing- 
point,  as  in  later  times  ;  the  common  rude 
conception  of  this  doctrine  which  Paul  par- 
ticularly combated  probably  gave  rise  to 
many  such  prejudices.  The  objections, 
how  can  such  a  body  as  the  present  be 
united  to  the  soul  in  a  higher  condition,  and 
how  is  it  possible  that  a  body  which  has 
sunk  into  corruption  should  he  restored 
again ;  these  objections  would  perfectly 
suit  the  standing-point  of  a  Gentile  Chris- 
tian, who  had  received  a  certain  philosophi- 
cal training,  although  it  cannot  be  affirmed 
with  certainty,  that  precisely  these  objec- 
tions were  brought  forward  in  the  present 
instance.  And  if  we  are  justified  in  sup- 
posing, that  by  the  Christ-party  is  meant 
one  that,  from  certain  expressions  of  Christ 


Chap.  VII.] 


THE  CHURCH  AT  CORINTH. 


149 


which  they  explained  according  to  their 
subjective  standing-point,  constructed  a  pe- 
culiar philosophical  Christianity,  it  would 
be  most  probable  that  such  persons  formed 
an  idea  of  a  resurrection  only  in  a  spiritual 
sense,  and  explained  in  this  manner  the 
expressions  of  Christ  himself  relating  to  the 
resurrection,  as  we  must  in  any  case  as- 
sume that  those  who  wished  to  be  Chris- 
tians and  yet  denied  the  future  resurrection, 
were  far  removed  from  the  true  standard  of 
Christian  doctrine  in  other  respects,  and 
had  indulged  in  arbitrary  explanations  of 
such  of  the  discoui-ses  of  Christ  as  they 
were  acquainted  with. 

It  may  be  asked,  where  and  in  what 
manner  did  Paul  receive  the  first  accounts 
of  these  disturbances  in  the  Corinthian 
church  1  From  several  expressions  of 
Paul  in  his  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians,* it  appears  that  when  he  wrote  his 
admonitory  epistle,  he  had  been  there  again, 
but  only  for  a  very  short  time,  and  that  he 
must  have  had  many  painful  experiences  of 
the  disorders  among  them,  though  they 
might  not  all  have  appeared  during  his 
visit.f 

*  Between  which  and  the  First  Epistle,  Paul 
could  have  taken  no  journey  to  Corinth,  and  yet 
in  the  First  Epistle,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  there 
is  a  passage  which  must  be  most  naturally  referred 
to  a  preceding  second  journey  to  that  city, 

t  I  must  now  declare  myself,  after  repeated  ex- 
aminations, more  decidedly  than  in  the  first  edi- 
tion, in  favour  of  the  view  maintained  by  Bleek  in 
his  valuable  essay  in  the  "  Theologisehen  Studien 
und  Kritiken,"  1830,  part  iii.  which  has  since 
been  approved  by  Riickert, — by  Schott,  in  his 
discussion  of  some  important  chronological  points 
in  the  history  of  the  apostle  Paul,  Jena,  1 832, — 
and  by  Credner,  in  his  Introduction  to  the  New 
Testament, — and  by  others.  Though  some  of 
the  passages  adduced  as  evidence  for  this  opinion 
admit  of  another  interpretation,  yet,  taken  alto- 
gether, they  establish  the  second  visit  of  Paul  to 
this  church  as  an  undeniable  fact.  The  passage 
in  2  Cor.  xii.  14,  compared  with  v.  13,  wc  must 
naturally  understand  to  mean,  that,  as  he  had 
already  stayed  twice  at  Corinth  without  receiving 
the  means  of  support  fi-om  the  church,  he  was  re- 
solved so  to  act  on  his  third  visit,  as  to  be  no  more 
a  burden  to  them  than  on  the  two  former  occa- 
sions. If  verse  14  be  understood  to  mean  (a  sense 
of  which  the  words  will  admit),  that  he  was  plan- 
ning to  come  to  them  a  third  time,  we  must  sup- 
ply what  is  not  expressly  said,  that  he  would  cer- 
tainly execute  this  resolution,  and  yet  the  words 
so  understood  do  not  quite  suit  the  connexion. 
According  to  the  most  approved  reading  of  2  Cor. 
ii.  ],  the  Traxiv  must  be  referred  to  the  whole 
clause  su  KvTTit  s\S-sTv,  and  then  it  follows,  that 
Paul  had  already  once  received  a  painful  impres- 


Owing  to  the  breaks  in  the  narrative  of 
the  Acts,  it  is  difficult  to  decide,  ivhen  this 
second  visit  to  Corinth  took  place.  If  the 
Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  had  not 
been  addressed  at  the  same  time  to  the 
churches  at  Achaia,  we  might  suppose  that 


sion  frorn  the  Corinthians  in  a  visit  made  to  them, 
which  cannot  refer  to  his  first  residence  among 
them,  and  therefore  obliges  us  to  suppose  a  second 
already  past.  In  the  passage  2  Cor.  xii.  21,  which 
cannot  here  be  brought  in  proof,  it  is  indeed  possi- 
ble, and,  according  to  the  position  of  the  words,  is 
most  natural,  to  connect  the  va.Kiv  with  ih^ovrx ; 
but  we  may  be  allowed  to  suppose  that  tlie  Trxx/y 
belongs  to  Ta^avaia-M,  but  is  placed  first  for  em- 
phasis. In  this  case,  the  introduction  of  the  7ra.Ktv, 
which  yet  is  not  added  to  ixbm  in  v.  20,  as  well 
as  the  position  of  the  whole  clause  ttaxiv  ix^ovrsi, 
is  made  good,  and  the  connexion  with  what  follows 
favours  this  interpretation.  Paul,  in  v.  21,  ex- 
presses his  anxiety  lest  God  should  humble  him  a 
second  time  among  them  when  he  came.  Accord- 
inglyt  we  should  thus  understand  xii.  1,  following 
the  simplest  interpretation,  though  this  passage 
may  be  otherwise  understood,  (if  it  "be  supposed  to 
mean,  that  as  he  had  already  twice  announced  his 
intended  coming  to  Corinth,  having  now  a  third 
time  repeated  his  threatening,  he  would  certainly 
execute  it),  I  am  now  intending  for  a  third 
time  to  come  to  you,  and  as  what  is  supported  by 
two  or  three  witnesses  must  be  valid,  so  now  what 
I  have  threatened  a  second  and  a  third  time,  will 
certainly  be  fulfilled.  I  have  (when  I  was  with 
you  a  second  time)  told  beforehand,  those  who 
had  sinned,  and  all  the  rest,  and  I  now  say  it  to 
them  a  second  time,  as  if  I  were  with  you — 
though  I  n.ow  (this  now  is  opposed  to  formerly, 
since  when  present  among  them,  he  had  expressed 
the  same  sentiments,)  that  if  I  come  to  you  again, 
I  will  not  act  towards  you  with  forbearance,  (as 
Paul,  when  he  came  to  them  a  second  time,  still 
behaved  with  forbearance,  though  he  had  already 
sufficient  cause  for  dissatisfaction  with  them).  De 
Wette,  indeed,  objects  against  this  interpretation, 
that  the  mention  of  the  first  visit  of  Paul  to  Co- 
rinth would  be  in  this  case  quite  superfluous ;  but 
if,  during  his  second  visit,  he  had  not  acted  with 
severity  towards  the  Corinthians,  but  intended  to 
do  so  on  this  third  occasion,  because  they  had  not 
listened  to  his  admonitions,  he  would  have  reason 
to  mention  his  two  first  visits  together,  in  order  to 
mark  more  distinctly  in  what  respect  the  third 
would  be  distinguished  from  the  other  two.  And 
though,  during  his  first  residence  among  them, 
his  experience  was  on  the  whole  pleasing,  yet  in 
this  long  period  many  things  must  have  happened 
with  which  he  could  not  be  satisfied,  but  which  he 
treated  gently,  trusting  to  the  future  progress  of 
their  Christian  life.  We  may  find  in  the  first 
epistle,  a  trace  of  this  his  second  residence  at  Co- 
rinth. When  in  1  Cor.  xvi.  7,  Paul  says,  that  he 
intended  not  now  to  see  them  by  the  way,  u^n 
and  its  position  allows  us  to  assume  a  reference  to 
an  earlier  visit,  which  he  made  only  "  by  the 
way,"  iv  ^«gc(fa',  and  as  this  was  so  very  transient, 
we  may  account  for  his  making  no  further  allu- 
sions to  it  in  the  first  epistle. 


150 


THE  CHURCH  AT  CORINTH. 


[Book  III. 


Paul,  during  his  long  residence  at  Corinth, 
had  taken  missionary  or  visitation  journeys 
throughout  other  parts  of  Achaia,  and  that 
he  then  once  more  returned  to  Corinth, 
only  for  a  short  time,  in  order  to  fetch 
AquiIa,for  the  journeys  he  had  in  prospect. 
It  appears  that  on  this  journey  he  was  ex- 
posed to  many  dangers,  and  that  on  his 
deliverance  from  them  he  made  the  vow' 
mentioned  above.  But  since  the  second 
epistle  was  also  directed  to  the  churches  in 
Achaia,  this  supposition,  in  order  to  be 
maintained,  must  be  so  modified,  that  Paul 
could  have  made  in  the  mean  time  another 
longer  journey,  and  returned  back  again  to 
Achaia — which  it  is  not  easy  to  admit.  Or 
we  must  suppose,  that  during  his  longer 
residence  at  Ephesus,  of  which  we  are  now 
speaking,  he  undertook  another  missionary 
journey,  and  called  in  passing  at  Corinth ; 
or  that,  by  the  anxiety  which  the  news 
brought  from  Corinth  excited  in  his  mind, 
he  was  induced  to  go  thither  from  Ephesus, 
but  on  account  of  circumstances  which 
called  him  back  to  Ephesus,  he  could  stay 
only  a  short  time  with  the  Corinthian 
church,  and  therefore  gave  them  notice  of 
a  longer  residence  among  them.  But  it 
does  not  well  agree  with  this  last  supposi- 
tion, that  Paul  distinguishes  this  visit  as 
one  that  took  place  "  by  the  way."  And 
especially  if  it  took  place  not  long  before 
the  first  epistle,  we  might  the  more  expect 
allusions  to  it  in  that.  The  communica- 
tions between  Paul  and  the  Corinthian 
church  seem  also  to  presuppose,  that  he 
had  not  been  with  them  for  a  considerable 
time.  There  remains  only  a  third  suppo- 
sition, that  the  visitation  which  he  made  after 
his  departure  from  Antioch  to  the  churches 
earlier  founded  by  him  (Acts  xviii.  23)  be- 
fore he  entered  on  a  fresh  field  of  labour, 
was  of  greater  extent  than  is  distinctly 
stated  in  that  passage,  and  that  it  extended 
as  far  as  Achaia.  Perhaps  he  then  tra- 
velled first  from  Phrygia  towai'ds  the  coast 
of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  then  sailed 
to  Hellas.  Possibly  he  then  found  at  Co- 
rinth ApoUos,  who  proceeded  thither,  when 
Paul  coming  from  Antioch,  passed  through 
the  upper  parts  of  Asia  (Acts  xix.  1),*  and 


*  We  must  in  this  instance  interpolate  Paul's 
journey  to  Corinth,  Acts  xix.  1,  and  suppose,  that 
since  the  author  of  the  Acts  knew  nothing  of  the 
•wider  extent  of  Paul's  visitation  at  that  time,  he 


perhaps  joined  him  on  his  return,  and 
went  with  him  to  Ephesus. 

We  must  therefore  at  all  events  suppose, 
that  Paul  had  obtained  his  first  knowledge 
of  the  alteration  for  the  worse  in  the  Co- 
rinthian Church  by  his  own  observation. 
He  could  not  indeed  have  witnessed  the 
strife  of  the  various  parties,  for,  as  appears 
from  1  Cor.  xi.  12,  he  heard  of  this  first  at 
Ephesus  from  the  report  of  strangers.  But 
already  he  must  have  had  the  painful  expe- 
rience, that  in  a  church  which  once  was  in- 
spired with  so  much  Christian  zeal,  their  old 
vices  and  enormities  again  appeared  under 
a  Christian  guise.  He  admonished  them 
for  their  improvement,  and  threatened  to 
use  severer  measures,  if,  when  he  returned 
from  Ephesus,  he  should  find  that  no  im- 
provement had  taken  place.  At  Ephesus, 
he  could  obtain  information  respecting  the 
effect  of  his  last  admonitions  on  the  church. 

But  he  received  worse  news  than  he  ex- 
pected of  the  corruption  of  morals  in  the 
Corinihian  church,  and  especially  of  the 
vicious  conduct  of  an  individual  who  had 
maintained  unlawful  intercourse  with  his 
step-mother.  Hence,  in  an  epistle*  he  ad- 
dressed to  the  Corinthian  church,  he  re- 
proached them  with  allowing  such  a  man 
still  to  remain  among  them,  and  required 
them  to  renounce  all  connexion  with  so 
abandoned  a  character.f 


represented  that  he  immediately  betook  himself 
from  Upper  Asia  to  Ephesus. 

*  The  epistle  in  which  Paul  wrote  this  could 
not  at  any  rate  be  that  still  retained  by  the  Arme- 
nian church,  which  treats  of  subjects  entirely  dif- 
ferent, and  must  be  an  answer  to  an  earlier 
Epistle  to  the  Corintihans.  This  pretended  Epis- 
tle to  the  Corinthians  by  Paul,  and  their  answer, 
bear  on  them,  as  is  now  universally  acknowledofed, 
the  most  undeniable  marks  of  spuriousness.  The 
account  of  the  opponents  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  at  Corinth,  who  were  thought  similar 
to  later  deniers  of  it  among  the  Gentiles,  connected 
with  the  tales  of  Simon  Magus,  and  the  account  of 
the  Jewish  founders  of  sects,  by  Hegesippus,  gave 
an  idle  monk  the  inducement  to  put  together  these 
fragments  of  Pauline  phrases.  If  they  were  quoted 
in  a  genuine  homily  of  Gregory  (^certi-'m;,  they 
were  perhaps  in  existence  in  the  3d  century,  but 
this  address  of  Gregory  to  the  newly  baptized  may 
itself  be  supposititious. 

t  It  may  be  asked,  whether  Paul  in  the  last 
epistle  treated  merely  of  the  case  which  was  im- 
mediately under  consideration  in  the  Corinthian 
church,  only  of  abstaining  from  intercourse  with 
TTo^tcic,  or  whether  he  expressly  spoke  of  such  who 
had  fallen  into  other  notorious  vices ; — the  covet- 
ous, who  had  no  regard  for  the  property  of  others ; 


Chap.  VII. 


THE  CHURCH  AT  CORINTH. 


151 


It  was  indeed  sufficiently  evident,  what 
Paul  here  intended,  that  the  Corinthians 
should  not  only  exclude  from  the  meetings 
of  the"  church  those  who  called  themselves 
Christians,  but  denied  Christianity  by  their 
vicious  lives  ;  but  also  abstain  from  all  kind 
of  intercourse  with  them,  in  order  to  testify 
emphatically  that  such  a  merely  outward 
profession  was  of  no  value,  to  bring  these 
persons  to  a  sense  of  their  guilt,  and  to  de- 
clare practically  to  the  heathen  world,  that 
whoever  did  not  exemplify  the  'Christian 
doctrine  in  the  conduct  of  his  life,  must 
not  flatter  himself  that  he  was  a  Chris- 
tian. But  since  Paul  had  not  thought  it 
necessary  to  add,  that  he  spoke  only  of  the 
vicious  in  the  church,  and  not  of  all  per- 
sons in  general  who  lived  in  such  vices, 
the  Corinthians  did  not  think  of  the  limita- 
tion which  the  thing  itself  might  easily 
have  suggested,  and  thus  they  were  thrown 
into  perplexity,  how  to  comply  with  such 
an  injunction,  for  how  could  they,  while 
living  in  the  midst  of  an  evil  world,  re- 
nounce all  intercourse  with  the  vicious  ? 
They  addressed  a  letter  to  the  apostle,  in 
which  they  stated  their  perplexity,  and  pro- 
posed several  other  questions  on  doubtful 
cases  in  the  concerns  of  the  church. 

By  means  of  this  letter,  and  the  mes- 
sengers who  brought  it,  he  obtained  a  more 
complete  knowledge  of  the  concerns  and 
state  of  the  church.  In  Ihe  communica- 
tion which  contained  his  reply  to  the  ques- 
tions proposed,  he  poured  forth  his  whole 
heart  full  of  paternal  love  to  the  church, 
and  entered  minutely  into  all  the  necessi- 
ties of  their  situation.  This  epistle,  a  mas- 
ter-piece of  apostolic  wisdom  in  church  go- 
vernment, contains  much  that  was  import- 
ant in  reference  to  the  change  produced  by 
Christianity  on  the  various  relations  of  life. 
It  was  probably  conveyed  by  the  messen- 
gers on  their  return  to  Corinth. 


the  slanderous,  those  addicted  to  drinking-,  those 
who  took  any  part  whatever  in  the  worship  of 
idols.  The  manner  in  which  he  expresses  him- 
self in  1  Cor.  v.  9-11,  might  signify,  though  not 
decisively,  that  since  he  was  obliged  to  guard  his 
words  against  misapprehension,  lie  took  advantage 
of  this  opportunity,  to  give  a  wider  application  to 
the  princij)les  they  expressed,  which  he  certainly 
had  from  the  beginnin?  in  his  mind,  yet  had  not 
occasion  to  mention  in  his  first  epistle,  which  bore 
no  one  particular  point.  At  all  events,  it  is  im- 
portant to  know  how  far  Paul  extended  the  strict- 
ness of  church  discipline. 


Paul  condemned  in  an  equal  degree  all 
party  feeling  in  the  Corinthian  church;  his 
salutation  in  verse  2,  was  opposed  to  it, 
and  suited  to  remind  all  that  they  equally 
belonged  to  one  church,  which  composed 
all  the  faithful  and  redeemed.  He  taught 
them  that  Christ  was  their  sole  head,  to 
whom  they  must  all  adhere — that  all  hu- 
man labourers  were  to  be  considered  only 
as  instruments  by  each  of  whom  God  worked 
according  to  the  peculiar  standing-point  on 
which  God  had  placed  him,  in  order  to 
promote  in  the  hearts  of  their  fellow- men 
a  work  which  they  were  all  destined  to 
serve.  They  ought  to  be  far  from  venturing 
to  boast  that  they  had  this  or  that  man  for 
their  teacher — for  such  boasting,  by  which 
they  owned  themselves  dependent  on  man, 
was  rather  a  denial  of  their  being  Christians ; 
for  if  they  only,  as  became  Christians,  re- 
ferred every  thing  to  Christ,  to  whom  they 
were  indebted  for  communion  with  God, 
they  might  view  all  things  as  designed  to 
serve  them,  and  as  belonging  to  them ; 
those  sublime  expressions  in  1  Cor,  iii.  21, 
show  how  the  truest  spiritual  freedom  and 
the  highest  elevation  of  soul  are  the  off- 
spring of  Christian  humility.  This  gene- 
ral  truth  in  reference  to  the  manner  in 
which  all  Christian  teachers  (each  accord- 
ing to  his  peculiar  qualifications)  were  to 
be  estimated  and  made  use  of,  he  applies 
particularly  to  his  relation  to  Apollos ;  of 
whom  he  could  speak  most  reservedly  and 
unsuspectedly,  since  he  was  a  man  with 
whom  he  stood  in  the  closest  connexion, 
and  who  had  adopted  his  own  peculiar  form 
of  doctrine.  To  those  persons  who  could 
not  find  in  his  simple  preaching  the  wisdom 
which  they  sought  after,  and  preferred 
Apollos  as  a  teacher,  more  according  to 
their  Grecian  taste,*  he  said,  that  it  was 
wrong  on  their  part  to  regret  the  absence 
of  such  wisdom  in  his  preaching,  for  the 
fountain  of  all  genuine  wisdom,  the  wisdom 
of  God,  was  not  to  be  found  in  any  scheme 
of  philosophy,  but  only  in  the  doctrine  of 
the  crucified  Jesus,  the  Saviour  of  the  world, 


*  We  have  already  spoken  of  the  reference  of 
this  whole  section,  1  Cor.  i.  1-18.  We  need  not 
enter  more  at  large  into  the  dispute  respecting  the 
meaning  proposed  by  Eichorn  and  others — that 
Paul  here  directed  his  argumentation  against 
Grecian  Sophists,  who  had  made  an  entrance  into 
the  church,  and  threatened  to  seduce  many  into 
unbelief. 


152 


THE  CHURCH  AT  CORINTH. 


[Book  II 


which  he  had  made  the  central  point  of 
his  preaching,  but  this  divine  wisdom  could 
only  be  ibund  and  understood  by  a  dispo- 
sition that  was  susceptible  o^"  what  was 
divine.  For  this  reason,  he  had  never  yet 
been  able  to  lead  them  by  his  discourses  to 
perceive  in  the  simple  doctrine  of  the  gos- 
pel, (which  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  was 
foolishness,)  the  depths  of  divine  wisdom," 
because  an  ungodlike  disposition  predomi- 
nated in  their  minds,  of  which  these  party 
strifes  were  an  evident  sign.  He  gave  the 
Corinthians  a  rule  by  which  they  might 
pass  a  judgment  on  all  teachers  of  Chris- 
tianity. Whoever  acknowledged  the  im- 
movab'le  foundation  of  the  Christian  life, 
which  had  been  laid  by  himself,  that  Jesus 
was  the  Saviour,  that  men  were  indebted 
for  salvation  to  him  alone,  and  on  this  foun- 
dation proceeded  to  erect  the  Christian 
doctrine,  would  thereby  prove  himself  to  be 
a  Christian  teacher,  and  by  his  faith  in  Him 
who  alone  could  impart  salvation,  would 
attain  it  himself,  and  lead  others  to  it.  But 
in  the  structure  of  doctrine  which  was  raised 
on  this  foundation,  the  divine  might  more 
or  less  be  mixed  with  the  human,  and  so 
far  be  deteriorated.  The  complete  purify- 
ing process,  the  separation  of  the  divine 
and  the  human,  would  be  left  to  the  last 
judgment.  Many  a  one  who  had  attached 
too  great  value  to  the  human,  would  see 
the  work  destroyed,  which  he  had  con- 
structed, though  the  foundation  on  which  it 
rested  would  remain  for  himself  and  others: 
such  a  one  would  be  saved  after  many  se- 
vere trials,  which  he  must  undergo  for  pu- 
rification from  the  alloy  of  self;  1  Cor.  iii. 
11-15.*  But  from  the  teachers  who  ad- 
hered to  the  unchangeable  foundation  of 
God's  kingdom,  and  built  upon  it,  either 
with  better  or  worse  materials,  Paul  distin- 


*  Since  the  whole  passage  which  speaks  of  fire, 
of  the  buildingr  constructed  of  various  materials, 
some  fire-proof  and  others  destructible  by  fire, 
and  of  being  saved  as  from  the  midst  of  the  fire, 
is  composed  of  images,  and  is  figurative  through- 
out,— it  is  very  illogical,  as  Origen  has  justly 
remarked,  arbitrarily  to  detach  from  the  rest,  and 
take  in  a  literal  sense  a  single  trait  in  the  picture 
as  that  of  fire.  Nor  let  any  one  say  that  the  idea 
of  such  a  judgment  in  the  historical  developement 
is  somewhat  unpauline.  The  idea  of  such  a  judg. 
mont  connected  with  the  publication  of  the  gospel, 
and  accompanying  its  operations,  pervades  the 
whole  New  Testament,— by  which  indeed,  a  final 
Judgment  of  the  world,  to  which  this  is  only  pre- 
parative, is  not  excluded. 


guishes  those  of  whom  he  says,  that  they 
destroy  the  Temple  of  God  itself  in  believ- 
ers, and  are  guilty  of  peculiar  sacrilege  ; 
against  such  he  denounced  the  most  awful 
punishment,  "  If  any  man  defile  the  temple 
of  God,  him  shall  God  destroy;"  1  Cor.  iii. 
16,  17. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  where  Paul 
treats  of  eating  meat  offered  to  idols,  he 
does  not,  in  order  to  impress  the  Gentile 
Christians  with  their  obligations  to  abstain 
from  all  such  food, — appeal  to  the  decision 
of  the  apostolic  convention  at  Jerusalem, 
any  more  than  he  opposed  the  authority  of 
that  decision  to  the  Jewish  Christians,  who 
wished  to  compel  the  Gentiles  to  be  circum- 
cised. It  is  one  of  the  characteristics  of 
his  method,  that  he  here  rests  his  argu- 
ment, not  on  outward  positive  command,  a 
vofji-oj,  but  on  the  inward  law?  in  the  hearts 
of  believers,  on  what  the  spirit  of  the  gos- 
pel requires.  As  in  the  instance  of  those 
who  wished  to  impose  the  law  of  circumci- 
sion on  Gentile  Christians,  instead  of  ap- 
pealing to  an  outward  authority,  he  pointed 
out  the  internal  contrariety  of  their  conduct 
to  the  peculiar  and  fundamental  principles 
of  the  gospel ;  so  on  this  point  he  opposed 
to  the  abuse  of^  Christian  freedom,  the  law 
of  love  which  was  inseparable  from  the  gos- 
pel. In  short,  it  appears  that,  though  the 
authority  of  that  decision  was  held  sacred 
in  Palestine,  Acts  xxi.  25,  yet  beyond  these 
limits  it  seems  to  have  been  little  regarded. 
Since  that  decision  rested  on  mutual  con- 
cessions, it  followed  that  if  one  of  the  par- 
ties of  the  Jewish  Christians  failed  to  fulfil 
the  condition — if  they  would  not  acknow- 
ledge the  uncircumci-sed  as  their  heathen 
brethren, — then,  on  the  other  side,  the  obli- 
gation ceased  to  operate  on  the  Gentile  Chris- 
tians, who  by  the  observance  of  that  decision, 
would  have  made  an  approach  to  the  Jew- 
ish Christians.  At  a  later  period,  after  the 
settlement  of  the  opposition  between  these 
two  hostile  tendencies  could  no  longer  be 
accomplished,  but  a  Jewish  element  gained 
entrance  into  the  church  itself  in  an  altered 
form,  this  decision  might  again  acquire  the 
strict  power  of  law. 

Paul  did  not  dispute  the  position  which 
the  free-thinking  Christians  at  Corinth 
were  always  contending  for,  that  no  law 
could  be  laid  down  about  outward  things 
that  were  in  themselves  indifferent ;  he  did 
not  even  exact  their  deference  to  the  apos- 


Chap.  VII. 


THE  CHURCH  AT  CORINTH. 


153 


tolic  decision,  by  which  such  food  was  ab- 
solutely forbidden,  but  he  shows  them  from 
the  standing-point  of  the  gospel,  that  what 
is  in  itself  lawful,  may,  under  special  cir- 
cumstances, cease  to  be  so,  as  far  as  it 
contradicts  the  law  of  love, — the  obligation 
of  Christians  to  act  on  all  occasions  so  that 
the  salvation  of  others  may  be  most  pro- 
moted, and  the  glory  of  God  be  subserved. 
He  points  out  that  they  even  denied  their 
own  Christian  freedom,  since  in  another 
way  they  brought  themselves  into  subjec- 
tion to  outward  things,  which  they  ought  to 
have  used  with  freedom  In  the  spirit  of 
love,  according  as  circumstances  might 
vary.* 

In  reference  to  the  question  proposed  to 
liim  respecting  a  single  life,  he  took  a  mid- 
dle course  between  the  two  contending  par- 
ties, those  who  entirely  condemned  a  single 
life,  and  those  who  wished  to  prescribe  it  for 
all  persons  as  something  essential  to  Chris- 
tian perfection.  Though  by  his  own  peculiar 
character  he  might  be  disposed  to  attach  a 
higher  value  to  a  single  life,  (which  for  his 
own  method  of  labouring  was  certainly  an 
important  assistance),  than  could  be  as- 
cribed to  it  from  the  Christian  standing- 
point,  when  viewed  only  objectively  ;  yet 
the  power  of  a  higher  spirit  was  here  more 
clearly  manifested,  by  which,  though  his 
own  subjective  inclination  was  not  denied, 
in  the  regulation  of  his  own  conduct,  yet 
it  was  not  allowed  to  interfere  injuriously 
with  his  views  of  Christian  morals,  and 
with  his  wisdom  in  the  guidance  of  the 
church ;  but  how  could  it  be  otherwise 
with  a  man  who,  although  as  a  man  he 
retained  a  strongly  marked  individuality, 
was  influenced  in  so  extraordinary  a  de- 
gree by  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  of  that  Sa- 
viour for  whom  he  had  suffered  the  loss  of 
all  things  !  He  discerned  how  injurious  a 
forced  celibacy  would  be  in  a  church  like 
the  Corinthian,  and  hence  sought  to  guard 
against  this  evil.  He  represented  a  single 
life  for  those  who  were  fitted  for  it  by 
their  natural  constitution,  as  a  means  of 
attending  with  less  distraction  to  the  con- 
cerns of  the  kingdom  of  God,  without 
being  diverted  from  them  by  earthly  cares, 

*  1  Cor.  vi.  12,  TTuvTcL  (xoi  i>ia-Ttv,  olkk'  OUK  S^a) 
i^ou^txa-^yi^o/Aut  6-7ro  Tivof.  If  every  thing  is  law- 
ful for  me,  yet  I  must  not  allow  myself  to  be 
governed  by  external  things,  as  if,  because  I  can 
use  them,  I  jnust  necessarily  use  them. 

20 


especially  under  great  impending  tribula- 
tions, until  the  second  coming  of  Christ, 
from  which  we  must  infer  what  an  influence 
the  near  appi-oach  of  that  event  had  on  his 
own  course  of  conduct.  He  placed  the 
essence  of  Christian  perfection  not  in  celi- 
bacy, nor  in  the  outward  denial  of  earthly 
things ;  but  in  that  renunciation  of  the 
world  which  has  its  seat  in  the  disposition, 
which  would  make  the  married  and  the 
rich,  as  well  as  the  unmarried  and  the 
poor,  read^  to  sacrifice  every  thing  which 
the  exigencies  of  the  times  might  demand  ; 
to  suffer  the  loss  of  all  things,  however 
dear  to  their  hearts,  for  the  sake  of  the 
gospel  ;  1  Cor.  vii.  30. 

In  speaking  of  the  various  relations  of 
life,  in  which  men  might  be  placed  at  the 
time  of  their  conversion,  Paul  lays  down 
as  a  rule,  that  that  event  should  produce 
no  change  in  this  respect.  Christianity  did 
not  violently  dissolve  the  relation  in  which 
a  man  found  himself  placed  by  birth,  edu- 
cation, and  the  leading  of  divine  Provi- 
dence, but  taught  him  to  act  in  them  from 
a  new  point  of  view,  and  with  a  new  dis- 
position. It  effected  no  abrupt  revolutions, 
but  gradually,  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit 
working  from  within,  made  all  things  new. 
The  apostle  applies  this  especially  to  the 
case  of  slaves,  which  it  was  more  needful  to 
consider,  because  from  the  beginning  that 
gospel  which  was  preached  to  the  poor 
found  much  acceptance  among  this  class, 
and  the  knowledge  imparted  to  them  by 
Christianity  of  the  common  dignity  and 
rights  of  all  men,  might  easily  have  ex- 
cited them  to  throw  off  the  earthly  yoke. 
Likewise  in  this  view,  Christianity,  in  order 
not  to  mingle  worldly  and  spiritual  things 
together',  and  not  to  miss  its  main  object, 
the  salvation  of  the  soul,  did  not  presume 
to  efl'ect  by  force  a  sudden  revolution  in 
their  condition,  but  operated  only  on  the 
mind  and  disposition.  To  slaves  the  gos- 
pel presented  a  higher  life,  which  exalted 
them  above  the  restraints  of  their  earthly 
relation ;  and  though  masters  were  not  re- 
quired by  the  apostles  to  give  their  slaves 
freedom,  since  it  was  foreign  to  their  minis- 
try to  interfere  with  the  arrangement  of 
civil  relations,  yet  Christianity  imparted  to 
masters  such  a  knowledge  of  their  duties 
to  their  slaves,  and  such  dispositions  to- 
wards them,  and  taught  them  to  recognise 
as  brethren    the   Christians   among   their 


154 


THE  CHURCH  AT  CORINTH. 


[Book  IH. 


slaves,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  their 
relation  to  them  quite  a  different  thing. 

Paul,  therefore,  when  he  touches  on  this 
relation,  tells  the  slave,  that  though  by  the 
arrangement  of  Providence  he  was  de- 
barredl  from  the  enjoyment  of  outward 
freedom,  he  should  not  be  troubled,  but 
rejoice  that  the  Lord  had  bestowed  upon 
him  true  inward  freedom.  But  while  he 
considers  the  latter  as  the  only  true 
freedom,  in  the  possession  of  which  man 
may  be  free  under  all  outward  restraints, 
and  apart  from  which  no  true  freedom  can 
exist,  he  is  very  far  from  overlooking  the 
subordinate  worth  of  civil  freedom,  for  he 
says  'to  the  slave,  to  whom  he  had  an- 
nounced the  true,  the  spiritual  freedom, 
"  but  if  thou  njayst  be  free,  use  it  rather," 
i  Cor.  vii.  21,*  which  implies  that  the 
apostle  viewed  the  state  of  freedom  as 
more  corresponding  to  the  Christian  call- 
ing, and  that  Christianity,  when  it  so  far 
gained  the  ascendency  as  to  form  anew  the 
social  relations  of  mankind,  would  bring 
about  this  change  of  state,  which  he  de- 
clares to  be  an  object  of  preference.! 


*  The  later  ascetic  spirit  forms  a  striking  con- 
trast on  this  point  to  the  spirit  of  primitive  Chris- 
tianity. Although,  in  a  grammatical  view,  it  is 
most  natural  to  supply  the  £A«i/6sgoc  ^gvsj-Qa/  which 
immediately  precedes,  or  sxjufisgw,  yet  the  later 
Fathers  have  not  thus  understood  it,  because  the 
worth  of  civil  freedom  appeared  to  them  not  so 
great,  but  they  took  the  apostle's  meaning  to  be 
exactly  opposite,  fy-axxov  ^gyia-a.i  tS  S'ovku^.  What 
Do  Wette  has  lately  urged  against  this  interpre- 
tation, does  not  appear  to  me  convincing.  The  tl 
x.at  (he  thinks)  is  against  it ;  but  it  suits  very  well. 
The  apostle  says,  If  called,  being  a  slave  to  Chris- 
tianity, thou  shouldst  be  content.  Christian  free- 
dom will  not  be  injured  by  slavery — but  yet,  if 
thou  canst  be  free  (as  a  still  additional  good,  which 
if  thou  dost  not  attain,  be  satisfied  without  it ;  but 
which,  if  offered  to  thee,  is  not  to  be  despised) 
therefore  make  use  of  this  opportunity  of  becoming 
free,  rather  than  by  neglecting  it  to  remain  a  slave. 
The  connexion  with  v.  22,  is  not  against  it,  if  we 
recollect,  that  the  clause  beginning  with  aXKo.  is 
only  a  secondary  or  qualifying  assertion,  which 
certainly  does  not  belong  to  the  leading  thought, 
a  mode  of  construction,  similar  to  what  we  find 
elsewhere  in  Paul's  writings. 

t  To  this  also  the  words  in  v.  23  may  relate. 
"  Ye  are  bought  with  a  price  (ye  are  made  free 
from  the  dominion  of  Satan  and  sin),  become  not 
the  slaves  of  men."  Thus  it  would  be  understood 
by  many.  Christians  ought  not  voluntarily,  merely 
to  escape  from  some  earthly  trouble,  to  put  tliem- 
selves  in  a  condition  which  is  not  suited  to  their 
Christian  calling.  But  since  the  apostle  previously, 
when  speaking  of  such  relations  as  could  only  con- 


The  Corinthian  church  had  probably 
requested  that  Apollos  might  visit  them 
again,  and  Paul  acknowledged  him  as  a 
faithful  teacher,  who  had  built  on  the  foun- 
dation of  the  faith  which  he  had  laid,  who 
had  watered  the  field  that  he  had  planted. 
He  was  far  from  opposing  this  request;  he 
even  requested  Apollos  to  comply  with  it, 
but  Apollos  was  resolved  not  to  visit  Co- 
rinth immediately.  The  importance  at- 
tached to  his  person,  and  the  efforts  that 
had  been  made  to  place  him  at  the  head  of 
a  party,  perhaps  led  him  to  this  determina- 
tion. 

Paul  wrote  our  First  Epistle  to  the  Co- 
rinthians about  the  time  of  the  Jewish  Pass- 
over, as  appears  from  the  allusion  in  v.  7. 
He  had  then  the  intention  of  staying  at 
Ephesus  till  Pentecost ;  he  informed  them 
that  many  opportunities  offered  for  pub- 
lishing the  gospel,  but  that  he  had  also 
many  enemies  to  contend  with.  He  spoke 
of  his  being  in  daily  peril  of  losing  his 
life :  1  Cor.  xv.  30.* 


cern  individuals  in  the  church,  used  the  singular, 
but  now  changed  his  style  to  the  plural,  it  is  hence 
probable,  that  he  is  speaking  of  a  relation  of  a 
general  kind,  that  is,  giving  an  exliortation  which 
would  apply  to  all  the  Corinthians, — an  exhorta- 
tion, indeed,  which  is  not  so  closely  connected  with 
what  is  said  in  v.  22,  but  to  which  he  might  easily 
have  been  led  to  make  from  the  idea  of  a  (Touxoc 
;^g(!rToy,  so  familiar  and  interesting  to  his  mind, 
an  idea  that  would  equally  apply  to  both  bond  and 
free  ;  "  Refuse  not  this  true  freedom  which  belongs 
to  you  as  the  bondsmen  of  Christ,  do  not  become 
by  a  spiritual  dependence  the  slaves  of  men,  from 
being  the  bondsmen  of  Christ;" — an  exhortation 
which  was  adapted  in  many  respects  to  the  con- 
dition of  the  Corinthian  church  ;  and  this  warning 
against  a  servitude  totally  incompatible  with  being 
a  servant  (or  bondsman)  of  Christ,  (which  could 
not  be  asserted  of  a  state  of  outward  servitude,  or 
slavery,  simply  as  such)  this  warning  would  be  a 
very  suitable  conclusion  to  the  whole  train  of 
thought  on  inward  and  outward  freedom.  It  was 
needless  for  him  to  notice  the  case  of  a  person 
selling  himself  for  a  slave,  since  it  was  one  that 
could  hardly  occur  among  Christians.  Verse  24 
is  rather  for  than  against  this  interpretation ;  for 
since  v.  23  does  not  refer  to  outward  relations,  he 
once  more  repeats  the  injunction  respecting  them. 
*  Schrader  infers  from  the  words  in  1  Cor.  xvi. 
8,  that  Paul  could  not  have  written  this  epistle  at 
the  close  of  his  long  residence  at  Ephesus,  but  at 
the  beginning  of  another  short  stay  tliere  ;  for 
otherwise  he  must  have  said,  iTn/JuvZ  tTs  h  'Efio-ce  Wt, 
and  could  not  have  hoped  to  effect  that  in  a  few 
weeks  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  and  the  coun- 
teraction of  false  teachers,  which  he  could  not  ac- 
complish even  after  several  years.  But  we  do  not 
see  why  Paul,  merely  having  the  fiiture  in  his  eye 


Chap.  VII.] 


THE  CHURCH  AT  CORINTH. 


155 


At  the  time  of  his  writing  this  epistle  to 
Corinth,  he  had  formed  an  extensive  plan 
for  his  future  labours.  As  during  his  stay 
of  several  years  in  Achaia  and  at  Ephesus, 
he  had  laid  a  sufficient  foundation  for  the 
extension  of  the  Christian  church  among 
the  nations  who  used  the  Greek  language, 
he  now  wished  to  transfer  his  ministry  to 
the  West ;  and  as  it  was  his  fundamental 
principle  to  make  those  regions  the  scene 
of  his  activity  where  no  one  had  laboured 
before  him — he  wished  on  that  account  to 
visit  Rome,  the  metropolis  of  the  world, 
where  a  Church,  had  long  since  been  es- 
tablished, in   his  way  to  Spain,*  and  then 


and  not  reflecting  on  the  past,  might  not  leave  out 
the  in,  as  similar  omissions  frequently  occur  in 
an  epistolary  writing ;  and  even  if  Paul  in  the 
course  of  a  long  time  had  effected  much  for  the 
spread  of  the  gospel,  still  he  could  say,  since  the 
sphere  of  his  labours  in  Lesser  Asia  was  continu- 
ally extending,  that  "  a  great  and  effectual  door" 
was  opened  for  publishing  the  gospel.  But  the 
avriitiiiuiyat  in  this  passage,  which  relates  to  the 
publication  of  the  gospel,  are  certainly  not  false 
teachers,  but  open  adversaries  of  Christianity.  As 
the  opportunities  for  making  known  the  gospel 
were  manifold,  so  also  its  enemies  were  many. 
This,  therefore,  does  not  contradict  the  preceding 
longer  evidence  of  the  apostle,  but  rather  confirms 
it ;  for  the  most  violent  attacks  on  the  preachers 
of  the  gospel,  if  they  did  not  proceed  from  the 
Jews,  would  first  arise,  after  by  their  long  con- 
tinued labours  tlicy  had  produced  effects  which 
threatened  to  injure  the  interests  of  many  whose 
gains  were  derived  from  idolatrous  practices. 

*  Rom.  XV.  24,  28.  Dr.  Baur,  in  his  Essay  on 
the  Object  and  Occasion  of  the  Epistle  to  tiie  Ro- 
mans, in  the  "  Tuhinger  Zeitschrift  fiir  Thcologie," 
1836,  part  iii.  p.  156,  has  attempted  to  show  that 
Paul  could  not  have  written  these  words.  He 
thinks  that  he  discovers  in  them  the  marks  of  an- 
other hand,  of  which,  in  my  opinion,  no  trace 
whatever  can  be  found, — all  appears  wholly  Paul- 
ine. It  might  indeed  seem  strange,  that  the  apostle 
of  the  Gentiles  had  not  yet  visited  the  metropolis 
of  the  Gentile  world.  Accordingly,  he  gives  an 
account  of  the  causes  which  had  hitherto  prevented 
him,  and  expresses  his  earnest  desire  to  become 
personally  acquainted  with  the  church  of  the  me- 
tropolis.  Since  it  was  most  important,  first  of  all, 
to  lay  a  foundation  every  where  for  the  publication 
of  the  gospel,  on  which  the  superstructure  might 
afterwards  be  easily  raised,  so  it  was  his  maxim 
— the  same  which  he  expresses  in  2  Cor.  x.  16, 
and  which  we  see  him  always  acting  upon — to 
labour  only  in  those  regions  where  no  one  before 
had  published  the  gospel.  But  among  the  Gentiles 
at  Rome  a  churcli  had  been  long  founded,  and 
hence  he  could  not  be  justified  on  his  own  prin- 
ciples in  leaving  a  field  of  labour  in  which  there 
was  still  so  much  to  be  done,  in  order  to  visit  a 
church  that  had  been  long  established,  and  was  in 
a  state  of  progressive  developement.     The  difficul- 


to  commence  the  publication  of  the  gospel 
at  the  extremity  of  Western  Europe.  But 
before  putting  this  plan  into  execution,  he 
wished  to  obtain  a  munificent  collection  in 
the  churches  of  the  Gentile  Christians  for 
their  poor  believing  brethren  at  Jerusalem, 
and  to  bring  the  amount  himself  to  Jeru- 
salem accompanied  by  some  members  of 
the  churches.  Already  some  time  before 
he  despatched  this  Epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians, he  had  sent  Timothy  and  some 
others  to  Macedonia  and  Achaia  to  forward 
this  collection,  and  to  counterwork  the 
disturbing  influences  in  the  Corinthian 
church.*^  He  hoped  to  receive  through 
him  an  account  of  the  impression  which 
his  epistle  had  made.  But  he  found  him- 
self deceived  in  his  expectations,  for  Timo- 
thy was  probably  prevented  from  travelling 
as  far  as  Corinth,  and  came  back  to  Ephe- 
sus without  bringing  the  information  which 
the  apostle  expected. f  The  apostle,  ani- 
mated by  a  tender  paternal  anxiety  for  the 
church,  became  uneasy  respecting  the 
effect  produced  by  his  epistle  ,-  he,  there- 
fore, sent  Titus  to  Corinth  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  information,  and  that  he  might 
personally  operate  on  the  church  in  accord- 
ties  which  Baur  finds  in  this  passage  are  only 
created  by  a  false  interpretation, 

*  1  Cor.  iv.  17.  The  manner  in  which  Paul 
mentions  Timothy  both  here  and  in  xvi.  10,  plainly 
shows  that  he  was  not  the  bearer  of  this  epistle, 
and  the  latter  passage  makes  it  not  improbable 
that  Paul  expected  he  would  arrive  at  Corinth  after 
his  epistle,  which  would  naturally  happen  though 
Timothy  departed  first,  because  he  was  detained 
a  considerable  time  in  Macedonia.  Perhaps  the 
messengers  from  the  Corinthian  church  were  al- 
ready come  to  Ephesus  when  Timothy  was  going 
away,  and  as  Paul  wished  to  give  them  a  copious 
reply,  on  that  account  he  sent  no  epistle  by  Tim- 
othy. 

t  It  favours  the  supposition  that  Timothy  did 
not  come  as  far  as  Corinth,  that,  in  Acts  xix.  22, 
only  Macedonia  is  mentioned  as  the  object  of  his 
mission.  And  if  he  came  to  Corinth  as  Paul's 
delegate,  he  would  have  mentioned  him,  as  Riic- 
kert  justly  remarks,  in  connexion  with  others  who 
were  sent  by  him  ;  for  though  we  are  not  justified 
that  Paul  here  mentioned  by  name  all  who  were 
sent  by  him  to  Corinth,  yet  the  object  for  which 
he  named  them  in  order  to  appeal  to  the  fact  that 
they  had  acted  with  the  same  disposition  as  him- 
self, and  were  as  little  burdensome  to  the  Corinth, 
ian  church  required  tlie  mention  of  a  man  like 
Timothy  so  closely  connected  with  him,  if  he  had 
stayed  at  Corinth  as  his  delegate.  This  therefore 
is  opposed  to  BIcek's  view,  which  wc  shall  after- 
wards mention,  according  to  which  Timothy  really 
came  to  Corinth,  and  must  have  been  the  bearer 
of  bad  news  from  thence. 


156 


THE  CHURCH  AT  CORINTH. 


[Book  HI. 


ance  with  the  impression  made  by  the 
epistle.  As  Paul  had  resolved,  on  sending 
away  Titus,  to  leave  Ephesus  soon,  he 
agreed  with  him  to  meet  at  Troas,  where 
he  designed  to  make  a  longer  stay  in  order 
to  fourid  a  church,  2  Cor.  ii.  12,  and  per- 
haps to  shape  his  future  course  by  the  in- 
formation which  he  would  there  receive 
from  Titus. 

But  here  the  question  arises,  could  Paul 
have  sent  Titus  to  Corinth  without  an  epis- 
tle ?  And  if  we  find  in  his  second  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians  numerous  allusions  to  an 
epistle  which  he  simply  designates  as  the 
epistle,  shall  we  not  most  naturally  con- 
clude that  it  means  an  epistle  sent  by  Titus  ? 
And  so  much  the  more,  if  these  allusions 
contain  many  things  that  do  not  tally  with 
the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.*  We 
ask  then,  in  this  second  Epistle  are  such 
things  really  found  which  lead  us  to  sup- 
pose another  document  composed  in  a  dif- 
ferent tone  from  the  first  epistle  now  ex- 
tant ?  Let  us  examine  this  more  closely. 
Paul  says,  at  the  beginning  of  the  second 
chapter,  that  he  had  altered  his  former  plan 
of  travelling  immediately  from  Ephesus  to 
Corinth,  and  had  resolved  to  go  first  to 
Macedonia,  in  order  that  he  might  not  be 
obliged  to  produce  a  painfiil  impression 
among  them,  if  he  came  to  them  while  the 
evils  which  he  censured  in  his  first  epistle 
were  still  in  existence.  On  this  account, 
he  wished,  instead  of  coming  immediately 
from  Ephesus  to  Corinth,  rather  to  com- 
municate by  letter  what  was  painfiil  to 
them,  (which  may  very  well  refer  to  the 
reprehensions  contained  in  the  first  epistle), 
and  to  await  its  operation  in  producing  re- 
pentance, before  he  came  to  them  in  per- 
son. He  says  of  the  epistle  in  question, 
that  he  had  written  it  in  great  anguish  of 
heart  and  with  many  tears,  for  his  object 
had  been  not  to  give  them  pain,  but  to 
evince  his  love  for  them.     Does  not  that 


suit  such  passages  as  1  Cor.  iv.  8-19  ;  vi. 
7  ;  X.  ?  Does  not  that  which  he  here  says 
of  his  disposition  correctly  describe  that 
state  of  mind,  in  which  the  news  respect- 
ing the  dangerous  condition  of  the  Corin- 
thian church  must  have  placed  him  ?  It 
can  well  be  referred  to  that  individual  who 
lived  in  unlawful  intercourse  with  his  step- 
mother, against  whose  continuance  in 
church-fellowship  he  had  so  strongly  ex- 
pressed himself,  when  he  says  of  such  a 
one  that  he  troubled  not  only  himself  as  the 
founder  of  the  church,  but  in  a  certain  de- 
gree the  whole  church.  That  epistle  \yas 
indeed  suited  to  call  forth  in  the  Corinthians 
the  consciousness  of  their  corrupt  state, 
that  sorrow  which  leads  to  salvation,  as 
Paul  says  of  that  epistle,  2  Cor.  vii.  9,  &c. 
But  chiefly  we  might  be  induced,  by  verse 
12  of  the  same  chapter,  to  suppose  a  refer- 
ence to  what  was  said  by  Paul  in  an  epis- 
tle now  lost :  "  He  had  written  such  a  let- 
ter to  them,  not  on  his  account  who  had 
done  the  wrong,  nor  on  his  account  against 
whom  it  was  done,  but  from  a  regard  to 
all  that  his  sincere  zeal  for  their  best  wel- 
fare might  be  manifest."*     If  we  refer  the 


*  Bleek  has  endeavoured  to  prove  ail  this  in  his 
valuable  essay  already  mentioned  in  the  •■'■  Stvdien 
unci  Kritiken,"  1830  part  iii.  But  this  is  connected 
with  the  assumption  that  Timothy  really  came  to 
Corinth,  and  the  bad  news  which  he  broug-ht  in- 
fluenced Paul  to  send  Titus  thither.  If  we  only 
assume  that  Paul  was  informed  that  a  part  of  the 
chuich  had  shown  themselves  more  haughty  after 
the  receipt  of  that  first  Epistle,  it  can  be  explained 
how  he  was  induced  to  send  a  severer  Epistle  by 
Titus.  But  we  have  noticed  above,  what  opposes 
the  supposition  that  Timotliy  at  that  time  really 
extended  his  journey  as  far  as  Corinth. 


*  It  will  be  proper  here  to  determine  the  correct 
reading.  If  we  adopt  the  reading  received  by 
Lachmann,  "  t«v  cnrouSm  v/aZv  t»v  iiTrig  yifxuiv  Trgoi 
iifxac"  it  will  favour  that  interpretation,  according 
to  which  there  must  be  a  reference  to  a  personal 
wrong  directed  against  the  apostle.  The  con- 
nexion may  be  traced  in  this  manner.  If  I  have 
written  to  you  in  this  manner  (using  such  strong 
language),  it  is  not  on  account  of  him  who  has 
committed  the  wrong,  nor  on  his  account  who  has 
suffered  the  wrong  (Paul  himself  who  had  been 
personally  injured  by  the  insolence  of  that  man), 
but  that  your  zeal  for  me  might  be  made  known 
by  you  before  God  (i.  e.  in  an  upright  manner,  so 
that  the  disposition  in  which  you  act,  may  prove 
itself  in  the  sight  of  God,  as  that  of  true  love). 
This  would  be  the  contrast :  I  did  it  not  to  avenge 
my  apostolic  authority,  and  to  punish  the  person 
who  impugned  it;  but  on  this  account,  to  give 
you  an  opportunity  to  manifest  your  zeal  for  me, 
as  it  has  now  been  actually  shown.  But  still  we 
must  agree  with  Ruckert  that  the  -tt^oc  C/ua.;  ac- 
cording to  this  reading  seems  rather  superfluous. 
This  Tgoc  C/uic  certainly  intimates,  that  it  was 
Paul's  wish  to  speak  of  his  zeal  for  the  welfare  of 
the  church,  which  would  be  shown  in  his  conduct 
towards  it;  also  in  the  words  hceTricv  tou  QtoZ,  we 
find  such  an  indication  that  Paul  was  speaking  of 
his  own  disposition  as  showing  itself  to  be  upright 
before  God.  The  correctness  of  the  common  read- 
ing  is  also  established  by  comparing  it  with  2  Cor. 
ii.  4,  for  the  words  t>iv  TTrovS'nv  ri/xm  t«v  Jtts^  J^uv, 
correspond  to  the  words  txv  iiyaTrn,  &c.  But  it 
may  be  easily  explained  how  looking  back  to  vii. 
1 1  and  7,  would  give  rise  to  a  various  reading. 


Chap.  VII. 


THE  CHURCH  AT  CORINTH. 


157 


words  to  our  first  epistle,  it  is  difficult  to 
determine  who  the  person  can  be  against 
whonri  tlie  wrong  was  committed.  All  will 
be  clear,  if  we  refer  it  to  Paul  himself,  that 
he  intended  delicately  to  point  out  himself 
as  the  injured  party ;  and  that  he  had  been 
induced  thus  to  write,  not  from  a  selfish 
interest,  but  from  a  sincere  zeal  for  their 
best  welfare.  It  also  appears  to  be  implied 
that  the  epistle  in  question  related  princi- 
pally if  not  entirely  to  this  one  case.  But 
the  affair  of  the  incestuous  person  occupies 
only  a  very  small  space  in.the  first  epistle. 
All  this  rather  favours  the  supposition 
that  there  was  another  epistle  of  Paul,  not 
now  extant,  which  related  exclusively  or 
principally  to  the  conduct  of  one  individual 
who  had  conducted  himself  towards  the 
apostle  with  great  insolence,  either  the  same 
immoral  person  on  whom  Paul  passes  his 
judgment  in  the  first  epistle,  or  another. 
Yet  this  conjecture  does  not  seem  to  rest 
on  a  very  solid  foundation,  for  in  these 
words  we  find  no  further  mark  which  can 
lead  us  to  suppose  a  personal  reference  to 
the  apostle.  He  who  was  fond  of  contrast 
and  accustomed  to  mark  them  strongly, 
would  on  this  occasion  have  marked  very 
strongly  the  contrast  between  his  personal 
interest,  and  the  interest  of  the  church,  if 
he  had  wished  to  express  any  thing  of  the 
kind.  On  the  other  hand,  we  may  fairly 
understand  by  the  person  against  whom  the 
wrong  was  committed,  the  father,  whom 
his  son  by  his  incestuous  eonduct  had  so 
grievously  injured  ;  whether  the  father  was 
already  dead  or  still  living,  which  on  this 
supposition  would  be  more  probable.*  Per- 
haps the  complaints  of  the  father  had  been 
the  occasion  of  making  known  the  whole 
affair  to  the  apostle,t    The  meaning  of  the 


passage  would  then  be,  that  they  ought  not 
to  believe  that  a  reference  to  any  individual 
whatever,  that  resentment  against  any  per- 
son, or  attachment  to  any  one,  had  moved 
him  thus  to  write,  but  that  he  had  been 
actuated  chiefly  by  a  concern  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  church.  Nor  is  it  necessary  to 
assume,  that  the  whole  of  the  epistle  to 
which  he  here  alludes,  was  occupied  with 
this  affair,  if  only  his  readers  can  infer 
from  the  connexion  that  he  here  wishes  to 
speak  of  this  one  object  (among  several 
others)  of  the  epistle. 

The  manner  also  in  which  Paul  speaks 
of  the  sending  away  of  Titus,  contains  no 
such  marks  which  justify  the  supposition 
that  this  step  was  occasioned  by  the  unfa- 
vourable account  brought  by  Timothy  of 
the  state  of  the  Corinthian  church ;  for  he 
declares  in  2  Cor,  vii.  14,  that  on  his  leav- 
ing he  said  many  things  to  him  in  the 
praise  of  that  church,  and  hence  had  raised 
good  expectations  respecting  it  in  his  mind.* 
Still  the  objection  may  be  urged,  Titus 
must  at  all  events,  as  a  messenger  from 
Paul,  have  brought  with  him  an  epistle  to 
Corinth  ;  and  if  Paul  quotes  a  letter  without 
marking  it  more  precisely,  we  can  under- 
stand by  it  no  other  than  the  last,  and  there- 
fore the  one  brought  by  Titus,  But  if  he  sent 
Titus  after  Timothy's  return,  and  soon  after 
he  had  despatched  his  first  epistle  to  the 
Corinthian  church,  we  may  more  readily 
presume  that  he  would  not  think  it  neces- 
sary to  send  a  long  epistle  at  the  same 
time,  but  perhaps  give  him  only  a  few- 
lines  in  which  he  intimated  that  Titus  was 
to  supply  the  place  of  Timothy,  who  was 
not  able  to  come  to  them  himself.'j'. 


*  It  is  singular,  that  in  the  first  epistle,  no  men- 
tion  is  made  of  the  father  of  the  offender. 

t  All  the  difficulties  would  vanish,  if  with  Daniel 
Heinsius,  we  understand  the  words  "tou  ahx.i\^iv- 
Toc"  as  neuter  =  toG  !t^«gT))9-svToc,  which  the  New 
Testament  useofatr/xsin  would  allow.  The  transi- 
tion from  the  masculine  to  the  neuter  may  sur- 
prise us  less,  since  the  neuter  follows  immediately- 
after.  The  otJ'«nS-«v  would  then  correspond  to  the 
ir^rty/xtt  before  mentioned.  And  though  it  may 
appear  objectionable  that  Paul  should  so  express 
himself  as  if  such  a  sin  was  a  thing  of  minor  im- 
portance, yet  this  is  not  an  idea  conveyed  by  the 
words ;  but  he  wishes  only  to  express  very  strongly 
in  an  antithetical  form,  that  his  anxiety  for  the 
welfare  of  the  whole  church,  for  the  preservation 
of  its  purity,  had  induced  him  so  to  write.     But 


it  suits  the  contrast  still  better,  if  all  personal  refe- 
rences were  kept  out  of  sight. 

*  The  words  in  2  Cor.  vii.  14,  I  cannot  under- 
stand according  to  the  mutual  relation  of  the 
clauses  otherwise  than  thus :  By  what  I  have  said 
to  Titus  in  your  praise,  I  have  not  been  put  to 
shame  ;  but  as  I  have  spoken  to  you  all  according 
to  truth,  so  also  this  has  been  proved  to  be  true. 

t  A  difficulty  is  here  presented,  from  the  man- 
ner in  which  Paul  mentions  the  sending  Titus  in 
the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  2  Cor.  viii. 
6,  compared  with  v.  16,  and  ix.  3;  xii.  18.  Billroth 
and  Ruckert  (who  does  not  however  assent  to  all 
the  reasons  alleged  by  the  former)  have  hence 
concluded,  that  the  sending  of  Titus  was  by  no 
means  after  the  despatch  of  that  first  epistle,  but 
took  place  long  before,  and  that  the  arrangement 
of  the  collection  was  the  object  of  his  visit.  But 
Titus  would  be  still  at  Corinth  when  that  letter 
arrived,  and  hence  could  communicate  to  Paul  re- 


158 


THE  TUMULT  AT  EPHESUS. 


[Book  III. 


But  after  the  sending  of  Titus,  a  violent 
popular  tumult  arose  at  Ephesus  against 
the  apostle,  which  was  nevertheless  an  evi- 
dence of  the  great  success  of  his  ministry 
in  Lesser  Asia.  Small  models  in  gold  and 
silver  6f  the  famed  temple  of  Artemis  were 
used  to  be  made,*  which  being  sent  to  dis- 
tant parts  as  an  object  of  devotion,  brought 
great  gain  to  the  city.  A  man  named  De- 
metrius, who  had  a  large  manufactory  of 
such  models,  and  a  great  number  of  work- 
men, began  to  fear,  since  the  gospel  had 

specting  the  effect  it  produced.  Perhaps  Titus 
was  the  bearer  of  the  first  lost  epistle  to  the  Co- 
rinthiati  church.  Hence  it  may  be  explained, 
why  Paul  could  consider  his  second  epistle  (the 
first  now  extant)  as  his  last  written  epistle,  and 
quote  it  without  any  further  designation.  But  if 
this  had  been  the  case,  we  must  necessarily  look 
for  an  express  mention  of  Tilus  in  our  first  epis- 
tie ;  and  since  none  such  occurs,  we  must  either 
assume  that  the  sending  of  Titus  mentioned  in 
the  second  epistle,  is  the  same  as  that  which  we 
have  spoken  of  in  the  text,  or  if  we  consider  it  as 
different,  it  occurred  much  earlier,  so  that  Titus, 
when  Paul  wrote  his  first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
must  have  been  a  long  while  returned  to  them. 
And  for  this  last  assumption,  it  may  be  urged, 
that  at  that  first  sending  a  companion  of  Titus  is 
mentioned  ;  and,  on  the  other  haqd,  when  Paul 
mentions  his  meeting  with  Titus  in  Macedonia, 
no  one  else  appears  ;  not  that  this  is  a  decisive 
proof,  because  Titus  alone  might  be  mentioned  as 
being  the  principal  person.  But,  on  the  contrary, 
when  Paul  states  that  he  boasted  of  the  Corinthian 
church  to  Titus,  it  seems  implied  (if  not  absolutely 
necessary)  that  this  church  was  not  personally 
known  to  him.  If  we  are  disposed  to  assume, 
that  this  mission  of  Titus  was  the  same  as  that 
mentioned  in  the  first  epistle,  the  chronological 
order  of  events  would  no^  oppose  this  supposition. 
But  first,  there  is  the  question,  whether  Paul 
reckoned  the  year  according  to  the  Roman,  Greek, 
or  Jewish  Calendar ;  in  the  last  case,  he  might 
mention  the  sending  of  Titus  as  having  taken 
place  in  the  preceding  year,  if  it  was  before 
Easter  ;  in  the  second,  if  it  was  after  Easier,  and 
if  he  wrote  this  epistle  in  autumn.  But  it  is  not 
at  all  necessary  to  assume  that  the  sending  away 
of  Titus  was  in  the  preceding  year ;  for  it  might 
be  the  case  that  the  Corinthian  church  had  begun 
the  collection,  before  Titus  had  proposed  it  to 
them.  Nor  ought  it  to  excite  our  surprise,  that 
Paul  mentions  only  one  object  for  which  he  sent 
Titus,  the  arrangement  of  the  collection,  for  he 
might  be  sent  for  this  purpose,  and  at  the  same 
time,  to  obtain  information  for  Paul  respecting 
the  state  of  the  Corinthian  church,  and  the  effect 
produced  by  his  epistle.  But  as  he  was  writing 
respecting  the  collection,  he  had  no  occasion  to 
advert  to  another  topic. 

*  The  words  of  Paul,  Acts  xx.  19,  perhaps  inti- 
mate, that  this  popular  disturbance  proceeded 
from  the  machinations  of  the  Jews,  thougli  it 
afterwards  threatened  to  be  dangerous  to  the  Jews 
themselves. 


spread  with  such  success  in  Lesser  Asia, 
and  faith  in  Artemis  had  so  far  declined* 
as  to  lessen  the  sale  of  his  wares  in  this 
region,  that  the  gains  of  his  trade  would 
soon  be  lost.  He  assembled  his  numerous 
workmen,  and  easily  inflamed  their  anger 
against  the  enemies  of  their  gods,  who 
threatened  to  deprive  the  great  Artemis  of 
her  honour,  and  them  of  their  gain.  A 
great  tumult  arose,  they  all  hastened  to 
the  public  place  where  they  were  wont  to 
assemble,  and  many  cried  out,  some  one 
one  thing,  some  another,  without  knowing 
why  they  were  come  together.  As  the 
Jews  here  lived  in  the  midst  of  a  nume- 
rous Greek  population  who  viewed  them 
with  constant  aversion,  any  special  occa- 
sion easily  roused  their  slumbering  preju- 
dices into  open  violence,  and  they  had  then 
much  to  suffer  ;  they  feared,  therefore,  that 
the  anger  of  the  people  against  the  enemies 
of  their  gods — especially  as  many  as  did 
not  know  who  these  enemies  were  exactly 
— would  be  turned  upon  themselves,  and 
one  of  their  number,  Alexander  by  name, 
came  forward,  in  order  to  shift  the  blame 
from  themselves  upon  the  Christians ;  but 
the  appearance  of  such  a  person  whom 
they  ranked  among  these  enemies,  aroused 
the  heathen  to  still  greater  fury,  and  the 
clamour  became  more  violent.  But  on  this 
occasion  only  the  populace  appear  to  have 
been  hostile  to  the  teachers  of  Christianity ; 
the  manner  in  which  Paul  had  lived  and 
acted  during  his  long  residence  in  the  city 
must  have  operated  advantageously  on  the 
public  authorities  of  the  city.  Some  even 
of  the  magistrates  who  were  placed  this 
year  at  the  head  of  regulating  all  the  sacra 
in  Lesser  Asia,t  and  presided  over  the 
public  games,  showed  their  sympathy  for 


*  It  is  possible,  that  the  successful  ministry  of 
Paul  already  threatened  the  destruction  of  idolatry, 
though  after  the  first  successful  propagation  of  the 
gospel,  a  pause  in  its  progress  intervened,  similar 
to  what  has  often  occurred.  Compare  Pliny's  ac- 
count of  the  decline  of  heathenism,  in  my  church 
history,  vol.  i.  p.  140. 

t  'A«a^;^a;:  each  of  the  cities  which  formed 
the  Ko/vov  Tiic  'A3-WC  chose  a  delegate  yearly  for 
this  college  of  'A5-/ag;t="-  ^^^  Aristid.  oral.  sacr. 
iv.  ed  Dindorf.  vol.  i.  p.  531,  and  probably  the  pre- 
sident of  this  college  would  be  called  &^X'H^"^f 
dj-z^^^ync ;  his  name  was  employed  in  marking  the 
date  of  pubhc  events;  see  the  Letter  of  the  Church 
at  Smyrna,  on  the  martyrdom  of  Polycarp ;  and 
Ezechiel  Spanheim  de  praslantia  et  usu  numis- 
matum,  ed.  secunda,  p.  691. 


Chap.  VII.] 


THE  TUMULT  AT  EPHESUS. 


159 


him,  for  when  he  was  on  the  point  of  ex- 
posing himself  to  the  excited  crowd,  they 
besought  him  not  to  incur  this  danger. 
And  ~the  chamberlain  of  the  city  at  last 
succeeded  in  calming  the  minds  of  the 
people  by  his  representations — by  calling 
on  them  to  give  an  account  of  the  object 
of  their  meeting— of  which  the  majority 
were  totally  ignorant — and  by  reminding 
them  of  the  serious  responsibility  they  in- 
curred for  their  turbulent  and  illegal  be- 
haviour. 

It  is  very  doubtful  whether  Paul  was  de- 
termined by  this  disturbance,  which  seems 
to  have  been  quite  transitory,  to  leave 
Ephesus  earlier  than  he  had  intended  ac- 
cording to  his  original  plan.  When  he 
wrote  his  first  letter  to  the  Corinthians,  he 
spoke  to  them  of  the  dangers  which  daily 
threatened  him,  and  yet  these  had  no  in- 
fluence in  determining  the  length  of  his 
sojourn  in  this  city.  Perhaps  we  may  find 
several  allusions  to  this  new  disturbance.* 
A  comparison  of  the  First  and  Second 
Epistles  of  the  Corinthians  with  one  ano- 
ther, may  indeed  favour  the  belief,  that 
Paul  wrote  the  latter  after  this  event,  since 
he  here  writes  as  one  who  had  been  res- 
cued from  impending  death. f     But  it  may 

*  He  says,  1  Cor.  xv.  31,  that  he  was  daily  ex- 
posed to  death,  which  may  lead  us  to  conclude, 
that  when  Paul  had  reached  the  end  of  this  epistle, 
(which  was  probably  not  written  all  at  once),  this 
disturbance  had  taken  place.  Thus  we  may  take 
the  words  in  v.  32,  "  KctTo.  uvS-gajrivov  xoyi^Tjuov  Sti- 
g/ffiv  iy(vofx>,v  jSo^A — A\xcL  TTct^'j.S'o^oec  sj-ftj^-jiv,"  wlth 
Theodoret,  in  a  literal  sense,  namely,  that  it  was 
demanded  by  the  raging  populace,  as  afterwards 
was  often  the  case  in  the  persecutions  of  the 
Christians,  that  the  enemy  of  the  gods  should  be 
condemned  ad  bestias,  ad  leonem.  But  though 
such  a  cry  might  be  raised  by  the  infuriated  mul- 
titude, it  is  very  difficult  to  suppose,  considering 
the  existing  circumstances,  that  tlieir  desire  would 
be  granted,  and  Paul  therefore  could  never  say, 
that,  as  far  as  he  could  expect  according  to  human 
judgment,  he  would  have  been  a  prey  to  the  wild 
beasts  without  the  wonderful  help  of  God.  Also 
tliis  interpretation  of  the  words  k-jltol  uvS-ga^ov,  is 
not  the  easiest  and  most  favoured  by  the  contiexion. 
I  rather  find  in  tiiese  words,  according  to  the  con- 
nexion, the  contrast  to  the  Christian  hope,  the  de- 
signation of  the  standing-point  of  men  in  general 
who  are  destitute  of  this  hope.  By  the  wild  beasts 
must  therefore  be  understood,  savage  infuriated 
men  with  whom  Paul  had  to  contend.  From  Rom. 
xvi.  4,  where  it  is  said  that  Priscilla  and  Aquila 
had  ventured  their  lives  for  him,  as  well  as  from 
what  Paul  says  in  Acts  xx.  19,  we  may  gather 
that  he  was  exposed  to  many  dangers  at  Ephesus, 
which  are  not  mentioned  in  the  Acts. 

t  According  to  the   interpretation  proposed  by 


indeed  be  supposed  that  when  he  found 
himself  in  the  midst  of  those  dangers,  the 


Ruckert,  these  expressions  do  not  refer  to  persecu- 
tions  endured  by  Paul,  but  to  a  dangerous  illness, 
the  effects  of  which  accompanied   him  to  Mace- 
donia,  and  were  felt  by  him  when  he  wrote  this 
second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.     But  on  com- 
paring all  that  relates  to  it,  I  cannot  assent  to  this 
view.     As  to  tile  passage  in  2  Cor.  i.  8,  it  appears 
to  me  that  these  words  must  be  explained  accord- 
ing to  V.  5.     I  grant,  indeed,  that  natural  diseases 
may  be  called  in  a  certain  sense   Tru^xjuxTo.  tou 
X^to-rou;    bftt    in    accordance    with    the    Pauline 
phraseology,  we  should  certainly  apply  them  pri- 
marily  to  suffering  for  the  cause  of  the  kingdom 
of   God,    in    which    the    believer    follows    Christ. 
Ruckert  thinks  that  if  Paul  had  intended  to  sig- 
nify   the    persecution    that  had    been    excited    at 
Ephesus,  he  would  have  named  tiie  city  itself,  as 
in  the  first  epistle.     But    I  do    not  see  why  he 
should  not  choose  the  general  designation  of  the 
region   of  which    Ephesus   was    the    metropolis; 
and,  it  is  possible,  that    the  exasperation  of  the 
iieathens  against   him    spread   from  Ephesus,  to 
other  parts  of  Lesser  Asia  which  he  visited.  Why 
then  might  he  not  say,  that  the  persecutions  ex- 
ceeded the  measure  of  his  human  strength,  that 
he   was  almost   overcome,   and   despaired  of  his 
life?     In  2  Cor.  iv.  9  and  11,  he  distinctly  notices 
persecutions  by  which  he  was  in  continual  danger 
of  death,  with  which  1   Cor.  xv.  30-31   agrees; 
from  these  passages  we  may  conclude  that  he  was 
exposed  to  more  dangers  than  are  recorded  in  the 
Acts.     And  in  this  way  other  passages  must  be 
explained.     The  mention  of  tiie  earthen  vessels  is 
not  against  this  view,  for  the  conflicts  which  Paul 
had    to  sustain  always  served   to  awaken  in  his 
mind  a  more  vivid  consciousness,  that  he  carried 
about  the  divine  treasure  in  an  earthen  broken  ves- 
sel, that  this  shattered   receptacle  would  soon  be 
entirely  destroyed  by  such  assaults  unless  strength- 
ened and  rescued  by  Almighty  power.     He  might 
well  say  in  v.  10,  tiiat  he  ahvays  bore  about  in  his 
body  the  vsK^ooa-t;  tcv  ^Jujov,  because  he  was  always 
exposed  to  death  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  (v.  11,) 
and  bearing  the  marks  of  these  sufferings  in  his 
body,  he  thus  carried  with  him  an  image  of  the 
suffering  Saviour  in   his  own  person.     VVhat  he 
says  in  v.  9,  and  in  the  whole  context,  marks  the 
disposition  of  one  who  liad  reason  to  consider  the 
duration  of  his  life  as  very  uncertain,  whether  he 
met  with  a  natural  or  violent  death.     2  Cor.  vi.  9 
is  to  be  explained  according  to  iv.  9  and  11.  2  Cor. 
vii.  5  shows  that  even  in  Macedonia  lie  had  no  re- 
spite  from  his   sufferings,   but  was  overwhelmed 
with  fresh  trials.    Here  we  (ind  no  trace  of  illness. 
The  word  <rn^^  by  no  means  justifies  us  in  under- 
standing the  passage  of  illness ;  it  denotes  every 
thing   which   could   affect  the   outer   man,  while 
within  the  higliest  peace  might  be  enjoyed.     The 
passage  in  2  Cor.  xii.  7  is  too  obscure  to  draw  any 
conckision   from   it  witli   certainty ;    and   even  if 
here  a  chronic  disorder  were  intended,  it  would 
not  be  clear  that  what  was  said  before  had  any  re- 
ference to  it.     We  do  not  deny  that  Paul  had  to 
combat  with  much  bodily  weakness  ; — we  do  not     ' 
deny  that  the  tribulation  he   endured  must  have 
impaired  liis  bodily  strength ;  but  it  does  not  fol- 


160 


PAUL'S  JOURNEY  TO  MACEDONIA. 


[Book  III. 


hic^her  concerns  of  which  he  treated  in  the 
First  Epistle  to  tlie  Corinthians,  so  occu- 
pied him,  that  he  forgot  every  thing  perso- 
nal—but that  when  he  had  left  Ephesus, 
the  recollections  of  the  special  leadings  of 
Providence,  which  had  rescued  him  from 
such  dangers,  filled  him  with  overflowing 
gratitude  which  he  could  not  suppress. 

After  Paul   had    laboured   at  Troas   m 
preaching  the  gospel,  and    had  waited  in 
vain  for  Titus,  whom  he  expected  on  his 
return  from  Corinth,  he  left  that  place  with 
troubled    feelings    and   went   to  meet  him 
in   Macedonia.     Among   the   Macedonian 
churches  he  met  with  gratifying  proofs  of 
the  advance  of  the  Christian  life,  to  which 
their  conflicts  with  the  world  had  contri- 
buted.    No  persecutions  of  Christianity  as 
areligio  illicita   had   as  yet   been   com- 
menced by  the  authorities  of  the  state.  But 
at  all  events,  the  Christians  by  their  with- 
drawing  from  the  heathen  worship  and  all 
that  wa's  connected  with  it,  must  have  un- 
favourably impressed  the   heathen  among 
whom  they  lived,  and  excited  the  hatred  of 
the  fanatical  populace  who  were  instigated 
by  the   Jews.     Even   if  no    legal   charge 
could  be  brought  against  the  believers  as 
apostates  from'the  religion  of  the  state,  still 
without  this  instrument,  zealous  heathens, 
who  formed  so  large  a  majority,  possessed 
sufficient    means    to    oppress  or   injure  in 
their  worldly  prospects  a  class  of  persons 
so  far  below  themselves,  in  numbers,  re- 
spectability, and  political  influence.    It  may 
iliustrate   this,  if  we   only  think  of  what 
converts  to  Christianity  in  the  East  Indies 
have  had  to  endure  (though  under  a  Chris- 
tian government),  from  their  heathen  re- 
latives and  connexions  !     But   the    Mace- 
donian Christians  cheerfully  endured  every 
thing    for    the  cause   of  the   gospel,  and, 
however  much  their  means  of  subsistence 
had  been  injured,  they  were  ready  to  take 
an  active  part  in  the  collection  made  by 
Paul    in   the   church    at   Jerusalem,  even 
"beyond  their    power;"  2   Cor.  viii.     In 
Macedonia,  the  apostle  had  also  the  satis- 
faction of  meeting  with  Titus,  and  of  learn- 
ing from  him  that  his  epistle  had  produced 
a  salutary  effect,  if  not  on  the  whole,  yet 
on    the   greater  .part    of    the    Corinthian 
church.     The  disapprobation  of  the  larger 
and  better  part  had  been  expressed  against 

low  that  the  passages  above  quoted  have  such  a 
reference. 


the  incestuous  person,  and  the  voice  of  this 
majority,  which  as  such  must  have  been  de- 
cisive in  the  assemblies  of  the  church,  had 
either  actually  expelled  him  from  church- 
communion,  according  to  the  judgment  ex- 
pressed by  Paul,  or  the  actual  execution  of 
the  sentence  had  been  put  off  in  the  event 
of  his  not  receiving  forgiveness  from  the 
apostle.  When  the  resolution  of  the  nia- 
jority  was  announced  to  the  offender  with 
expressions  of  severe  reprehension,  he  ex- 
pressed the  greatest  sorrow  and  penitence. 
On  this  account,  the  majority,  who  always 
acknowledged  the  apostolic  authority  of 
Paul,  interceded  on  his  behalf  that  a  milder 
course  might  be  adopted,  and  Paul  assented, 
in  order  that  the  penitent  might  not  be 
plunged  in  despair,  and  thus  a  greater  ca- 
lamity ensue.*  The  majority  showed  the 
greatest  regard  for  the  apostle's  authority ', 
they  lamented  having  occasioned  him  so 
much  trouble,  and  assured  him  how  earn- 
tly  they  longed  to  see  him  soon  among 


*  In  the  words  2  Cor.  ii.  5-10,  I  cannot  find 
any  thing  different  from  what  I  have  stated  in  the 
text.     Nor    do  they  support  Riickert's   assertion, 
that  the  majority  of  the  church,  though  they  ex- 
pressed their  disapprobation  of  the  offender,  were 
not  disposed  to  proceed  against  him  as  severely  as 
Paul  desired,  and  that  the  apostle  only  yielded  to 
their  wishes  from  prudential  motives,  in  order  to 
maintain  his  authority,  and  to  preserve  the  appear- 
ance of  directing  their  decisions.  Paul  says,^  Oor. 
ii  6  "  Sufficient  to  such  a  man  is  this  punishment 
which  was  inflicted  of  many."   From  this  we  can- 
not infer  that  it  differed  from  the  sentence  passed 
by  the  apostle  himself.     This,  said  he— only  re- 
ferring  to  what  had  taken  place,  and  in  connexion 
with  what  followed— is  indeed  not  unanimous,  but 
yet  the  punishment  awarded  to  him  by  the  voice 
of  the  majority.  It  is  sufficient— may  mean,  enough 
has  been  done  that  this  sentence  of  the  majority 
has  been  expressed,  and  that  he  has  been  brought 
to  contrition,  so  that  now  a  milder  course  may  be 
adopted,  and  he  may  be  received  again  into  church- 
communion.     Or,  it  is  sufficient  that  the  majority 
have  adopted    this  resolution.     But,    since    he   is 
now  penitent,   it  need   not  be  carried  into  effect. 
The  pain  which  he  has  already  suffered  is  enough. 
Hence,    instead  of  continuing   to   act  with    that 
strictness,  and  carrying  into  effect  that  resolution 
of  the  church,  they  might  announce  forgiveness  to 
him,  for  (v.  0)  Paul  had  attained  his  object;  they 
had,  by  virtue  of  that  resolution  of  the   majority, 
given  him  the  proof  he  required  of  their  obedience. 
He  required  nothing  more  (v.  10),  as  they  had  as- 
sented   to    his  severe  sentence;    so    now   he  was 
ready  to  excuse  them,  as  he  had  attained  the  ob- 
ject he  had  at  heart,  the  welfare  of  the  church. 
Paul  also  expressly  commends  (vii.  11)  the  indig- 
nation   they  had    manifested    in   this   affair,   the 
s«<f;;c«<r;c  they  had  felt,  thus  acquitting  themselves 
of  all  participation  in  the  wickedness. 


Chap.  VII.] 


THE  CHURCH  AT  CORINTH. 


161 


them.  But  Paul's  opponents  among  the 
Judaizers  were  not  humbled,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  were  only  embittered  against  him 
by  his  reprimand  and  the  submission  paid 
to  him  by  the  rest  of  the  church,  and  used 
every  means  in  their  power  to  make  the 
church  suspicious  of  him.  They  said,  that 
he  was  powerful  only  in  his  letters,  but 
that  "  his  bodily  presence  was  weak  and 
his  speech  contemptible;"  2  Cor.  x.  10. 
He  threatened  more  than  he  could  perform, 
and  hence  was  very  far  from  formidable. 
He  was  conscious  of  his  weakness,  and, 
therefore,  was  always  threatening  to  come, 
but  never  came. 

In  his  first  epistle,  which  has  not  come 
down  to  us,  he  probably  threatened  the  con- 
tumacious, that  he  would  soon  come  to  Co- 
rinth, and  if  what  was  amiss  were  not  rec- 
tified, he  would  exert  the  utmost  preroga- 
tive of  his  office.  In  that  last  epistle,  or  by 
verbal  communications,  he  had  announced 
to  them  that  as  soon  as  he  had  left  Ephe- 
sus,  he  would  come  immediately  to  them, 
as  he  wished,  after  a  transient  sojourn  at 
Corinth,  to  travel  into  Macedonia,  and  re- 
turn again  to  them  in  order  to  remain  with 
them  till  his  intended  departure  to  Jerusa- 
lem. But  as  he  now  remained  longer  in 
Ephesus,  as  he  had  altered  the  plan  of  his 
journey,  and  had  announced  to  the  Corin- 
thians that  he  would  first  go  into  Macedo- 
nia and  then  come  to  them  ;*  so  he  took 
advantage  of  this  arrangement  to  excuse  a 
sense  of  his  weakness,  of  vacillation,  and 
of  ambiguity  in  his  expressions.  And  thus 
uncertain  and  vacillating — they  concluded, 
he  would  be  as  a  teacher.  Hence  his  self- 
contradictory  conduct  in  reference  to  the 
observance  of  the  Mosaic  law  by  the  Jews 
and  Gentiles.  They  endeavoured  to  set  in 
a  false  light  that  Christian  prudence  which 
always  distinguished  Paul,  but  which  was 
united  in  him  with  perfect  simplicity  of  in- 
tention, as  if  he  had  employed  a  variety  of 
artifices  to  deceive  men.  Also  all  that  was 
amiss  which  he  had  denounced  in  his  let- 
ters, had  not  yet  been  put  away  by  that 
part  of  the  church  which  adhered  to  the 
apostle.  Such  being  the  state  of  the  Co- 
rinthian church,  Paul  thought  it  best — in 
order  that  his  own  visit  to  Corinth  might 
be  disturbed  by  no  unpleasant  occurrences. 


*  We  therefore  need  not  assume  a  lost  epistle 
containing  this  altered  plan  of  the  journey. 

21 


and  that  his  intercourse  with  the  Corin- 
thians might  be  one  of  joy  and  love — to 
write  once  more  to  them,  in  order  to  pre- 
pare the  way  for  his  personal  ministry 
among  them.  He  sent  Titus  with  two 
other  able  persons  in  the  service  of  the 
church,  as  bearers  of  this  epistle  to  Co- 
rinth.* 

In  reference  to  that  marked  suspicion  of 
his  conduct  and  character,  Paul  appeals  in 
this  epistle  to  the  testimony  of  his  own 
conscience,  that  in  his  intercourse  with 
men  in  general,  and  especially  with  the 
Corinthians,  he  had  been  guided  not  by 
worldly  prudence,  but  by  the  spirit  of  God; 
he  contrasts  one  with  the  other,  since  he  con- 
sidered simplicity  and  uprightness  of  inten- 
tion as  the  essential  mark  of  the  agency  of 
the  Divine  Spirit.  His  epistle  also  testifies 
this ;  as  he  wrote,  so  he  thought  ;f  he  had 
nothing  in  his  mind  different  from  his 
avowed  intentions.  He  states  the  reasons 
of  the  alteration  in  the  plan  of  his  journey, 
and  draws  the  conclusion,  that  no  incon- 
sistency can  be  found  in  what  he  had  said 
on  this  matter.  And  he  could  call  God 
to  witness,  that  no  inconsistency  could  be 
found  in  his  manner  of  publishing  the  gos- 
pel, that  he  had  always  preached  one  un- 
changeable doctrine  of  Christ,  and  the  pro- 
mises which  they  received,  would  be  cer- 


*  One  of  these  (2  Cor.  viii.  18)  was  chosen  from 
the  Macedonian  churches,  that  he  might  in  their 
name  convey  the  collection  to  Jerusalem,  and  he 
is  distinguished  as  one,  whose  "  praise  was  in  all 
the  churches,"  for  his  activity  in  publishing  the 
gospel.  We  may  indeed  suppose,  that  Luke  is  the 
person  intended,  and  must  then  assume,  that  Paul 
was  left  behind  at  Philippi,  where  Luke  afterwards 
joined  him;  but  that  the  latter,  after  his  return 
from  Corinth,  again  stayed  at  Philippi,  and  on  the 
departure  of  Paul  to  Jerusalem,  intended  to  join 
him  there.  It  is  indeed  remarkable  that  Luke, 
who  generally  gives  a  fuller  narrative  when  he 
was  an  eye-witness,  touches  so  slightly  on  this  in 
the  Acts.  But  his  brevity  may  be  explained  from 
the  fact  of  his  being  more  copious  only  in  relating 
the  personal  ministry  of  Paul. 

t-2  Cor.  i.  12,  13.  The  grounds  on  which  De 
Wette  objects  to  this  interpretation,  are  not  obvious 
to  me.  "  But  what  suspicion  of  duplicity  might 
the  confident  assertions  in  v.  12  awaken."  This 
verse  could  indeed  awaken  no  such  suspicion,  but 
rather  contradicts  that  suspicion  which  Paul's  ene- 
mies sought  to  excite  ;  v.  13  serves  to  corroborate 
what  he  had  said  in  v.  12.  Paul  makes  the  ap- 
peal,  that  in  his  epistle,  as  well  as  in  his  whole 
ipinistry,  nothing  could  be  found  of  a  arofn  er^t^KiKH, 
which  his  adversaries  wished  to  find  in  those  words; 
he  maintains,  that  all  his  words,  not  less  than  his 
actions,  bore  the  impress  of  &7r\oT>it. 


162 


THE  CHURCH  AT  ROME. 


{Book  III. 


tainly  fulfilled  through  Christ.*  God  him- 
self had  given  them  as  well  as  him  the 
certain  pledge  of  this,  by  the  common  wit- 
ness of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  their  hearts  ;  (2 
Cor.  i.  16--^2.) 

The  >duty  of  vindicating  his  apostohc 
character  against  the  accusations  of  his 
opponents,  forced  him  to  speak  much  of 
himself.  The  palpably  evident  object  of 
his  doing  this,  and  the  distinction  which  he 
was  always  careful  to  make  between  the 
divine  power  connected  with  his  apostolic 
functions,  and  the  person  of  a  feeble  mor- 
tal, between  "  the  man  in  Christ"  and  the 
weak  Paul,t  sufficiently  acquitted  him  of 
the  cha'rge  of  self-conceit  and  vain-glory. 
To  common  men,  who  would  measure 
every  thing  by  the  same  measure,  many 
things  might  seem  strange  in  Paul's  man- 
ner of  speaking  of  himself  and  his  ministry, 
so  that  they  were  ready  to  accuse  him  of 
extravagance,  of  a  self-exultation  bordering 
on  insanity.  But  what  impelled  him  to 
speak  in  such  strong  terms,  was  not  per- 
sonal feeling,  but  the  inspired  conscious- 
ness of  the  divine  power  attached  to  the 
gospel  and  to  his  apostolic  calling,  which 
would  triumph  over  all  opposition.  Thus 
the  fact  of  his  "  not  being  able  to  do  any 
thing  of  himself"  redounded  in  his  view 
to  the  glory  of  God. 

Paul  spent  the  rest  of  the  summer  and 
autumn  in  Macedonia;  he  probably  ex- 
tended his  labours  to  the  neighbouring 
country  of  IHyria,:}:  and  then,  removed 
to  Achaia,  where  he  spent  the  winter. 


Since  he  was  now  resolved,  after  his  re- 
turn from  the  journey  to  Jerusalem,  which 
he  proposed  undertaking  at  the  beginning 
of  the  spring,  to  change  the  scene  of  his 
labours  to  the  west,  and  to  visit  the  metro- 
polis of  the  Roman  Empire  for  the  first 
time,  he  must  have  been  gratified  to  form 
a  connexion  previously  with  the  church  in 
that  city.  The  journey  of  Phoebe,  the 
deaconess  of  the  church  at  Cenchroea,  who 
had  been  induced  by  various  circumstances 
to  visit  Rome,  gave  him  the  best  opportu- 
nity for  this  purpose,  while,  at  the  same 
time,  he  recommended  her  to  the  care  of 
the  Roman  church.* 


*  Therefore  independently  of  the  law  of  which 

Jiis  adversaries  prescribed  the  observance. 

t  To  this  the  passage  in  2  Cor.  v.  13  refers.    "For 

whether  we  be  beside  ourselves,  (the  inspiration 

with  which  the  apostle  spake  of  the  divine  objects 

of  his  calling,  of  what  the  power  of  God  effected 

through  his  apostolic  office— but  which  his  adver- 

saries  treated  as  empty  boasling,  and  ascribed  to 

an  a$gi5-i/v)i  or  ^av/a)  it  is  to  the  glory  of  God ;  or 

whether  we  be  sober  (when  the  apostle  speaks  of 

himself  as  a  weak  mortal,  puts  himself  on  a  level 
with  the  Corinthians,  and  makes  no  use  of  its  apos- 
tolic power  and  ita  privileges)  it  is  for  your  wel- 
fare." 

t  In  2  Cor.  x,  14-16,  Paul  seems  to  mark  Achaia 
as  the  extreme  limit  of  his  labours  in  preaching  the 
gospel;  (this  indeed  does  not  follow  from  the  a;^^^/ 
»a(  vfA^v,  since  J;^_g/  in  itself  dees  not  denote  a  fixed 
or  exclusive  limit,  see  Rom.  v.  13,  though  Paul 
sometimes  uses  the  word  in  this  latter  meaning, 
Gal.  iii.  19  ;  iv.  2  ;  yet  it  appears  to  proceed  from 
the  comparison  of  the  three  verses  in  connexion); 

on  the  other  in  Rom.  XV.  19,  Illyria  is  thus  marked.  . 

But  it  does  not  follow  from  this  last  passage,  that  1  some  additions  to  the  epistle ;  but  I  cannot  per 


Paul  himself  had  preached  the  gospel  in  Illyria; 
possibly  he  only  mentioned  this  as  the  extreme 
limit  as  far  as  which  he  had  reached  in  preaching 
the  gospel. 

*  It  is  here  taken  for  granted,  that  the  1 6th  chap- 
ter belongs  with  the  whole  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  which  in  modern  times  has  been  disputed 
by  Schulz  in  the  "Sludien  und  Kritiken,"  vol.  u. 
p.  609;  but,  as  it  appears  to  me,  on  insufficient 
grounds.  It  may  excite  surprise  that  Paul  should 
salute  so  many  mdividuals  in  a  church  to  which 
he  was  personally  a  stranger,  and  that  we  find 
among  them  relations  and  old  friends  of  the  apos- 
tle from  Palestine,  and  other  parts  of  the  East. 
But  we  must  recollect,  that  Rome  was  always  the 
rendezvous  of  persons  from  all  parts  of  the  Ro- 
man empire,  a  fact  stated  by  Athenseus  in  the 
strongest  terms,   Deipnosoph.  i.  20,  t»v  'Pa,fAA'a>v 

5raa-ac  TcLc  TToKiti  (cTguufvac,  (such  as  Alexandria, 
Antioch,  Nicomedia,  and  Athens) — ksli  >«§  o\a.Ta 
i^vn  ab^ca,;  slIto^i  0-uvaKia-T^i.  Paul  might  easily 
become  personally  acquainted  at  Ephcsus  and  Co- 
rinth with  many  Christians  from  Rome,  or  learn 
particulars  respecting  them.  Among  those  whom 
he  salutes  were  persons  of  the  family  of  Narcissus, 
who  was  well  known  to  be  a  freedman  of  the  Em- 
peror Claudius.  That  Aquila  and  Priscilla  were 
again  in  Rome,  that  a  part  of  the  church  assembled 
in  their  house,  and  that  a  number  of  years  after- 
wards, as  may  be  inferred  from  the  2d  Epistle  to 
Timothy,  tliey  are  to  be  found  at  Ephesu.s, — all 
this,  from  what  we  have  before  remarked,  is  not 
so  surprising.  The  warning  against  the  J  udaizing 
teachers  xvi.  17,  who  published  another  doctrine 
than  what  they  had  received  (from  the  disciples 
of  the  apostle),  agrees  perfectly  with  what  is  said 
in  the  14th  chapter,  and  with  what  we  may  infer 
from  the  epistle  itself,  in  reference  to  the  state  of 
the  Roman  church.  The  passage  in  xvi.  1 9  agrees 
also  with  i.  8,  and  the  comparison  confirms  the 
belief  that  they  both  belong  to  the  same  epistle. 
Bauer,  in  his  essay  before  quoted,  has  endeavoured 
to  prove  the  spuriousness  of  the  two  last  chapters. 
He  believes  that,  in  the  15th  chapter  especially,  he 
can  trace  a  later  writer  attached  to  Pauline  prin- 
ciples, who  thought  that,  in  order  to  justify  Paul, 
and  to  bring  about  a  union  between  the  Jewish 
d  Gentile  Christians,  it  was  necessary  to  make 


Chap.  VII.] 


THE  CHURCH  AT  ROME. 


163 


It  is  not  improbable  that,  at  an  early 
period,  the  seed  of  the  gospel  was  brought 
by  Jewish  Christians  to  the  Jews  at  Rome, 
as  at  that  time,  if  we  may  judge  from  the 
salutations  at  the  end  of  the  epistle,  persons 
who  were  among  the  oldest  Christians 
lived  at  Rome ;  but  these  certainly  did  not 
form  the  main  body  of  the  church,  for  the 
greater  part  evidently  consisted  of  Chris- 
tians of  Gentile  descent,  to  whom  the  gos- 
pel had  been  published  by  men  of  the 
Pauline  school,  independently  of  the  Mosaic 
Law,  to  whom  Paul,  as  the  apostle  of  the 
Gentiles,  felt  himself  called  to  write,  and 


ceive  the  validity  of  the  evidence  adduced  by  this 
acute  crLtic.  Paul  was  probably  prevented  when 
he  had  finished  the  14th  chapter,  firom  continuing 
the  epistle  to  the  close.  And  when  he  took  it  up 
again  where  he  left  off,  and  looked  back  on  what 
he  had  last  written,  he  felt  himself  impelled  to  add 
something  on  the  theme  of  which  he  had  last 
treated,  tlie  harmony  between  the  Gentile  and 
Jewish  Christians  in  the  Roman  church.  His  ob- 
ject was,  on  the  one  hand,  to  check  the  free-think- 
ing Gentile  Christian  from  self-exaltation  in  rela- 
tion to  their  weaker  Jewish  brethren  in  the  faith; 
and  on  the  other  hand,  to  remind  the  Jewish  Chris- 
tians that  the  admission  of  the  Gentiles  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  was  no  infringement  of  the  rights 
of  the  Jewish  people,  and  that  it  was  in  unison 
with  the  predictions  of  the  Old  Testament.  Ho 
exhorts  them,  xv.  7,  to  receive  one  another  mutu- 
ally as  members  of  the  same  kingdom  of  God, 
though  with  a  special  i-eference  to  the  Gentile 
Christians,  to  whom  Paul  at  the  beginning  of  the 
chapter  particularly  addressed  himself,  if  we  fol- 
low the  best  accredited  reading,  iJ^uc.  He  then 
states  the  reasons  why  the  Gentiles  had  especial 
cause  to  praise  God,  to  be  thankful  and  humble, 
since  God  had  in  so  unexpected  a  maimer  brought 
them  to  a  participation  of  his  kingdom,  who  pre- 
viously knew  nothing  of  it,  and  who  had  no  hopes 
of  this  kind,  (a  train  of  thought  which  he  intro- 
duces elsewhere,  Ephes.  ii.  12,  and  in  several  other 
passages.)  He  shows  that  God  by  the  sending  of 
Christ  to  the  Jews,  manifested  his  faithfulness, since 
thus  he  had  fulfilled  the  promises  made  to  the  fa- 
thers ;  but  had  manifested  his  mercy  to  the  Gen- 
tiles,  since  he  hiid  called  to  a  participation  in  the 
kingdom  of  God,  those  among  whom  the  foimda- 
tion  of  this  kingdom  had  not  been  laid,  and  to 
whom  no  promises  liad  been  given.  Such  a  theo- 
retical contrast  is  of  course  not  perfectly  strict,  but 
partial,  and  of  a  kind  frequently  employed  by  Paul. 
For  he  says,  and  the  Old  Testament  intimates,  that 
the  Messiah  would  extend  his  saving  efficiency  to 
the  Gentiles  ;  hence,  it  is  evident,  that  God  while 
he  shows  mercy  to  them,  at  the  same  time  verifies 
his  faithfulness.  In  all  this,  we  find  nothing  un- 
pauline,  nothing  foreign  to  the  object  of  this  e|)istle. 
It  is  impossible  that  Paul  could  intend  to  close 
with  the  fourteenth  chapter,  but  according  to  the 
usual  style  of  the  Pauline  epistles,  a  conclusion 
must  necessarily  follow,  which  these  two  last  chap- 
ters  furnish. 


whom,  in  consequence  of  the  rel-ation,  he 
could  address  with  the  greater  freedom. 

How  could  Paul,  from  his  call  to  publish 
the  gospel  to  all  the  nations  of  the  world, 
infer  his  call  to  announce  the  doctrine  of 
salvation  to  the  Romans,  if  he  had  not  be-  ^ 
lieved  that  those  to  whom  his  epistle  was 
especially  addressed  were  Gentiles?  For 
the  Jews,  whether  living  among  the  Ror 
mans  or  Greeks,  always  considered  them- 
selves as  belonging  not  to  the  Q*")^,  ^^vrj,, 

but  to  the  one  Q^,  the  "kaos  in  the  Sia(firoPa. 

In  reference  to  them,  Paul  could  only  have 
spoken  of  being  sent  to  one  nation.  How 
could  he  .say  (Rom.  i.  13)  that  he  wished 
to  come  to  Rome  in  order  "  to  have  some 
fruit"'  there,  "  even  as  among  other  Gen- 
tiles," by  the  publication  of  the  gospel,  if 
he  was  not  writing  principally  to  persons 
belonging  to  the  Gentiles,  among  whom 
alone  he  had  hitherto  been  wont  to  gain 
fruit]  Verse  14  shows  that  he  was  not 
thinking  of  Jews  in  distant  parts.  How 
otherwi,5e  could  he  be  induced  to  assert, 
that  as  elsewhere,  so  also  in  the  metropolis 
of  the  civilized  world,  be  was  not  ashamed 
to  publish  the  gospel  ?  For  in  reference  to 
thie  Jews,  it  could  make  no  great  difference 
whether  he  met  with  them  at  Jerusalem  or 
at  Rome  ;  the  same  obstacles  to  their  be-- 
lieving  the  gospel  existed  in  both  places, 
owing  to  which  Jesus  the  Crucified  was  an 
offence  to.  them.  It  cannot  be  concluded 
from  his  addressing  the  Gentile  Christians 
so  pointedly  in  xi.  13,  that  the  epistle  ia 
general  was  not  intended  for  them  ;  for  at 
all  events — since  there  were  Jews  in  the 
Church,  though  they  formed  the  minority 
— when  he  expressed  any  thing  which  was 
applicable  only  to  the  Gentile  members,  it 
v/as  needful  that  he  should  thus  distinguish 
it.  If  we  suppose  those  Jewish  Christians 
who  taught  the  continued  obligation  of  the 
Mosaic  Law  to  have  formed  the  original 
body  of  the  Church,  it  will  not  be  easy  to 
explain  how  Gentile  Christians  who  adopted 
the  Pauline  principles  (and  who  must  evi- 
dently have  been  a  minority),  could  join 
themselves  to  such.  But  it  is  very  diffe- 
rent, if  we  suppose  this  church  to  have  been 
constituted  like  others  of  the  Gentile  Chris- 
tians of  whom  we  have  before  spoken. 
Moreover,  in  the  Neronian  persecution,  the 
Christian  church  appears  as  a  new  sect 
hated  by  the  people,  a  gemcs  iertium,  of 


164 


THE  CHURCH  AT  ROME. 


[Book  HI. 


whom  the  people  were  disposed  to  credit  ! 
the  worst  reports,  because  they  were  op- 
posed to  all  the  forms  of  religion  hitherto 
in  existence.  But  this  could  not  have  been 
the  case  if  Judaism  had  been  the  predomi- 
nant element  in  the  Roman  church.  The 
Christians  would  then  have  been  scarcely 
distinguished  from  the  Jevvs,  and  it  was  not 
usual  to  pay  much  attention  to  the  internal 
religious  disputes  of  the  Jevvs.  In  the  con- 
troversy with  the  churches  in  Lesser  Asia, 
the  bishops  of  Rome  were  the  opponents 
of  the  Jewish  Christian  Easter;  this  was 
closely  connected  with  the  formation  of  the 
Christjan  cultus  on  Pauline  principles,  and 
an  appeal  could  here  be  made  to  an  ancient 
tradition.  To  the  marks  of  an  anti-Jewish 
tendency  belongs  also  the  custom  of  fasting 
on  the  Sabbath.  The  opinion  that  this 
anti-Jewish  tendency  arose  as  a  reaction 
against  an  earlier  Judaizing  tendency,  is  at 
variance  with  what  has  been  said,  and  is 
also  inconsistent  with  historical  truth  ;  for 
since  at  a  later  period  we  see  the  hierarchi- 
cal element  (which  is  decidedly  Jewish,  and 
favourable  rather  than  otherwise  to  Juda- 
ism), peculiarly  prominent  in  the  Roman 
church,  so  it  is  difficult  to  suppose  that  ex- 
actly at  this  time  a  reaction  should  be  pro- 
duced against  Judaism,*  arising  from  pri- 
mitive Christian  knowledge  and  the  Pau- 
line  spirit.  In  the  work  of  Hermas,  we 
recognise  indeed  a  conception  of  Christi- 
anity more  according  to  James  than  ac- 
cording to  Paul,  (and  yet  not  throughout 
and  entirely  Judaizing),  but  we  know  too 
little  of  the  relation  in  which  the  author  of 
this  book  stood  to  the  whole  Roman  church, 
to  determine  any  thing  respecting  the  lead- 
ing tendency  of  the  latter.  This  remark 
applies  more  strongly  to  the  Clementines 
of  which  the  origin  is  so  uncertain,  and 
which  by  the  leading  sentiments  is  essen- 
tially distinguished  from  the  Shepherd  of 
Hermas,  although  some  points  of  affinity 
exist  in  the  two  works.  In  Rome,  the 
capital  of  the  world,  where  the  various  kinds 
of  religion  were  assembled  from  all  coun- 
tries, the  different  Christian  sects  would 

*  Dr.  Baur,  whose  views  I  am  here  opposinar,  i" 
his  essay  ag:ainst  Rotjie,  on  the  origin  of  episco- 
pacy in  the  Christian  church,  {Tubinger  Zeitschrift 
fur  Theolo<rie,  1838,  part  iii.  p.  141),  endeavours  to 
prove  that  this  reaction  against  Judaism,  supposing 
that  to  have  originally  predominated,  took  place  at 
a  later  period  in  the  Roman  church. 


soon  seek  a  settlement,  and  establish  them- 
selves. We,  therefore,  are  not  justified  in 
saying  of  every  sect  which  we  see  arising 
out  of  the  bosom  of  the  Roman  church, 
that  it  proceeded  from  the  religious  ten- 
dency that  originally  predominated  in  it, 
and  was  a  reaction  against  tendencies  sub- 
sequently formed.  This  applies  particu- 
larly to  the  Monarchians,  who  yet  could 
not  all  be  referred  to  a  Judaizing  element  ; 
for  a  Praxeas,  of  whom  we  certainly  knovv, 
that  he  found  a  point  of  connexion  in  the 
whole  Roman  church, — which  cannot  be 
asserted  of  other  kinds  of  Monarchians — 
formed  by  his  peculiar  conceptions  of  the 
doctrine  of  Christ  as  a  God  revealing  and 
revealed,  the  most  direct  opposition  to  the 
Judaizing  standing-point,  in  many  respects 
still  more,  than  was  at  that  time  the  case 
with  the  common  church  doctrine  of  Subor- 
dination. But  when  the  Artemonites  ap- 
pealed to  their  agreement  with  the  earlier 
Roman  bishops,  we  cannot  accept  this  as 
historical  evidence.  All  sects  have  always 
an  interest  to  claim  a  high  antiquity  for 
their  doctrine,  and  the  Artemonites  could 
easily  make  use  for  their  purpose  of  many 
indefinite  expressions  of  earlier  doctrinal 
statements.  They  appealed  generally  to 
the  antiquity  of  their  doctrine  in  the  church, 
and  yet  we  know  that  the  ancient  hymns 
and  the  apologies  could  with  justice  be  ad- 
duced against  them  as  witnesses  for  the 
doctrine  of  the  divinity  of  Christ.  We  con- 
sider, therefore,  the  opinion  is  well  grounded, 
that  the  Roman  church  was  formed  prin- 
cipally from  the  stock  of  Gentile  Christians, 
and  that  the  Pauline  form  of  doctrine  origi- 
nally prevailed  among  them.* 

In  this  church,  the  state  of  aflfairs  was 
similar  to  that  which  for  the  most  part  ex- 
isted in  churches  where  the  Gentile  Chris- 
tian element  predominated,  though  mingled 
with  the  Jewish  Christian.  The  Jewish 
Christians  could  not  bring  themselves  to 
acknowledge  the  Gentiles,  who  neglected 
the   ceremonial    law,    as    altogether    their 


*  The  testimony  of  Hilarius  (the  so-called  Am- 
brosian),  to  which  Baur  appeals  as  historical  evi- 
dence, we  certainly  dare  not  estimate  too  highly  ; 
for  this  writer  of  the  second  half  of  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, could  hardly  make  use  of  liistorical  sources 
on  the  constitution  of  the  Roman  church  to  which 
Paul  wrote.  He  had  scarcely  any  other  sources 
of  information  than  we  have ;  his  testimony  ap- 
pears to  be  only  as  deduced  from  this  epistle  ac- 
cording to  his  own  interpretation  of  it. 


Chap.  VII.] 


PAUL'S  EPISTLE  TO  THE  ROMANS. 


165 


equals  in  relation  to  the  kingdom  of  God ; 
the  Gentile  Christians  also  still  retained 
those  /eelings  of  contempt  with  which  they 
were  wont  to  contemplate  the  Jews,  and 
the  manner  in  which  the  greater  part  of  the 
Jews  opposed  the  publication  of  the  gospel, 
confirmed  them  in  this  temper  of  mind; 
Rom.  xi.  17-18. 

Paul  in  this  epistle,  lays  before  the 
church,  which  he  had  not  yet  taught  per- 
sonally, the  fundamental  principles  of  the 
gospel ;  he  wished  as  he  himself  says, 
Rom.  XV.  15,  to  recall  to  their  remem- 
brance* what  had  been  announced  to  them 
as  the  doctrine  of  Christianity,  and  to  tes- 
tify that  this  was  the  genuine  Christian 
truth,  which  alone  could  satisfy  the  re- 
ligious wants  of  human  nature,  and  ex- 
horted them  not  to  allow  themselves 
to  be  led  astray  by  any  strange  doctrine. 
This  epistle  may  therefore  serve  to  inform 
us,  what  was  in  Paul's  estimation  the  es- 
sence of  the  gospel.  He  begins  with  as- 
suring them  that  shame  could  not  have 
kept  him  back  from  publishing  the  gospel 
in  the  capital  of  the  civilized  world;  for  he 

*  It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  cItto  ^sgouc  in 
this  verse  relates  to  some  parlicular  passages  of 
the  epistle,  which  might  seem  to  be  written  in  too 
bold  a  tone.  We  might  admit  this,  if  any  severe 
censure  were  to  be  met  with  in  this  epistle  on  the 
faults  of  his  church,  as  in  the  first  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians.  In  this  case,  we  might  suppose  that 
Paul  would  think  proper  to  apologize  for  such 
harsh  expressions,  as  proceeding  from  one  who 
was  not  personally  known  to  the  church.  But 
such  animadversions  on  the  church  we  do  not 
find  in  this  epistle ;  and  all  that  he  says  respecting 
the  state  of  the  Gentile  world,  to  which  they  be- 
longed before  their  conversion,  as  well  as  in  all 
that  he  says  to  warn  them  against  self-exaltation, 
I  can  find  nothing  which  would  occasion  an  apo- 
logy on  the  part  of  such  a  man  as  Paul.  Hence, 
I  cannot  help  considering  the  Ltto  [xigcu;  only  as 
qualifying  the  aox^jigoTsgov,  or  that  it  relates  to 
what  follows.  Paul  places  the  boldness  in  this, 
that  he,  though  personally  unknown  to  the  church 
as  a  teacher,  ventured  to  write  to  them  such  an 
epistle  in  which  he  might  appear  to  announce  the 
doctrine  of  salvation,  as  if  it  were  entirely  new  to 
them.  But  he  explains  his  design,  that  it  was 
only  to  "put  them  in  mind"  of  what  they  had  al- 
ready heard,  and  he  believed  that,  in  virtue  of  the 
ministry  committed  to  him  by  divine  grace,  that 
he  was  justified  in  making  known  the  gospel  to 
the  Gentiles.  He  even  qualifies  the  "  putting  them 
in  mind"  by  the  addition  of  «t/,  thus  representing 
it  as  something  accessory,  and  not  absolutely  re- 
quired. In  these  words,  in  the  interpretation  of 
which  I  cannot  agree  with  Baur,  I  can  detect  no- 
thing unpauline.  On  the  contrary,  I  find  here  the 
same  pauline  mode  of  address  as  in  Rom.  i.  12. 


never  had  occasion  to  be  ashamed  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  gospel,  since  every  where, 
among  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews,  it  had 
shown  itself  capable  of  working  with  divine 
power  for  the  salvation  of  men,  if  they  only 
believed  it;  by  this  doctrine  they  all  ob- 
tained what  all  alike  needed, — that  which 
was  essential  to  the  salvation  of  men, — the 
means  by  which  they  might  be  brouo-ht 
from  a  state  of  estrangement  from  God  in 
sin,  to  become  holy  before  God.  In  order 
to  establish  this,  it  was  necessary  for  the 
apostle  to  show  that  all,  both  Jews  and 
Gentiles,  were  in  need  of  this  means.  He 
endeavoured  to  lead  them  both  to  a  con- 
sciousness of  their  sinfulness  and  guilt,  and 
to  take  notice  of  that  which  might  prevent 
either  party,  according  to  their  respective 
standing-points,  from  attaining  this  con- 
sciousness, the  self-deceptions  and  so- 
phisms, which  obstructed  the  discernment 
of  the  truths  which  he  anaounced.  He 
had  then  to  point  out  to  the  Gentiles  that 
their  consciences  testified  against  them,  that 
they  could  not  excuse  themselves  in  their 
sins  by  pleading  ignorance  of  God  and  his 
law  ;  he  objected  to  the  Jews,  that  that  law, 
in  the  possession  of  which  they  were  so  proud, 
could  only  utter  a  sentence  of  condemna- 
tion against  them  as  its  violators ;  he  ex- 
posed their  self-delusion  in  thinking,  that 
by  the  works  of  the  law  such  as  they  could 
perform,  or  in  virtue  of  their  descent  from 
the  theocratic  nation,  they  could  appear  as 
holy  before  God.  After  pointing  out  that 
both  parties  were  equally  in  need  of  the 
means  of  salvation,  the  object  he  had  in 
view  led  him  to  develope  the  manner  in 
which  man,  by  faith  in  the  Redeemer, 
might  become  holy  before  God,  and  to  ex- 
hibit the  blessed  consequences  that  followed 
from  this  new  relation  to  God ;  and  in  this 
developement,  he  takes  pains,  as  is  evident 
in  various  passages,  so  to  influence  the  two 
parts  of  which  the  church  at  Rome  consist- 
ed,-the  Gentile  and  the  Jewish  Christians, 
that  uniting  in  an  equally  humble  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  grace  to  which  they  were 
indebted  for  their  salvation,  neither  might 
exalt  themselves  above  the  other  ;  he  closes 
the  whole  developement  with  extolling  that 
grace,  to  which  all  stood  in  the  same  re- 
lation, being  equally  in  need  of  deliverance, 
and  which  all  must  atlast  unite  ingiorifying. 
In  the  practical  exhortations  which  form 
the  last  part  of  this  epistle,  the  wisdom  is 


166 


PAUL'S  EPISTLE  TO  THE  ROMANS. 


[Book  IIL 


apparent  with  which  Paul  treats  of  the  re- 
lations in  which  the  new  converts  to  Chris- 
tianity were  placed;  he  anticipates  the 
errors  into  which  they  were  likely  to  be 
seduced,  and  endeavours  to  suggest  the  best 
preservatives  against  their  influence.  The 
seditious  spirit  of  the  Jews,  which  refused 
to  acknowledge  the  legitimacy  of  any  Gen- 
tile government,  (see  my  Church  History," 
vol.  i.  p.  50),  could  not  find  ready  entrance 
into  the  church  at  Rome,  since  the  majority 
of  its  members,  being  Gentile-Christians, 
were  not  exposed  to  infection  on  this  side. 
But  similar  errors,  from  a  misunderstanding 
of  Christian  truth,  might  easily  arise  among 
lhem,'as  actually  happened  at  a  later  period. 
Accustomed  to  consider  themselves  as  mem- 
bers of  the  kingdom  of  God,  in  opposition 
to  the  heathen  world,  they  were  in  danger 
of  giving  an  outward  form  to  this  opposi- 
tion, which  properly  belonged  to  the  inter- 
nal disposition,  and  thus  a  hostile  tendency 
would  be  called  forth  against  all  existing 
civil  institutions,  since  they  would  be 
looked  upon  as  all  belonging  to  the  king- 
dom of  the  evil  spirit.  With  the  conscious- 
ness of  belonging  to  the  kingdom  of  God, 
a  misapprehension  arising  from  carnal 
views  might  be  connected,  that  those  who 
were  destined  to  rule  hereafter  in  the  king- 
dom of  the  Messiah,  need  not  in  the  pre- 
sent life  submit  to  worldly  governments. 
Such  a  carnal  misapprehension  might  easily 
be  combined  with  the  doctrine  of  Christian 
freedom,  and  the  apostle  on  other  oc- 
casions had  thought  it  needful  to  caution 
against  it;  Gal.  v.  13.  He  wished  to  be 
beforehand  in  opposing  such  practical  er- 
rors, which  his  knowledge  of  human  nature 
led  him  to  anticipate,  even  if  they  were  not 
already  visible;  accordingly,  he  strictly 
enjoined  on  the  Roman  Christians,  that 
they  ought  to  consider  the  institution  of 
civil  government  generally  as  a  divine  or- 
dinance, for  a  definite  object  in  the  plan  of 
Providence;*  that  under  this  aspect,  they 
must  view  the  government  actually  existing, 
and  demean  themselves  conformably  to  it. 
At  the  close,  he  notices  a  special  practi- 


*  It  was  not  the  apostle's  design  in  that  passage 
to  develope  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  reciprocal 
duties  of  rulers  and  subjects ;  but  he  pursues  only 
one  marked  antitl.ctical  reference,  in  order  to 
warn  Christians  of  that  misapprehension,  and 
hence  he  leaves  all  other  topics  untouched,  which 
otherwise  would  naturally  fall  under  discussion. 


cal  difference  in  the  church.  But  it  may 
be  disputed,  in  what  light  we  are  to  view  it. 
As  in  the  fourteenth  chapter  he  places  in 
opposition  those  who  eat,  and  those  who 
eat  not,  and  by  the  latter  apparently  in- 
tends those  who  scrupled  to  eat  flesh  and 
drink  wine,  and  confined  themselves  to  the 
vegetable  diet,  (compare  v.  2,  and  v.  21), 
some  have  been  led  to  conclude,*  that  in  this 
church  a  strong  ascetic  tendency,  entirely 
forbidding  animal  food  and  strong  drink,  had 
found  an  entrance,  similar  to  the  doctrine 
of  the  later  Encratitse.  Such  a  tendency, 
however  foreign  to  the  Hebrew  and  Gre- 
cian religious  systems,  had  in  that  age  in- 
sinuated itself  in  various  forms,  both  among 
the  Jews  and  Gentiles,  owing  to  the  change 
produced  by  the  breaking  up  of  the  ancient 
mental  habitudes  of  the  world,  and  effected 
a  junction  with  Christianity,  by  a  mistaken 
view  of  the  contrariety  between  the  spirit 
and  the  flesh,  and  of  the  opposition  between 
the  world  and  Christianity. 

But  how  can  what  Paul  says  on  indivi- 
dual cases,  be  referred  to  persons  under  the 
influence  of  this  tendency  ?  "  Let  not  him 
that  eateth"  (he  says  in  v.  3),  '■'■despise 
him  that  eateth  not ;  and  let  not  him  who 
eateth  not,  judge  him  that  eateth  ;"  that  is, 
not  condemn,  not  disallow  his  participa- 
tion in  the  kingdom  of  God;  yet  persons 
of  this  ascetic  tendency  did  not  altogether 
condemn  those  who  would  not  consent  to 
such  abstinence,  but  they  believed  that  they 
were  inferior  to  themselves,  and  not  so  far 
advanced  in  the  perfection  of  the  spiritual 
life.  Paul  therefore  ought  rather  to  have 
said,  Let  such  a  one  desjoise  him  that  eat- 
eth. Or  we  must  assume  that  these  per- 
sons had  gone  so  far  as  to  consider  the 
eating  of  flesh  to  be  absolutely  sinful.  But 
this  they  could  have  said  only  on  the  prin- 
ciples of  a  certain  dualistic  theosophy, 
which  viewed  God  not  as  the  origin  of  all 
creatures  ;  and  if  Paul  had  met  with  such  a 
scheme,  he  would  certainly  not  have  treated 
it  with  so  much  tolerance,  but  have  felt  it 
his  duty  to  combat  it  strenuously,  as  utter- 
ly opposed  to  the  standing-point  of  Chris- 


*  This  view,  with  various  modifications,  has 
been  brought  forward  by  Eichorn,  in  his  introduc- 
tion to  the  New  Testament,  and  by  Baur  in  his 
essay  on  tliis  epistle ;  by  the  latter  in  connexion 
with  his  view  of  a  predominant  Jewish-Christian 
tendency  in  the  Roman  church,  allied  to  the  later 
Ebionitism,  and  containing  its  germ. 


Chap.  VII.] 


PAUL'S  EPISTLE  TO  THE  ROMANS. 


167 


tian  piety.  Nor  would  the  exhortation  ad- 
dressed to  the  other  side  not  to  despise 
such  a  one,  have  been  suitable  in  this  case  ; 
for  persons  of  this  tendency  had  nothing 
which  exposed  them  to  contempt,  but  it 
was  rather  to  be  feared  that,  by  such  a 
stricter  mode  of  living,  they  would  be  held 
in  greater  respect  than  was  their  due.  Be- 
sides, how  could  Paul  say  of  such  a  one  in 
V.  6,  "  He  that  eateth  not,  to  the  Lord  he 
eateth  not  and  giveth  God  thanks."  Such 
persons  would  want  the  disposition  to  thank 
God  for  all  the  gifts  which  he  had  granted 
for  human  subsistence.  How  could  he,  in 
reference  to  such  a  case,  say  in  v.  21,  "  It 
is  good  neither  to  eat  flesh  nor  to  drink  wine, 
in  order  to  give  no  offence  to  a  brother." 

It  could  give  no  offence  to  one  who  was 
zealous  in  practising  such  asceticism,  if  he 
saw  another  brother  living  with  less  strict- 
ness. But  if  other  Christians  believed  that 
they  ought  to  follow  his  example,  he  might 
to  his  injury  be  confirmed  in  his  delusion, 
that  such  a  mode  of  living  had  something 
in  it  excellent  or  meritorious.  Least  of  all 
could  we  suppose  that  Paul  would  treat  per- 
sons of  this  sort  simply  as  weak,  and  show 
them  so  much  indulgence  without  discuss- 
ing more  fully  the  principle  that  formed 
the  basis  of  their  standing-point.  And  if 
we  do  not  assume  that  this  principle  was 
an  avowed  dualism  which  he  must  have 
combated,  yet,  on  any  supposition,  he 
could  not  have  acted  with  so  much  mild- 
ness and  forbearance  towards  an  ascetic 
arrogance  of  this  kind,  which  was  equally 
in  diametric  opposition  to  his  doctrine  of 
justification  and  to  the  essence  of  Christian 
humility.  Of  such  a  perversion  of  religious 
sentiment,  it  could  not  be  expected  that  it 
would  gradually  be  overcome  by  the  pro- 
gressive developement  of  faith  as  the  root 
of  the  whole  Christian  life ;  but  it  was 
rather  to  be  feared,  that  a  principle  so  alien 
to  the  Christian  life,  and  so  much  favoured 
by  certain  tendencies  of  the  times,  would 
gather  increasing  strength  and  injure  more 
and  more  the  healthy  developement  of 
Christianity :  several  appearances  of  this 
kind  in  the  following  age  justify  us  in  this 
conclusion.  How  very  differently  does  Paul 
speak  against  such  a  tendency  in  the  Epis- 
tle to  the  Colossians  !  Evidently  the  per- 
sons towards  whom  Paul  enjoins  forbear- 
ance, were  such  who  distinguished  certain 
days  as  in  a  special  sense  dedicated  to  God, 


and  who  could  not  yet  bring  themselves  to 
the  Christian  standing-point,  that  all  days 
ought  in  an  equal  manner  to  be  dedicated 
to  God.  We  must  here  recognise  the  re- 
action of  the  .Jewish  standing-point,  (which, 
since  it  had  its  indisputable  right  in  the  de- 
velopement of  religious  truth,  and  could 
not  be  altogether  set  aside  by  a  single 
effort,  Paul,  unless  its  claims  wese  arro- 
gantly set  forth,  always  treated  with  indul- 
gence), and  we  shall  find  sufficient  reason- 
for  referrin-g  another  topic  which  concerns 
the  question  of  abstinence  to  the  same  ten- 
dency. We  shall  be  led  to  think  of  the 
Jewish  Christians,  who  were  still  strict  ob- 
servers of  the  Mosaic  law,  not  onl)?-  in 
keeping  certain  days,  but  also  in  refraining 
from  certain  kinds  of  food.  We  shall  be 
less  surprised  at  this,  if  we  recollect  that 
generally  the  Christians  of  Jewish  descent, 
particularly  those  of  Palestine,  when  they 
lived  at  Rome,  adhered  to  .their  former 
Jewish  mode  of  life.  But  in  the  Mosaic 
laws  relative  to  food,  there  was  nothing 
that  could  occasion  scruples  about  eating 
flesh  or  drinking  wine.  Or  w.e  must  assume 
that  Paul  spoke  only  hypothetically  and 
hyperbolically,  without  thinking  of  a  case, 
which  might  really  occur  under  existing 
circumstances,  although  this  is  by  no  means 
probable,  judging  from  his  mode  of  ex- 
pressing himself. 

Further,  if  we  think  of  those  Jewish 
Christians  who  believed  that  the  Mosaic 
laws  respecting  food  were  still  obligatory, 
it  is  indeed  evident,  that  Paul  must  admo- 
nish the  Gentile  Christians  who  were  en- 
tangled in  no  such  perplexities,  that  they 
ought  not  to  despise  their  weaker  Jewish 
brethren  on  account  of  their  scrupulosity, 
nor  lead  them  to  act  against  their  con- 
sciences, by  working  on  their  feelings  of 
shame.  But  would  he  have  expressed 
himself  so  mildly,  if  these  Jewish  Chris- 
tians had  ventured  to  condemn  others  who 
partook  of  food  which  they  held  to  be  pro- 
hibited ?  In  this  case,  we  must  suppose  it 
to  be  the  opinion  of  these  Jewish  Chris- 
tians, that  the  Mosaic  law  was  binding  on 
Gentile  Christians,  and  that  without  its  ob- 
servance they  could  not  be  partakers  of 
the  kingdom  of  God.  But  we  know  how 
emphatically  Paul  always  expressed  him- 
self against  those  who  maintained  such  a 
sentiment,  and  in  doing  so,  invalidated  his 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  alone.    In 


168 


PAUL'S  EPISTLE  TO  THE  ROMANS. 


[Book  IlL 


ar'dition— and  on  this  point  we  must  lay  still 
greater  weight — Paul  exhorts  the  strong  in 


faith  and  the  unscrupulous  to  take  into  con 
sideration  the  necessities  of  the  weak,  and 
rather  to  refrain  from  food,  which  from 
the  standing-point  of  their  own  conviction 
they  could  partake  of  without  scruple,  than 
give  offence  to  their  weaker  brethren.  But 
how  would  it  agree  with  the  principles  of 
this  apostle,  that  he  should  advise  the  Gen- 
tile Christians  to  make  such  a  concession, 
by  which  they  would  practically  have  re- 
cognised for  their  own  standing-point  the 
obligatory  force  of  the  Mosaic  law-^since 
he  was  more  wont  to  urge  on  the  Gentile 
Christians  not  to  give  place  to  the  Judai- 
zers,  who  wished  to  compel  them  to  the 
observance  of  the  law,  but  to  maintain 
their  Christian  freedom  against  them.  In 
fact,  there  was  no  ground  for  such  an  ex- 
hortation. The  Jewish  Christians  had  no 
cause  to  be  uneasy,  because  the  Gentile 
Christians  did  not  trouble  themselves  about 
the  Mosaic  laws  respecting  food.  By  the 
stipulatioa  concluded  by  the  apostolic  con- 
vention at  Jerusalem,  they  were  set  at 
liberty  from  every  such  restriction.  If  this 
gave  offence  to  the  Jewish  Christians,^  the 
offence  was  unavoidably  founded  in  the 
evangelical  truth  itself 

We  must  therefore  think  of  something 
connected  indeed  with  the  religious  stand- 
ing-point of  the  Judaizers,  but  yet  some- 
thing separable  from  the  observance  of  the 
Mosaic  law, — something  that  with  more 
appearance  of  justice  the  Jewish  Christians 
might  require  of  their  Gentile  brethren, — 
something,  in  which  a  concession  to  the 
weakness  of  others,  might  be  demanded  of 
Gentile  Christians,  without  encroaching  on 
their  Christian  freedom.  This  could  be 
nothing  else  than  abstaining  from  the  flesh 
of  animals  offered  to  idols.  Every  thing 
in  this  section  would  agree  with  this  alone. 
The  passage  would  have  a  meaning  appli- 
cable to  the  circumstances  of  the  times,  if 
we  suppose  those  persons  to  be  spoken  of 
who,  in  certain  cases,  would  rather  abstain 
altogether  from  animal  food,  and  eat  only 
herbs,  that  they  might  unknowingly  be  in 
danger  of  eating  something  unclean  and  de- 
filing, the  flesh  of  idolatrous  sacrifices.  In 
V.  2,  Paul  presents  the  contrast  in  the  ex- 
treme point,  on  the  one  side,  a  strength  of 
faith  which  proceeds  so  far  as  to  banish  all 
scruples  respecting  the  enjoyment  of  food, 


and  on  the  other  side,  the  extreme  of  scru- 
pulosity, arising  from  weakness  of  faith, 
which  would  rather  eat  no  meat  whatever, 
in  order  to  avoid  the  danger  of  eating  the 
flesh  of  animals  offered  to  idols.  Now,  it 
is  evident,  how  Paul  could  say,  that  if  needs 
be,  it  would  be  better  not  to  eat  flesh,  nor 
to  drink  wine,  rather  than  disturb  the  con- 
science of  a  weak  brother.  We  need  only 
recollect  that  the  heathens  accompanied 
their  sacrifices  with  libations  ;*  that  the 
same  scruples  which  existed  relative  to  the 
meat  of  the  sacrifices,  would  also  arise  in 
reference  to  the  wine  of  the  libations.  But 
that  the  apostle  has  not  expressly  men- 
tioned the  sacrifices,  can  in  our  opinion  oc- 
casion no  perplexity.  He  had  in  view  only 
such  readers  as  would  at  once  understand 
from  his  words  what  he  meant ;  so  in  ordi- 
nary letters,  many  things  are  not  stated  in 
detail,  because  it  is  presumed  that  the  per- 
sons to  whom  they  are  addressed  perfectly 
understand  the  allusions. 

We  must  therefore  conceive  the  state  of 
affairs  in  this  church  to  have  been  similar 
to  that  in  the  Corinthian,  which  we  have 
already  noticed.  Some  gave  themselves 
no  concern  about  the  injunction  against 
meat  offered  to  idols,  like  the  free-thinking 
Corinthians,  and  ridiculed  the  scrupulosity 
of  the  Jewish  Christians ;  others,  on  the 
contrary,  considered  the  eating  of  such 
food  as  absolutely  sinful,  and  hence  passed 
sentence  of  condemnation  on  those  who 
ventured  to  eat  every  thing  without  distinc- 
tion. Thus  also  some  were  still  too  much 
accustomed  to  consider  certain  days  as  pe- 
culiarly sacred,  according  to  the  Jewish 
standing-point ;  those  who  thought  more 
freely,  and  viewed  the  subject  from  the 
pure  Christian  standing-point,  were  dis- 
posed to  make  no  religious  difference  be- 
tween one  day  and  another.  Such  a  state 
of  things  as  this  could  only  exist  in  a  com- 
munity which  was  formed  similarly  to  the 
Corinthian  church,  which  consisted  of  a 
majority  of  Christians  of  Gentile  descent, 
but  with  an  addition  to  the  original  mate- 
rials  of  a   subordinate  Jewish  element.f 


*  See  the  Mishnah  in  the  treatise  ^'^^  (IID^ 

on  idolatrous  worship,  c.  ii.  §  3,  ed.  Surenhus,  P. 
iv.  369,  384. 

t  It  agrees  with  this  view,  that  in  Rom.  xv.  7  (a 
passage  closely  connected  with  what  goes  before), 
the  subject  is  the  agreement  between  Gentile  and 


Chap.  VII.] 


PAUL'S  LAST  JOURNEY  TO  JERUSALEM. 


Paul  begins  his  exhortation,  without  parti- 
cularly designating  the  persons  he  ad- 
dressed, yet  having  chiefly  in  view  the  more 
free-thinking  Gentile  Christians,  which  also 
confirms  the  notion,  that  these  formed  the 
main  body  of  the  church.  He  declares  the 
standing-point  of  these  persons  to  be  cor- 
rect in  theory ;  but  as  in  the  first  epistle  to 
the  Corinthians,  he  censures  the  want  of 
Christian  love  in  them,  who  so  little  re- 
garded what  affected  the  welware  of  their 
weaker  brethren,  and  with  that  defect,  the 
misapprehension  of  Christian  freedom, 
which  was  shown  in  their  laying  such 
great  stress  on  what  was  outward  and  in 
itself  indifferent,  as  if  the  true  good  of 
Christians  consisted  in  such  things,  instead 
of  being  something  grounded  in  their  inner 
life,  which  would  remain  secure  whether 
they  could  use  or  not  use  these  outward 
things.  The  participation  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  consisted  not  in  meat  and  drink, 
(the  true  possessions  and  privileges,  the 
true  freedom  of  the  members  of  God's  king- 
dom consisted  not  in  eating  or  drinking 
this  or  that,  outward  things  in  general  be- 
ing signified  by  this  expression,)  but  in  the 
participation  of  those  heavenly  possessions 
of  the  inner  man — righteousness  (in  the 
Pauline  sense,  the  designation  of  the  Avhole 
relation  in  which  the  sx  •KKfTSCjjg  Stxaios  stands 
to  God),  the  heavenly  peace  flowing  from 
it,  the  happiness  of  the  divine  life,  Rom. 
XV.  17,  He  recommends  mutual  forbear- 
ance and  love  to  both  parties,  that  no  one 
should  judge  another,  but  each  one  should 
seek  to  be  well  grounded  in  his  own  con- 
victions, and  act  accordingly ;  but  that  the 
more  mature  in  Christian  conviction  should 
condescend  to  the  standing-point  of  those 
who  were  not  so  far  advanced,  since  more 
is  required  from  the  strong  than  from  the 
weak. 

After  Paul  had  spent  three  months  in 
Achaia,  he  wished  to  depart  with  the  sums 
collected  for  the  poor  Christians  at  Jerusa- 
lem, and  thus  to  close  his  apostolic  minis- 
try in  the  East.*     This  plan  was  wisely 


Jewish  Christians ;  and  that  Paul  in  Rom.  vi.  17, 
warns  them  of  the  common  Judaizers,  who  by  the 
spread  of  their  principles  endeavoured  to  excite 
divisions  in  such  mixed  churches. 

*  Though  I  agree  for  tlie  most  part  with  Dr. 
Schncckenburger  in  what  he  says  (in  his  work  on 
the  Acts)  on  the  intention  of  this  last  journey  to 
Jerusalem ;  yet  I  cannot  entirely  assent  to  what 

22 


formed  by  him,  and  this  his  last  journey  to 
Jerusalem  is  to  be  viewed  as  marking  an 

he  thinks  may  be  deduced  from  the  silence  of  the 
Acts  on  this  collection,  and  the  object  of  this  jour- 
ney, in  favour  of  the  hypothesis  which  he  has  ad- 
vanced. I  must  also  avow  myself  opposed  to  Dr. 
Baur's  views,  who  in  his  Essay  on  the  Romans, 
and  his  Dissertation  on  Episcopacy,  endeavours 
to  show  that  the  author  of  the  Acts  misrepresented 
the  facts,  and  set  them  in  a  false  light  from  a  one- 
sided, apologetic  intention ;  see  his  review  of  Dr\ 
Schneckenbarger  in  the  Jahrbuch  fur  wissen. 
schaftliche  Kritik.  March,  1841.  These  two  cri- 
tics are  struck  with  the  omission  of  a  transaction 
of  so  much  importance  in  the  historical  connexion 
of  events,  and  hence  believe,  that  they  must  find 
out  a  special  reason  for  it  in  the  object  which  the 
author  of  the  Acts  proposed  to  himself  in  writing' 
his  work.  As  he  was  disposed  to  assume  ignorance 
of  the  continued  division  between  the  Jews  and 
Gentile  Christians,  and  always  represents  only  the 
Jews,  and  not  the  Jewish  Christians,  as  adversa- 
ries  of  the  apostle,  so  he  could  not  adduce  any 
thing  which  might  testify  against  his  assumption, 
or  that  even  might  serve  to  lessen"  the  opposition 
which  he  kept  out  of  sight ;  and  hence  he  could 
not  represent  this  last  journey  of  Paul  in  its  true 
light.  Had  we  reason  to  expect  in  this  age  of 
the  church,  a  comprehensive  historical  represen- 
tation, explaining  the  causes  and  connexion  of 
events,  if  the  Acts  wore  the  appearance  of  such 
a  work,  had  its  author  been  a  Christian  Thucy- 
dides  or  Polybius— we  might  then  have  admitted 
the  inference,  that  either  he  was  at  too  great  a 
distance  from  the  events  to  know  any  thing  of 
this  collection,  or  of  the  real  object  of  this  jour- 
ney, or  that,  owing  to  a  one-sided  bias,  he  had 
consciously  or  unconsciously  falsified  the  history. 
But  such  a  statesmanlike  point  of  view,  which 
could  be  formed  only  where  the  developement  of 
events  could  be  surveyed  with  a  certain  calmness 
of  mind  and  a  philosophic  interest,  was  totally 
foreign  to  the  standing-point  of  Christian  history 
at  this  time,  and  especially  to  that  of  the  Acts.  It 
consists  of  memoirs,  as  the  author  gave  them  from 
the  sources  of  information  within  his  reach,  or 
from  his  own  recollection,  without  following  any 
definite  plan.  He  mentions  the  last  journey  of 
Paul  to  Jerusalem,  on  account  of  the  serious  con- 
sequences to  the  apostle  himself,  without  reflect- 
ing fiirther  on  his  object  in  undertaking  it,  and 
probably  passed  over  the  collection  as  being  in 
that  view  unimportant ;  his  interest  would  be  en- 
gaged by  other  objects  ;  and  reflections  which 
would  only  present  themselves  from  a  compre- 
hensive survey  of  history,  would  be  totally  ab- 
sent from  his  thoughts.  Yet  this  bountiful  col- 
lection  might  be  included  among  the  practical 
proofs  which  Paul  gave  (Acts  xxi.  19),  of  the 
success  of  his  ministry  among  the  Gentiles ;  why 
should  he  have  been  intentionally  silent  respect- 
ing it?  If  he  could  say  what  is  mentioned  in  that 
passage,  without  injury  to  the  design  imputed  to 
him,  could  he  not  also  say,  The  presbyters  of  the 
church  at  Jerusalem  praised  God  for  kindling  such 
active  brotherly  love  in  the  hearts  of  the  believing 
Gentiles.  Yet  the  author  of  the  Acts,  by  his  ac- 
count in  ch.  XX.  V.  21,  implies  the  continued  en- 


170 


PAUL'S  LAST  JOURNEY  TO  JERUSALEM. 


[Book  III. 


epoch  in  the  developement  of  the  church, 
whose  importance  we  must  consider  more 
closely.     A  year  had  passed  since  he  had 
with  great  zeal  set  this  collection  on  foot 
among  the  churches  of  Gentile  Christians 
in  Asia  ^nd  Europe,  and  it  was  of  import- 
ance to  him  that  it  should  be  very  pro- 
ductive.    He  had   already   written  to  the 
Corinthian  church,  1   Cor.   xvi.  4,  that  if 
this  collection  equalled  his  wishes,  he  would 
convey  it  himself  to  Jerusalem.     It   was 
certainly  not  merely  his  intention  to  assist 
the  poor  of  the  church  at  Jerusalem  in 
their  temporal  necessities ;  he  had  an  ob- 
ject stiil  more  important  for  the  develope- 
ment of  the  church,  to  effect  a  radical  cure 
of  the  breach  between  the  Jewish  and  the 
Gentile  Christians,  and  to  seal  for  perpe- 
tuity the  unity  of  the  church.     As  the  im- 
mediate power  of  love  can  effect  more  to 
heal  the  schism  of  souls,  than  all  formal 
conferences  in  favour  of  union,  so  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  Gentile  churches  evinced 
their   love   and    gratitude   to   the    Mother 
church,  would  accomplish  what   had   not 
yet  been  attained  by  all  attempts  at  union. 
Paul  wished,  since  he  was  accompanied  to 
Jerusalem   by   the   messengers    of   these 
churches,  who  practically  contradicted  the 
charges  disseminated  against  him  by   his 
Jewish    and    Jndaizing   adversaries, — that 
the   proofs  of  the  sympathizing  and  self- 
sacrificing  love  of  the  Gentile  Christians 
should   serve  as  evidence  to    the    Jewish 
Christians,    who    had    imbibed    prejudices 
against  them,  of  what  could  be  effected  by 
;the  preaching  of  the  gospel  independently 
,of  the  law  of  Moses  ;  so  that  they  would  be 
.obliged  to  acknowledge  the   operation    of 
God's  spirit  among  these,  whom  they  had 
always  been  indisposed  to  receive  as  bre- 
thren  in  the  faith.     Paul  himself  plainly 
indicates  this  to  have  been  his  chief  object 
in  this  collection  and  journey  (2  Cor.  ix. 
12-15);  that  not  only  this  service  of  love 
might  relieve  the  wants  of  the  Christians  at 


mity  of  the  Jewish  Christians  against  Paul.  I  do 
not  see,  therefore,  what  could  have  induced  him 
designedly  to  have  suppressed  earlier  facts  relating 
to  it.  In  Paul's  delence  in  Acts  xxiv.  17,  there  is 
actually  an  allusion  to  the  collection,  which  there- 
fore the  author  could  not  have  intended  to  conceal. 
But  if  the  Acts  had  been  a  connected  history,  or  a 
narrative  from  one  source,  this  collection,  that  is 
only  mentioned  accidentally,  must  have  been  re- 
corded earlier  in  its  place  in  the  regular  series  of 
events. 


Jerusalem,  but  that  many  hearts  might  be 
excited   to   gratitude  to   God  ;   when  they 
saw  how  the  faith  of  Gentile  Christians  had 
verified  itself  by  this  act  of  kindness,  they 
would  feel  compelled  to  praise  God  for  this 
practical    testimony    to    the    gospel,    and 
through  the   manner  in  which  the  grace  of 
God  had  shown  its  efficacy  among  them, 
being  filled  with  love  to  them,  they  would 
make  them  objects  of  their  intercessions. 
A    reciprocal    communion    of    prayer    in 
thanksgiving  and  intercession,  was  always 
considered  as  the  mark  and  seal  of  genuine 
Christian  brotherhood  ;  he  therefore  wished 
to  bring  about  such  a  union  of  heart  be- 
tween the  Jewish  and  Gentile  Christians. 
Before   he  extended    his   labours  for   the 
spread   of  the  church   in  other  lands,  he 
was  anxious  for  the  security  and  stability 
of  the  work  of  which  the  foundation  had 
been  already  laid  ;  but  which  was  exposed 
to  the  greatest  danger  on  the  side  of  that 
earliest   controversy,   which   was  always 
threatening  to  break  forth  again. 

Yet  it  all  depended  on  this,  whether  the 
apostle  of  the  Gentiles  could  succeed  in 
carrying  his  wisely  formed  plan  into  effect; 
he  was  well  aware,  what  hindrances  and 
dangers  obstructed  his  progress.  It  was 
questionable  whether  the  power  of  love 
would  succeed  in  overcoming  the  narrow- 
heartedness  of  the  Jewish  Spirit,  and  in- 
duce the  Jewish  Christians  to  receive  as 
brethren,  the  Gentile  brethren  who  accom- 
panied him.  And  what  had  he  to  expect 
from  the  Jews,  when  he,  after  they  had 
heard  so  much  of  his  labours  among  the 
Gentiles,  which  had  excited  their  fanatical 
hatred, — personally  appeai-ed  among  them; 
if  he  who  in  his  youth  had  been  known  as 
a  zealous  champion  of  Pharisaism,  was 
now  seen  accompanied  by  uncircumcised 
Gentiles  as  messengers  from  Gentile 
churches,  whose  equal  birthright  for  the 
kingdom  of  the  Messiah  he  zealously  ad- 
vocated ?  Fully  alive  to  the  difficulties 
and  dangers  which  he  must  overcome  in 
order  to  attain  his  great  object,  he  en- 
treated the  Roman  Christians  for  their  in- 
tercessory prayers,  that  he  might  be  de- 
livered from  the  unbelievers  among  the 
Jews,  and  that  this  service  might  be  well 
received  by  the  Christians  at  Jerusalem, 
that  he  might  come  to  them  from  thence 
with  joy  and  be  refreshed  by  them  ;  Ro- 
mans XV.  31,  32. 


Chap.  VIII.] 


PAUL'S, FAREWELL  ADDRESS. 


171 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  FIFTH  AND  LAST  JOURNEY  OF  PAUL  TO  JERUSA- 
LEM — ITS  IMMEDIATE  CONSEQUENCES — HIS  IMPRI- 
SONMENT IN  PALESTINE. 

After  staying  three  months  in  Achaia, 
Paul  departed  from  Corinth  in  the  spring 
of  the  year  58  or  59,  about  the  time  of  the 
Jewish  Passover.  His  companions  went 
before  him  to  Troas,  and  he  first  visited 
Phiiippi,  where  he  joined  Luke,  who  had 
been  left  there  some  time  before.  As  he 
earnestly  wished  to  be  in  Jerusalem  at  the 
Pentecost,  it  was  necessaiy  to  hasten  his 
journey ;  on  that  account  he  did  not  ven- 
ture to  go  to  Ephesus,  but  sent  from  Miletus 
for  the  overseers  of  the  Ephesian  church, 
and  probably  those  of  other  neighbouring 
Asiatic  churches,*  to  come  to  him,  that  in 


*  We  cannot  conclude  with  certainty  from  Paul's 
farewell  address  to  the  overseers  of  the  church, 
which  is  given  in  the  20th  chapter  of  the  Acts, 
that  the  overseers  of  other  churches  in  Lesser 
Asia,  besides  those  of  Ephesus,  were  present  on 
that  occasion.  The  words  in  Acts  xx.  25,  h  oh 
JVJixS-ov,  may  favour  this  supposition,  since  they 
denote  rather  travelling  through  a  certain  district, 
than  a  continued  residence  in  one  place ;  but  these 
words  may  also  be  fairly  understood  of  the  apos- 
tle's labours  in  different  parts  of  Ephesus,  and  the 
visits  he  paid  to  the  houses  of  the  presbyters.  The 
singular  to  Trot/uvtov  v.  28,  29,  leads  us  to  think  most 
naturally  of  only  one  church,  though  it  may  be 
here  used  collectively,  and  include  many  churches. 
It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  Irenfeus  applies  it  to 
the  overseers  of  distinct  churches,  and  speaks  of 
it  in  very  decided  language.  "  In  Mileto  convo- 
catis  episcopis  et  piesbyteris,  qui  erant  ab  Epheso, 
et  a  reliquis  proximis  civitatihus"  iii.  c.  14,  §  2. 
Judging  from  the  character  of  Irenaeus  and  his 
times,  it  is  not  probable  that  he  would  be  induced 
simply  by  that  expression  in  Paul's  address,  to 
deviate  from  the  letter  of  the  narrative  in  the  Acts. 
Hence  we  might  rather  suppose,  that  Irenaeus  was 
decided  in  giving  a  different  representation  by  his- 
torical traditions  or  documents  with  which  he  had 
become  acquainted  in  Lesser  Asia.  Yet  the  bias 
of  the  episcopal  system  (which  was  then  germi- 
nating) might  perhaps  occasion  a  different  con- 
struction of  the  passage,  than  the  literal  narrative 
would  warrant,  independently  of  any  tradition. 
Paul  applies  to  the  presbyters  the  epithet  £/r;s-;to;ro<; 
now  it  could  not  then  be  surprising  to  find  the 
iTTiTKOTroi  designated  presbyters,  for  this  latter 
name  was  still  the  generic  term  by  which  both 
might  be  denoted,  but  the  name  ivhtkottoi  was  al- 
ready exclusively  applied  to  the  first  church  go- 
vernors, the  presidents  of  the  college  of  presby- 
ters. Since,  then,  we  proceed  on  the  supposition 
that  this  institution  of  church  government  was 
the  same  from  the  beginning,  we  must  hence  con- 
clude from  the  name  s;ri5-;to7ro<,  that  the  bishops  of 
ottier  churches  were  present  at  this  meeting,  and 
hence  Irenaeus  says  expressly  "  episcopis  et  pres- 
byteris."    But  if  we  admit  that  this  meeting-  con- 1 


I  the  anticipation  of  the  great  dangers  that 
awaited  him,  he  might  pour  forth  his  heart 
to  them  perhaps  for  the  last  time,  and 
utter  the  parting  words  of  fatherly  love.* 

sisted  of  the  overseers  of  the  various  churches  in 
Lesser  Asia,  the  discrepancy  between  the  three 
years.  Acts  xx.  31,  and  the  two  years  and  three 
months,  of  the  duration  of  Paul's  stay  at  Ephesus, 
according  to  Luke's  narrative,  would  cease;  for 
we  might  then  suppose,  that  Paul  before  he  went 
to  Ephesus,  spent  nine  months  in  other  places  of 
Lesser  Asia^  where  he  founded  churches. 

*  Dr.  Baur  and  Dr.  Schneckenburger  think  that 
it  can  be  shown,  that  this  address  in  the  20th  ch. 
of  the  Acts  was  not  delivered  by  Paul  in  its  pre- 
sent form,  but  that  it  was  framed  by  the  author 
of  the  Acts,  on  the  same  plan  as  the  whole  of  his 
history,  according  to  the  conciliatory  apologetic 
tendency  already  noticed.  We  would  not  indeed 
pledge  ourselves  that  the  address  was  taken  down 
as  Paul  delivered  it,  with  official  accuracy — but 
that  it  has  been  faithfully  reported  in  its  essential 
contents,  and  that  an  outline  of  it  was  in  existence 
earlier  than  the  whole  of  the  Acts.  Not  only  do 
we  find  nothing  in  it  which  does  not  correspond 
to  the  situation  and  feelings  of  the  apostle,  but  it 
also  contains  several  marks  of  not  being  cast  in 
the  same  mould  as  the  whole  of  the  Acts.  Among 
these  marks  we  reckon  the  mention  of  the  three 
years,  which  does  not  agree  with  the  reckoning  in 
the  Acts,  the  mention  of  teaching  "  from  house  to 
house"  V.  20,  and  of  the  warning  voices  of  the 
prophets,  v.  23.  (Schneckenburger,  indeed,  con- 
siders this  to  be  a  prolepsis,  and  finds  in  it  a  mark 
of  non-originality ;  but  it  is  not  at  all  improbable, 
that  already  in  the  churches  with  whom  Paul  had 
stayed,  he  had  received  warnings  of  the  dangers 
that  threatened  him  from  the  fanatical  rage  of  the 
Jews,  though  Luke,  who  did  not  accompany  Paul 
every  where,  has  not  mentioned  this  in  his  brief 
narrative).  Besides,  as  Paul,  speaking  of  a  higher 
necessity,  by  which  he  felt  compelled  to  go  to  Je- 
rusalem, "  bound  in  spirit,"  we  may  infer  that  this 
journey,  undertaken  for  what  he  considered  the 
work  committed  to  him  by  the  Lord,  had  a  great- 
er significance  and  importance,  as  appears  from 
the  explanation  we  have  ah'eady  given,  but  which 
is  not  so  represented  in  the  Acts.  If  this  address 
indicates  that  it  was  delivered  before  delegates 
from  various  Asiatic  churches,  we  may  also  num- 
ber this  among  the  marks,  not  that  we  would  at- 
tach er^ual  weight  to  all  these  marks ;  but  taken 
collectively,  their  testimony  appears  to  prove  some- 
thing. And  if  Luke  had  before  him  an  earlier 
written  draft  of  Paul's  address,  containing  the 
presentiment  he  expressed  of  his  impending  death, 
I  do  not  see  how  any  one  is  justified  in  maintain- 
ing that  Paul  could  not  have  uttered  it,  in  case  this 
anticipation  had  not  been  fulfilled.  According  to 
truth,  he  must  have  allowed  him  to  speak  as  he 
actually  spoke.  But  it  could  not  be  any  difficulty 
to  Luke  or  to  the  persons  for  whom  this  memoir 
was  in  the  first  place  designed,  if  a  presentiment  of 
Paul's  respecting  his  impending  fate  was  not  ful- 
filled  in  its  full  extent.  Infallible  foreknowledge 
of  future  events  was  certainly,  according  to  the 
Christian  idea  of  that  age,  not  among  the  marks 
of  a  genuine  apostle,  and  the  contrary  is  rather 


172 


PAUL'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS  TO  THE 


[Book  IIL 


We  recognise  in  this  farewell  address,  in 
which  Paul's  heart,  thoroughly  imbued  with 
the  love  of  Christ,  expresses  itself  in  so 
affecting  a  manner,  his  fatherly  anxiety  for 
the  churches,  whose  overseers  heard  his 
warning  voice  for  the  last  time,  and  whom 
he  was  about  to  leave  at  a  time  full  of  sad 
and  dark  foreboding,  when  many  dangers 
threatened  pure  Christianity. 

He  could  not  foresee  with  certainty  what 
consequences  would  result  from  his  journey 
to  Jerusalem,  for  these  depended  on  a  com- 
bination of  circumstances,  too  intricate  for 
any  human  sagacity  to  unravel.  But  yet 
he  could  not  be  unaware  of  what  the 
fanatical  rage  of  the  Jewish  zealots  threat- 
ened, and  what  it  might  perpetrate,  under 
the  maladministration  of  the  worthless  Pro- 
curator Felix,*  who  combined  the  mean- 
ness of  a  slave  with  the  caprice  of  a  tyrant ; 
at  Jerusalem,  too,  where  Might  prevailed 
against  Right,  and  assassins  (the  notorious 
Sicarii)  acted  as  the  tools  of  any  party  who 
were  base  enough  to  employ  them.  In  the 
churches  which  he  had  visited  on  his  jour- 
ney hither,  many  individuals  had  warned 
him  in  inspired  language  of  the  danger  that 
threatened  him  at  Jerusalem,  and  thereby 
confirmed  what  his  own  presentiments,  as 
well  as  his  sagacity,  led  him  to  expect, 
similar  to  those  sad  anticipations  which  he 
expected  when  he  was  last  at  Corinth ; 
Rom,  XV.  31. 

There  are  especially  two  warnings  and 
exhortations  relative  to  the  future  which  he 
addressed  to  the  overseers  of  the  church, 
and  enforced  by  the  example  of  his  own 
labours  during  three  years'  residence  among 
them.  He  foresaw,  that  false  teachers 
from  other  parts  would  insinuate  themselves 
into  those  churches, +  and  that  even  among 


implied  in  Paul's  own  words,  v.  22.  He  speaks 
in  a  somewhat  dubious  tone  of  the  fate  that  await- 
ed liim.  Whoever  might  have  forged  after  the 
event  an  address  of  Paul's,  would  have  made  him 
speak  in  a  very  different  and  more  decided  tone. 

*  Of  whom  Tacitus  says ;  "  Per  omnem  saevi- 
tiam  ac  libidinem  jus  regiura  servili  ingenio  exer- 
cuit."     Hist.  V.  9. 

t  It  is  possible  that  v.  30  refers  to  the  Presby- 
ters personally,  and  the  words  would  then  mean 
"false  teachers  will  come  forth  from  among  your- 
selves." But  as  the  Presbyters  appeared  as  the 
representatives  of  the  churches,  it  is  not  necessary 
thus  to  restrict  the  meaning.  It  may  be  under- 
stood to  express  generally,  that  not  merely  false 
teachers  from  other  places  would  find  entrance 
into  the  churches,  but  also  that  such   persons 


themselves  such  would  arise  and  gain  many 
adherents.  He  exhorts  them,  therefore, 
to  watch  that  the  doctrine  of  salvation 
which  he  had  faithfully  published  to  them 
for  so  long  a  period  might  be  preserved  in 
its  purity.  The  false  teachers  whom  he  here 
pointed  out  were  most  probably  distinct 
from  the  class  of  common  Judaizers;  for  in 
churches  in  which  the  Gentile  Christian, 
that  is,  the  Hellenic  element,*  so  predomi- 
nated as  in  those  of  Lesser  Asia,  such  per- 
sons could  not  be  so  dangerous  ;  and  par- 
ticularly when  such  false  teachers  were  de- 
scribed as  proceeding  from  the  bosom  of 
the  church  itself,  it  must  be  presumed  that 
these  heretical  tendencies  must  have  de- 
veloped themselves  from  a  mixture  with 
Christianity  of  the  mental  elements  already 
existing  in  the  church.  Might  not  Paul's 
experience  during  his  long  stay  in  Lesser 
Asia,  have  given  him  occasion  to  feel  these 
anxieties  for  the  future  1  As  immediately 
after  announcing  the  danger  that  threatened 
the  church,  he  reminded  them  that  for  three 
years  he  had  not  ceased,  day  or  night,  to 
warn  each  one  among  them  with  tears,  we 
may  infer  that  he  had  at  that  time  cause 
thus  to  address  the  consciences  of  their 
overseers,  and  to  warn  them  so  impres- 
sively against  the  adulteration  of  Christian 
truth.  We  here  see  the  first  omens  indi- 
cated by  the  apostle  of  a  new  conflict  which 
awaited  pure  Christianity,     At   the  close 


would  make  their  appearance  within  their  own 
circle. 

*  Schneckenburger,  p.  136,  objects  against  this 
remark,  that  in  the  Gentile-Christian  Galatian 
churches,  Judaizing  false  teachers  could  produce 
the  greatest  confusion ;  but  the  degree  of  Grecian 
cultivation  in  Galatia  and  at  Ephesus  makes  a 
difference  here. 

t  As  from  what  is  said  in  the  text  it  is  easily 
shown,  that  Paul  must  have  held  such  a  warning 
of  the  propagation  of  new  perversions  of  Christian 
truth  to  be  called  for ;  so  I  can  find  no  ground  for 
Baur's  and  Schneckenburger's  assumption,  that 
something  is  here  attributed  to  Paul  which  he 
could  not  say  from  his  own  standing-point ;  whe- 
ther with  Baur,  it  is  assumed  that  such  a  prophe- 
sying  is  formed  according  to  the  appearances  of 
a  later  period,  or  with  Schneckenburger  that  what 
was  present,  what  had  actually  fallen  under  Paul's 
own  notice,  is  here  transferred  to  the  future. 
Schneckenburger  finds  something  intentional  in 
Paul's  mentioning  nothing  of  the  conflicts  which 
he  had  sustained  with  the  false  teachers,  the  Ju- 
daizers; and  in  speaking  only  of  such  conflicts 
which  would  follow  his  departure.  But  there 
certainly  lies  in  Paul's  words,  a  reference  to  that 
which  he  had  already  said  by  way  of  warning  •  to 


Chap.  VIIL] 


OVERSEERS  QF  THE  EPHESIAN  CHURCH. 


173 


of  his  address,  Paul  refers  them  to  the  ex- 
ample of  disinterested  and  self-denying  love, 
which  he  had  given  them  : — he  had  required 
of  them  neither  gold,  nor  silver,  nor  rai- 
ment, but  as  they  well  knew,  had  provided 
for  his  own  temporal  wants  and  those  of  his 
followers  by  the  labour  of  his  own  hands. 
These  words  are  admirably  suited  to  the 
close  of  the  address.  By  reminding  the 
presbyters  of  the  proofs  of  his  disinterested 
love,  and  of  his  zeal  which  shunned  no  toil 
and  no  privation  for  the  salvation  of  souls, 
he  gave  still  greater  weight^to  his  exhorta- 
tions. The  33d  verse  is  closely  connected 
with  the  31st,  where  he  reminds  them  of 
his  labours  among  them  for  their  souls,  and 
in  both  verses  he  holds  out  his  own  example 
for  their  imitation.  He  expresses  this  still 
more  clearly  in  the  words  "  I  have  showed 
you  all  things  (or  in  every  way),  how  that 
so  labouring  ye  ought  to  support  the  weak,* 
and  remember  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
'  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.'" 
It  conveyed  the  exhortation,  that  in  the  dis- 
charge of  their  ofRce  they  should  avoid  all 
appearance  of  selfishness,  that  they  should 
rather  earn  their  own  livelihood,  and  give 
up  their  claim  to  what  they  had  a  right  to 
expect  from  the  church  to  which  they  had 
consecrated  their  powers.     He  impressed 

the  presbyters.  But  he  could  speak  of  these  adul- 
terations of  Christianity  as  future,  since  he  had 
detected  them  in  the  germ,  and  their  further  de- 
velopement  was  at  first  checked  by  the  power  of 
his  personal  influence. 

*  Certainly  the  do-S-svs/c  in  Acts  xx.  35,  are  not 
those  who  needed  help  in  respect  of  their  bodily 
wants ;  in  that  case,  why  should  not  a  more  de- 
finite word  be  used  ?  Neither  does  the  connexion 
suit  such  an  interpretation,  for  Paul  does  not  say 
that  he  laboured  that  he  might  be  able  to  give  to 
the  poor,  or  that  he  might  support  his  poor  asso- 
ciates; but  that  the  church  miglit  not  be  obliged 
to  contribute  neither  to  them  nor  to  him  any  thing 
for  their  support.  And  this  manifestly  in  order 
that  every  occasion  might  be  taken  from  the  weak, 
who  were  not  sufficiently  established  in  Christian 
principles,  who  would  be  easily  disposed  to  enter- 
tain the  suspicion  of  private  advantage.  The  use 
of  the  word  io-dsvuc  in  2  Cor.  xi.  29  also  favours 
this  interpretation,  and  what  he  assigns  in  both 
the  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians  as  the  reasons  of 
such  conduct.  Thus  also  this  exhortation  stands 
in  closer  connexion  with  what  goes  before;  for  if 
the  presbyters  avoided  all  appearance  of  selfish- 
ness, they  would  have  a  firmer  hold  on  the  gene- 
ral confidence,  and  thus,  like  Paul  himself  in  re- 
ference to  the  Judaizers,  could  more  successfully 
oppose  the  false  teachers,  who  endeavoured  for 
their  own  ends  to  excite  mistrust  of  the  existing 
teachers  and  guides  of  the  church. 


this  upon  them  in  the  most  delicate  man- 
ner, since  he  does  not  use  the  express  form 
of  exhortation,  but  presents  his  example 
for  imitation  under  similar  circumstances. 
Paul  indeed  declares  elsewhere,  that  the 
preachers  of  the  gospel,  as  Christ  himself 
had  expressed  it,  were  entitled  to  receive 
their  maintenance  from  the  churches  for 
whose  spiritual  welfare  they  laboured.  And 
it  may  appear  strange  that  he  here  departs 
from  this  rule,  and  that  he  should  here 
prescribe  fb  all  the  presbyters  what  else- 
where  he  has  presented  as  an  exception 
arising  out  of  very  peculiar  circumstances, 
and  as  something  suited  only  to  his  indivi- 
dual standing-point.*  But  there  is  a  dif- 
ference between  the  circumstances  of  itine- 
rant missionaries  and  those  of  the  overseers 
of  churches  whose  activity  at  first  is  not  so 
claimed  by  their  pastoral  duties  as  to  pre- 
vent their  carrying  on  at  the  same  time 
their  former  secular  employment ;  and  if 
they  thus  laboured  with  self-sacrificing  love 
without  any  appearance  of  selfishness, 
their  authority  and  influence,  which  would 
be  required  to  counteract  the  false  teachers, 
would  be  much  increased. 

In  this  whole  address,  as  suited  the  feel- 
ings and  aim  of  one  who  was  probably 
taking  a  last  farewell  of  his  spiritual  chil- 
dren, the  hortatory  element  is  throughout 
predominant ;  if  we  suppose  an  apolegetic 
element,  which  is  very  doubtful,  it  is  at  all 
events  quite  subordinate  to  the  former.  It 
is  very  improbable,  that  when  he  spoke  of 
his  own  disinterestedness,  he  intended  to 
repel  the  accusations  of  his  Judaizing  ad- 
versaries ;  for  though  he  was  obliged  to 
answer  such  charges  in  writing  to  the  Co- 
rinthians, we  are  not  to  infer  that  a  similar 
exculpation  of  himself  was  required  in  all 
the  churches.  With  greater  reason  we 
may  find  in  what  he  says  of  the  complete- 
ness of  his  teaching  in  the  doctrines  of 
salvation,  a  reference  to  the  accusations  of 
his  Judaizing  opponents  of  which  we  have 
so  often  spoken.  But  even  this  is  very 
doubtful  ;  for  in  any  case,  without  an  apo- 
logetic design,  and  simply  to  excite  the 
presbyters  to  fidelity  in  holding  fast  the 
pure  doctrine  which  they  hud  received,  he 
would  of  necessity  remind  them  how  im- 
portant he  had  felt  it  to  keep  back  nothing 


*  For  wJiich  reason  Schneckenburger  thinks  it 
improbable  that  Paul  so  expressed  himself. 


174 


PAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 


[Book  IIL 


from  them  that  was  necessary  for  salvation, 
and  that  he  was  free  from  blame  if,  after 
all,  they  should  be  guilty  of  unfaithfulness. 

Such  an  address  could  not  but  make  a 
deep  impression  on  their  hearts,  of  which 
we  have  a  simple  and  striking  description 
in  the  Acts  xx.  37-38. 

When  Paul  arrived  at  Caesarea  Stratonis, 
within  two  days'  journey  of  Jerusalem,  he 
was  warned  of  fresh  dangers  that  threat- 
ened him.  The  members  of  the  church 
and  his  companions  united  their  entreaties 
that  he  would  be  careful  of  his  life  and  not 
proceed  any  further.  But  though  he  was 
far  from  the  enthusiastic  zeal  that  panted 
for  martyrdom,  though  he  never  neglected 
any  methods  of  Christian  prudence,  in  or- 
der to  preserve  his  life  for  the  service  of 
his  Lord  and  of  the  Church,  yet,  as  he 
himself  declared,  he  counted  his  life  as 
nothing,  if  required  to  sacrifice  it  in  the 
ministry  entrusted  to  him.  However  much 
a  heart  so  tenderly  susceptible.  So  open  to 
all  pure  human  emotions  as  his,  must  have 
been  moved  by  the  tears  of  his  friends  who 
loved  him  as  their  spiritual  father,  yet  he 
suffered  not  his  resolution  to  be  shaken, 
but  resisted  all  these  impressions,  in  order 
to  follow  the  call  of  duty  ;  he  left  all  events 
to  the  will  of  the  Lord,  in  which  at  last  his 
Christian  brethren  concurred. 

The  next  day  after  his  arrival  at  Jerusa- 
lem, Paul  with  his  companions  visited  James 
the  brother  of  the  Lord,  at  whose  house 
the  presbyters  of  the  Church  were  assem- 
bled. They  listened  with  great  interest  to 
his  account  of  the  effects  of  the  gospel 
among  the  Gentiles.  But  James  called  his 
attention  to  the  fact,  that  a  great  number 
of  Jews  who  believed  on  Jesus  as  the  Mes- 
siah, and  were  yet  zealous  and  strict  ob- 
servers of  the  Mosaic  law,  were  prejudiced 
against    him  ;*   for   those   Judaizers,  who 

*  Dr.  Baur  has  attempted  to  show,  that  the 
words  in  Acts  xxi.  20,  "  t^v  TnTria-nuKOTm"  are  a 
gloss,  and  that  the  Jews  here  spoken  of  are  those 
who  had  not  received  the  gospel.  It  appears  to 
him  incredible,  that  the  number  of  Christians 
among  the  Jews,  who  in  later  times  were  confined 
to  tlie  small  sects  of  the  Ebionites  and  Nazarenes, 
could  have  been  so  very  great.  He  thinks,  that 
what  James  said  would  perfectly  apply  to  Jews 
who  had  not  yet  embraced  the  gospel,  of  whose 
plots  it  behoved  Paul  to  be  careful,  and  who  after- 
wards actually  raised  a  tumult  against  him.  Ori- 
gen  indeed  says  Tom.  I.  in  Joh.  §  2,  that  the  num. 
ber  of  believing  Jews  in  the  whole  world  would 
not  amount  to  one  hundred  and  forty-four  thou-  | 


every  where  sought  to  injure  Paul's  minis- 
try, had  circulated  in  Jerusalem  the  charge 
against  him,  that,  not  content  with  releasing 
the  believing  Gentiles  from  the  observance 
of  the  Mosaic  law,  he  had  required  of  the 


sand ;  but  from  the  times  of  Origen  we  cannot 
draw  an  inference  respecting  an  earlier  period. 
Since  Christianity  had  for  a  long  time  spread  so 
successfully  among  the  Jews,  their  numbers  in 
the  course  of  twenty  years  might  have  increased 
to  several  myriads,  as  Hegesippus  likewise  testi- 
fies in  Eusebius  ii.  23 ;  and  we  need  not  confine 
the  expression  to  Jews  resident  in  Jerusalem, 
since  at  the  Pentecost  many  would  be  brought 
together  from  other  parts.  But  many  of  these 
believing  Jews  might  not  distinguish  themselves 
from  others,  excepting  by  the  acknowledgment  of 
Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  and  hence  we  may  account 
for  many  of  them  relapsing  into  Judaism,  when 
their  own  Messianic  expectations  were  not  ful- 
filled. We  also  find  no  inlimation  that  James  had 
warned  Paul  of  danger  threatening  him  from  this 
class  of  Jews ;  but  he  only  required  that  he  would 
seek  to  regain  the  confidence  of  these  brethren  in 
the  faith,  who  were  filled  with  mistrust  and  suspi- 
cion towards  him.  The  connexion  of  verse  20, 
absolutely  requires  the  addition  of  "  tZv  TTiTria-Tiv- 
KOTaiv,"  for  how  could  James  be  supposed  to  tell 
Paul  a  fact  he  well  knew  beforehand,  that  at 
Jerusalem  there  were  so  many  myriads  of  Jews, 
who  were  all  zealous  observers  of  the  law  !  Baur 
in  his  review  of  Schneckenburger's  work  has  ac- 
knowledged that  this  alteration  of  the  text  for- 
merly  proposed  by  him,  is  untenable;  but  attempts 
to  solve  the  difficulty  which  he  here  believes  to 
exist,  by  another  method  in  connexion  with  the 
views  held  by  himself  and  Schneckenburger  re- 
specting the  peculiar  standing-point  and  object  of 
the  Acts.  Historical  truth  must  here  make  her 
way  through  the  subjective  point  of  view,  into 
which  the  author  of  the  Acts  forces  every  tiling, 
and  assert  her  right  even  against  his  will.  He 
wished,  forsooth,  so  to  represent  matters,  as  if,  by 
the  arrangement  agreed  upon  by  the  apostolic 
convention  at  Jerusalem,  the  differences  between 
the  Jewish  and  Gentile  Christians  had  been  set- 
tled, and  Paul  henceforward  had  to  combat,  not 
with  Jewish  Christians,  but  solely  with  Jews. 
Yet  against  his  will  he  was  obliged  to  grant  to 
historical  truth,  that  in  the  machinations  against 
Paul  on  his  last  visit  to  Jerusalem,  the  Jewish 
Christians  had  the  principal  share.  But  as  this  is 
opposed  to  the  point  of  view  on  which  he  proceeds 
every  where  else,  the  subjective  and  the  objective 
are  so  mingled  by  him,  that  the  Jewish  Christians 
become  Jews  again,  and  hence  he  is  led  into  the 
error  of  overrating  the  numbers  of  the  former. 
But  after  what  has  been  said,  we  cannot  accede 
to  the  correctness  of  this  too  artificial  hypothesis. 
And  if  tlie  author  had  once  allowed  himself  to 
distort  history  according  to  his  subjective  point  of 
view,  he  would  surely  have  remained  faithful  to 
this  view,  and  on  this  last  occasion  would  have 
named  only  Jews  as  the  calumniators  of  Paul, 
against  whose  false  accusations  he  would  have  to 
justify  himself.  He  was  under  no  necessity  by 
such  inconsistency  to  testify  against  himself. 


Chap.  VIIL] 


PAUL,  AT  JERUSALEM. , 


175 


Jews  who  lived  among  them  not  to  circum- 
cise theii-  children  and  not  to  observe  the 
law.  This  charge,  so  brought  forward,  was 
certainly  false  ;  for  Paul  combated  the  out- 
ward observance  of  Judaism  only  so  far  as 
the  justification  and  sanctification  of  men 
were  made  to  depend  upon  it.  It  was  his 
principle,  that  no  one  should  relinquish  the 
national  and  civil  relations  in  which  he 
stood  at  the  time  of  his  conversion,  unless 
for  important  reasons  ;  and  on  this  princi- 
ple he  allowed  the  Jews  to  retain  their  pe- 
culiarities, among  which  w>is  the  obser- 
vance of  the  Mosaic  law  ;  1  Cor.  vii.  18. 
But  it  could  not  fail  to  happen,  that  those 
who  entered  into  the  Pauline  ideas  of  the 
relation  of  the  law  to  the  gospel,  and  were 
thereby  freed  from  scrupulosity  in  the  ob- 
servance of  the  former,  were  led  into  a 
freer  line  of  conduct  in  this  respect,  and 
some  might  go  further  than  Paul  wished  in 
the  indulgence  of  their  inclinations.  Such 
instances  as  these  might  have  given  occa- 
sion to  the  charge  that  he  had  seduced  the 
Jewish  Christians  to  release  themselves 
from  the  law.*     As  by  this  accusation,  the 


*  Dr.  Schneckenburger  and  Baur  think  that  the 
manner  in  which  this  transaction  is  mentioned 
in  the  Acts,  is  an  important  confirmation  of  their 
views  of  the  whole  history.  The  mode  of  acting 
here  ascribed  to  Paul,  appears  to  them  totally  irre- 
concilable with  the  principles  he  lays  down  in  his 
epistles.  According  to  Schneckenburger,  the  Acts 
would  be  a  confused,  partial  representation  of  a 
real  transaction,  sketched  according  to  the  subjec- 
tive  point  of  view  lying  at  its  basis  ;  according  to 
Baur,  it  would  be  an  entirely  false  narration. 
Either  (in  the  opinion  of  the  latter)  the  historical 
credibility  of  the  Acts  must  be  given  up,  or  the 
character  of  Paul  must  stand  in  an  unfavourable 
light.  I  will  here  cite  Baur's  words :  "  If  it  were 
really  so,  as  the  author  of  the  Acts  represents  the 
fact,  that  the  apostle,  as  jiuAas-crov  tov  vs,mov,  be- 
came the  object  of  an  intensely  vehement  perse- 
cution, with  what  right  can  we  oppose  the  Ian- 
guage  of  the  apostle  to  all  who  think  they  can 
defend  the  perfect  historic  credibility  of  the  Acts, 
in  Gal.  v.  11,  '  \ya,  tT^,  a.iiK<^oi,  it  Tri^irofxm  Wt  nyig^utr- 
tree,  ti  iTtSia>Kofx.ui ;  agst  Kcnu^ymat  to  cDtav/a^ov 
coi  a-TotygoS,'  and  the  same  apostle,  who  in  Gal.  v. 
3,  declares  in  so  solemn  a  tone,  '//agTi/go/^a/J's  tta- 
Mv  Trttvri  av^gaiTrce  7r^irefAvo/uiva>,  on  o<pitKiryii  Ittiv 
Ihov  Tov  vo/^ov  TToitisrcit,^  (therefore  must  place  his 
whole  trust  in  the  law,  and  expect  salvation  from 
it  alone),  must,  according  to  the  Acts  (xxi.  23) 
have  consented  to  an  act  which  represented  him 
as  a  <pv\ua-(rcev  tcjv  vojuom,  and  bore  public  testimony 
that,  so  far  from  abrogating  the  law,  he  was  rather 
a  teacher  of  it,  who  taughi;  as  much  as  others  this 
universal  obligation  of  the  Mosaic  law  with  all  its 
ordinances,  and  especially  that  of  circumcision, 
(x.xi.  23.)    That  in  Acts  xxi.  21,  only  the  lovScuoi 


conduct  of  Paul  would  be  presented  in  a 
false  light,  and  since  he  was  far  from  being 

KATO.  TA  s3-v»  are  spoken  of,  makes  not  the  least 
difference.  Had  the  apostle  also  wished  to  give 
up  nothing  respecting  the  continual  validity  of  the 
law,  only  among  the  Jews  whom  he  sought  to 
convert  to  Christianity,  as  he  practically  declared 
in  Acts  xxi.  26,  compared  with  23,  with  what  un- 
truth would  he  have  expressed  himself  to  the 
Galatiansl"  But  I  cannot  perceive  the  alleged 
contradiction  between  this  mode  of  acting  and  the 
principles  expressed  by  Paul.  Such  a  contradic-  " 
tion  appears  only  when  they  are  separated,  and 
not  viewed  in  connexion  with  his  whole  style  of 
thinking.  In  all  those  passages  in  which  he  so 
emphatically  speaks  against  circumcision  and  the 
observance  of  the  ceremonial  law,  every  thing  is 
referred  to  the  standing-point  of  those  who  were 
Gentiles  by  birth,  among  whom  nothing  of  the 
kind  was  founded  in  their  historical  developement, 
or  in  their  national  institutions.  It  was  not  cir- 
cumcision in  itself,  it  was  not  the  obs^ervance  of 
the  Mosaic  ritual  in  itself,  which  he  so  strenuously 
opposed.  He  never  attached  so  much  importance 
to  outward  things  either  negatively  or  positively ; 
these  he  always  declared  were  in  thernselves  indif- 
ferent, and  impressively  said  that  neither  circum- 
cision  availed  any  thing,  nor  uncircumcision,  but 
that  all  depended  on  the  new  creation,  which  must 
be  effected  equally  in  the  circumcised  and  uncir- 
cumcised  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ ;  Gal.  vi.  15.  It 
was  the  same  thing  whether  a  man  lived  as  a  Jew 
or  a  Gentile,  provided,  under  these  different  forms 
of  national  culture,  he  was  actuated  by  the  same 
spirit  of  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Saviour  working  by 
love ;  Gal.  v.  6.  As  that  which  he  considered  of 
most  importance  in  life  as  the  principle  of  the  new 
Christian  creation  was  only  this  one  thing,  so  that 
which  he  so  strenuously  combated  was  only  that 
one  thing  which  stood  in  opposition  to  this  princi- 
ple, and  exactly  as  far  as  it  was  thus  in  opposition. 
But  among  Gentile  Christians,  the  outward  act  or 
rite,  and  the  principle  on  which  it  rested,  the  rea- 
son for  practising  it,  were  alike  nugatory ;  it  was 
something  contradictory  to  their  national  charac- 
ter,— it  was  the  introduction  of  a  foreign  element 
into  the  course  of  their  religious  developement, — 
and  they  could  be  brought  to  submit  to  such  a 
burdensome  ceremonial,  only  on  the  supposition 
that  it  had  a  favourable  influence  on  their  relation 
to  God.  It  is  therefore  evident,  that  the  princi- 
ples which  Paul  expressed  on  the  outward  obser- 
vance of  the  Mosaic  law  in  reference  to  Gentile 
Christians,  were  totally  inapplicable  to  Jewish 
Christians.  The  sense  of  the  words  in  Gal.  v. 
1],  is.  If  Paul  now,  as  an  apostle  (as  formerly 
from  his  Pharisaic  standing-point),  taught  that 
no  one  could  obtain  salvation  without  circumci- 
sion,— that  the  Gentiles,  in  order  to  be  admitted 
to  the  privileges  of  the  Messianic  kingdom,  must 
submit  to  circumcision, — then  the  Jews  would 
have  no  reason  for  persecuting  him  ;  his  object 
would  be  the  same  as  that  of  the  Jewish  prose- 
lyte-makers, to  convert  all  men  to  Judaism. 
The  doctrine  of  Jesus  the  Crucified  was  so  ob- 
noxious to  the  Jews,  because  they  were  compelled 
by  it  to  renounce  all  their  self-righteousness,  every 
thing  in  which  they  seemed  to  take  precedence  of 


176 


PAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 


[Book  IIL 


such  an  enemy  to  Judaism  as  his  adversa- 
ries wished  him  to  appear,  he  declared 
himself  to  be  ready,  as  James  proposed,  to 

the  Gentiles.  If  it  were  admitted  that  the  Gen- 
tiles  must  first  become  Jews,  in  order  to  be  on  an 
equality  with  the  Jews  as  citizens  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  this  stone  of  offence  would  be  taken  away. 
But  if  Paul  allowed  the  Jews  to  continue  in  their 
outward  manner  of  life  as  Jews,  and  in  this  re- 
spect acted  liimself  like  a  Jew,  this  was  something 
very  dilFerent  from  Tri^no/um  nvigviTaitv  in  the  for- 
mer sense.  According  to  the  Pauline  doctrine,  the 
position  that,  equally  for  Jews  and  Gentiles,  men 
are  freed  by  Christ  from  the  yoke  of  the  law,  is 
constantly  valid.  This  refers  to  the  internal  rela- 
tion to  the  law,  and  the  position  of  the  religious 
consciousness  to  it.  But  notwithstanding  this 
truth,  the  Jewish  Christians  might  retain  the  out- 
ward observance  of  the  law.  Has  not  Paul  him- 
self, in  1  Cor.  vii.  18-20,  plainly  expressed  the 
principle  ?  the  Jews  after  their  conversion  are  to 
continue  Jews;  Christianity  requires  no  one  to 
make  a  change  on  these  outward  things,  on  which 
the  essence  of  religion  does  not  depend.  When 
he  says  in  1  Cor.  ix.  2U,  that  to  the  Jews  he  became 
a  Jew,  that  he  appeared  as  one  subject  to  the  law, 
can  this  have  any  other  sense  than  that  among  the 
Jews  he  lived  as  a  Jew,  so  that  if  any  one  looked 
only  at  what  was  external,  he  must  have  supposed 
that  Paul  was  still  subject  to  the  yoke  of  the  law, 
still  held  it  to  be  binding  ?  Must  we  not,  from 
what  he  here  asserts  of  himself,  conclude  with 
certainty,  though  we  had  no  historical  data,  that 
he  acted  in  several  instances  exactly  as  we  find 
described  in  the  Acts?  But  it  may  be  said. 
If  Paul  took  a  part  in  the  observance  of  such  a 
Nazarite's  vow,  he  thereby  practically  sanctioned 
the  notion,  that  it  was  something  acceptable  in 
itself  to  God,  and  conducive  to  salvation.  If  this 
had  been  the  case,  such  practices  must  have  been 
recommended  to  the  Gentile  Christians  in  general 
as  well  pleasing  to  God.  But  as  Paul,  under  all 
circumstances,  expressed  the  same  principle,  that 
by  the  works  of  the  law  no  one  can  be  justified 
before  God, — as  he  always  insisted  that  the  Gen- 
tile Christians,  though  they  observed  none  of  these 
things,  ought  to  be  acknowledged  as  members  of 
the  kingdom  of  God  on  an  equality  with  the  Jews, 
— as  those  who  desired  him  to  practise  such  an 
outward  observance  of  Jewish  rites,  agreed  with 
him  in  his  leading  principle, — he  sufficiently 
guarded  himself  against  the  false  conclusion 
which  might  have  been  deduced  from  a  misap- 
prehension of  his  conduct.  Those  who  merely 
observed  externally  the  different  conduct  of  the 
apostles  among  the  Jews  and  Gentiles,  must  in- 
deed believe  that  they  had  detected  an  inconsis- 
tency ;  and  we  have  already  noticed  what  imputa- 
tions were  cast  upon  him  by  his  adversaries  on 
this  account.  Indeed,  when  James  says  of  Paul 
"  that  he  walked  orderly  and  kept  the  law,"  Acts 
xxi.  24,  we  must  understand  it  with  the  necessary 
limitation,  that  the  same  Paul  had  no  scruple  to 
live  among  the  Gentiles  as  a  Gentile.  But  the 
author  of  the  Acts  reports  only  single  facts  ;  we 
find  not  an  assumption  of  consecutiveness  and 
comprehensiveness  in  his  history,  but  a  want  of 
this  quality  altogether  in  his  apostolic  memoirs. 


refute  that  charge  by  an  overt  act,  by 
taking  part  in  the  Jewish  cultus  in  a  mode 
which  was  highly  esteemed  by  pious  Jews.* 
He  joined  himself  to  four  members  of  the 
church,  who  had  undertaken  a  Nazarite's 
vow  for  seven  days.  He  submitted  to  the 
same  restraints,  and  intimated  to  the  priests 
that  he  would  be  answerable  for  the  ex- 
pense of  the  offerings  that  were  to  be  pre- 
sented on  the  accomplishment  of  the  puri- 
fication.! But  though  he  might  have  satis- 
fied by  this  means  the  minds  of  the  better 
disposed  among  the  Jewish  Christians,  the 
inveterate  zealots  among  the  Jews  were  not 
at  all  conciliated.:}:  On  the  contrary,  they 
were  only  more  incensed,  that  the  man 
who,  as  they  said,  had  every  where  taught 
the  Gentiles  to  blaspheme  the  people  of 
God,  the  Law  and  the  Temple,  had  ven- 
tured to  take  a  part  in  the  Jewish  cultus. 
They  had  seen  a  Gentile  Christian,  Tro- 
phimus,  in  company  with  him,  and  hence 
the  fanatics  concluded  that  he  had  taken  a 
Gentile  with  him  into  the  temple  and  de- 
filed it.  A  violent  tumult  instantly  arose, 
and  Paul  was  rescued   from  the  enraged 


*  Josephus,  Archfeol.  xix.  6,  §  1. 

t  The  common  supposition  that  Paul  joined 
himself  to  these  Nazarenes,  when  they  had  yet 
seven  days.  Acts  xxi.  27,  to  continue  their  absti- 
nence for  the  discharge  of  their  vow,  and  that  du- 
ring this  time  he  kept  the  vow  with  them,  is  at 
variance  with  the  mention  of  twelve  days,  Acts 
xxiv.  11,  for  in  that  case  there  must  have  been 
seventeen  days.  It  is  indeed  in  itself  possible, 
that  Paul  did  not  reckon  the  five  days  which  he 
spent  in  confinement  at  Csesarea,  since  they  signi- 
fied nothing  for  his  object ;  but  it  does  not  appear 
so  from  his  own  words.  There  remains,  therefore, 
nothing  else  but  to  assume,  that  the  seven  days 
denote  a  definite  number  of  days,  to  which  at  that 
time  the  Nazarites'  vow  used  to  extend,  and  that 
Paul  had  joined  the  Nazarites  on  one  of  the  last 
of  these  days.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  in  the  sec- 
tion of  the  Mishnah  on  the  Nazarites'  vow,  the 
number  of  thirty  days  is  mentioned  as  the  fixed 
term  for  this  oath.  As  to  the  seven  days  men- 
tioned in  Numbers  vi.,  they  are  not  applicable  to 
the  present  case  ;  for  they  refer  to  the  case  of  a 
person  who,  during  the  time  of  his  vow,  has  de- 
filed himself,  and  who,  after  the  interval  of  seven 
days'  purification,  begins  his  vow  afresh. 

\  I  find  no  reason  for  assuming  with  Baur,  that 
the  machinations  against  Paul  proceeded  chiefly 
from  the  Jewish  Christians,  and  to  charge  the  au- 
thor of  the  Acts  with  falsifying  a  matter  of  fact. 
But  I  consider  it  possible  that,  among  the  great 
multitude  of  Jewish  Christians,  some  might  be 
found  to  whom  their  Judaism  was  more  important 
than  the  little  Christianity  they  possessed,  and  that 
such  persons  would  make  common  cause  with  the 
Jewish  zealots  against  Paul. 


Chap.  VIIL] 


PAUL'S  ARREST  AT  JERUSALEM. 


177 


multitude  onl)'  by  means  of  the  Roman 
tribune,  who  hastened  to  the  spot  with  a 
band  of  soldiers  from  the  Arx  Antonia 
situated  over  against  the  temple,  the  quar- 
ters of  the  Roman  garrison. 

Paul  was  on  the  point  of  being  scourged, 
(a  common  mode  of  torture  among  the 
Romans,)  for  the  purpose  of  extorting  a 
confession  respecting  the  cause  of  this  tu- 
mult, but  by  declaring  himself  a  Roman 
citizen  he  was  saved  from  this  ignominy. 
The  tribune  now  endeavoured  to  ascertain 
the  facts  of  the  case,  that^  he  might  send 
Paul  to  appear  before  the  Sanhedrim.  The 
manner  in  which  the  apostle  conducted 
himself  on  this  occasion,  shows  him  to 
have  been  a  man  who  knew  how  to  con- 
trol the  agitation  of  his  feelings  by  a  sober 
judgment,  and  to  avail  himself  of  circum- 
stances with  Christian  prudence,  without 
any  compromise  of  truth.  When  he  was 
suddenly  carried  away  by  the  impulse  of 
righteous  indignation  to  speak  with  greater 
warmth  than  he  intended,  he  was  able  to 
recover  the  mastery  of  his  feelings,  and  to 
act  in  a  manner  becoming  his  vocation. 
In  a  moment  of  excitement  at  the  arbitrary 
conduct  of  the  high  priest  Ananias,  while 
thinking  only  of  the  person  and  losing 
sight  of  the  office  whose  duties  had  been 
violated,  he  had  used  intemperate  expres- 
sions though  containing  truth ;  but  on  be- 
ing informed  that  it  was  the  high  priest 
whom  he  had  so  addressed,  he  at  once  cor- 
rected himself  and  said,  he  had  not  con- 
sidered the  dignity  of  the  person  he  had 
thus  addressed,  to  whom  reverence  was 
due  according  to  the  law.*  In  order  to 
secure  the  voice  of  the  majority  among  his 
judges,  he  availed  himself  of  that  means 
for  the  victory  of  truth,  which  has  often 
been  used  against  it — the  divide  et  impera 
in  a  good  sense ;  he  enlisted  on  his  side 
the  bias  for  that  truth  by  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  which  the  greater  number  of  his 
judges  really  approached  nearer  to  him, 
than  the  ^ew  who  denied  it,  in  order  to 
produce  a  division  in  the  assembly.  He 
could  say  with  truth,  that  he  was  brought 


*  If  we  are  not  disposed  to  think  of  the  mean- 
ing of  MiTwv  Acts  xxiii.  5,  in  the  language  which 
probably  Paul  used  on  this  occasion,  the  Aramaic, 
the  meaning  which  T/")'  may  well  have ;  yet  it  is 

plain  from  the  circumstances  under  which  he  said 
this,  that  he  could  not,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
word,  affirm  that  he  did  not  know  him. 

23 


to  trial  because  he  bad  testified  of  the  hope 
of  Israel,  and  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  for  he  had  preached  Jesus  as  the 
personage  by  whom  this  hope  was  fulfilled. 
These  words  had  the  effect  of  uniting  the 
Pharisees  present  in  his  favour,  and  of  in- 
volving them  in  a  warm  debate  with  the 
Sadducees,  to  whom  the  high  priest  him- 
self belonged.  The  former  could  find  no 
fault  in  him.  If  he  had  said  that  the  spirit 
of  a  deceased  person  or  that  an  angel  had' 
appeared  to  him — -(the  appearance  of  the 
risen  Jesus) — whatever  he  might  mean  by 
this,  and  whether  what  he  averred,  were 
true  or  not,  they  did  not  pretend  to  deter- 
mine, nor  trouble  themselves  about  it ; — 
at  all  events,  they  could  not  criminate  him 
on  this  account.*  The  tribune  of  the  Ro- 
man cohort,  at  last  saw  himself  obliged  by 
the  plots  of  Paul's  enemies  against  his  life,, 
to  send  him  under  an  escort  to  the  metro- 
polis of  the  province  Cassarea,  and  to 
transfer  the  affair  to  the  Procurator  Felix, 
who  resided  there. 

The  accusation  which  the  Sanhedrim  by 
their  counsel  were  allowed  to  bring  against 
him,  was  the  only  one  which,  according  to 
the  privileges  secured  to  the  Jews  by  the 
Roman  laws,  could  with  any  show  of 
reason  be  made,  namely,  that  he  every 
where  disturbed  the  Jews  in  the  enjoyment 
of  these  privileges,  the  peaceful  exercise  of 
their  cultus,  —  that  he  excited  disturbances 
and  divisions  among  them,  and  that  at  last 
he  had  dared  to  desecrate  the  temple.  The 
Tribune  was  accused  of  preventing  the 
Jews  from  judging  Paul  according  to  the 
privileges  secured  to  them  by  law.  Felix, 
who  was  not  disposed  to  meddle  with  the 
internal  disputes  of  the  Jews,  perceived  no 
fault  in  the  accused,  and  hence  would  at 
once  have  set  him  at  liberty,  if  he  had  not 
hoped,  as  it  was  his  pi-actice  to  make 
justice  venal,  to  obtain  money  from  him; 
but  as  Paul  was  not  willing  to  purchase 
his  freedom  by  such  an  unlawful  method, 
which  would  cast  suspicion  both  on  him- 
self and  his  cause,  Felix,  in  order  to  gain 
favour  with  the  Jews  on  leaving  them,  to 
whom  he  had  been  sufficiently  obnoxious, 
left  him  in  confinement,  and  thus  he  re- 


*  The  words  "  /xx  S-s3^a;ti2^6v,"  Acts  xxiii.  9, 
are  certainly  a  gloss,  and  a  gloss  at  variance  with 
the  general  tenor  of  the  passage,  for  this  was  cer- 
tainly more  than  the  Pharisees  could  be  willing  to 
say  from  their  standing- point. 


178 


PAUL'S  DEFENCE  AT  C^SAREA. 


[Book  III 


mained  for  two  years  till  the  arrival  of  the 
new  Procurator,  M.  Porcius  Festus.* 

Paul  had  for  a  long  time  previous  to  this 
event  entertained  the  thought  of  preaching 
the  gospel  in  the  metropolis  of  the  world. 
But  it  was  now  uncertain  whether  he  would 
ever  attain  the  fulfilment  of  this  inward 


*  If  the  precise  time  at  which  Felix  was  re- 
called,  and  Festus  received  the  government  of  the 
province,  could  be  exactly  determined,  we  should 
have  an  important  chronological  mark;  but  this 
period  cannot   be  so  exactly  determined.      The 
chronological  data  on  which  we  here  proceed,  are 
the  following.     When  Felix  laid  down  the  pro- 
curatorship,  he  was  accused  at  Rome,  as  Josephus 
{ArclKBol.  XX.  8,  §  9)  relates,  by  the  Jews,  on  ac 
count  of  the   oppressions   he  had    practised,   and 
would  have  been  punished  if  he  had  not  been  de- 
livered by  the  intercession  of  his  brother  Pallas, 
who  at  that  time   had  much  influence  with  the 
Emperor,     But  Pallas  was  poisoned  by  Nero  in 
the  year  62,  see  Tacit.  Annal.  xiv.  65.     This  ena- 
bles  us  to  fix  the  extreme  terminus  a  quo  of  the 
recall  of  Felix.     But  according  to  the  narrative  of 
Tacitus,  Pallas  had  long  before  lost  his  influence, 
<Annal.  xiii.  14.)     At  the  beginning  of  his  reign, 
Nero  had  removed  Pallas  from  the   office  he  held 
under  Claudius,  and  treated  him  with  displeasure. 
And  since  Josephus  says  that  when   Pallas  inter- 
ceded for  his  brother  Felix  he  stood  in  favour  with 
the   Emperor,  it  follows,  that  the  recall  of  Felix 
must  have  taken  place  in  the  beginning  of  Nero's 
reign,  which  can  by  no  means  be  admitted.   What 
Josephus  says  in  the  history  of  his  life,  of  his  own 
journey  to  Rome   in   his  six  and  twentieth  year, 
gives  no  sure  foundation  for  determining  the  time 
when  Felix  laid  down  his  office.     Schradcr  thinks 
indeed,  that  he  can  find  a  certain  chronological 
mark  in  this,  that  something  which  Josephus  puts 
in  connexion   with  the    entrance   of  Festus  into 
office,  was   decided  by  the  influence  of  Poppoea, 
already  married  to  Nero,  {Joseph.  Archcbol.  xx.  8, 
§  1 ;)  for  it  would  follow  that  since  Nero,  accord- 
ing  to  Tacitus,  married    Poppcea  in   62,   Festus 
must  have  entered  on  his  government  about  this 
time.     But  the  words  of  Josephus  xiv.  60,  x.ciTct 
Tov  xstjgov   TcuTov   cannot  avail  for  exactly  deter- 
mining the  time  ;  Poppoea,  long   before  her  mar- 
riage to  Nero,  had    great  influence  over  him,  as 
appears  from  the  words  of  Tacitus,  Anna!,  xiv.  60, 
"Ea  diri  pellex  et  adulteri  Neronis,  mox  mariti 
potens,"  and  had  already  accomplished  much  by 
interceding    with   the    emperor.     We    need    not 
attach    much    weight   to    the    circumstance    that 
Josephus  calls  her  at  that  time  the  wife  of  Nero. 
But  in  all  this  much   uncertainty  attaches  to  tlie 
chronology  of  events,    and  Ihe    supposition  that 
Felix  laid    down  his   office  in  the   year  62,  and 
therefore  that  Paul's  confinement  took   place  in 
60,  is  by  no  means  sufficiently  proved.     We  may 
therefore,   safely  place   it  some  years  earlier.     If 
Paul  was  set  at  liberty  from  his  confinement  at 
Rome,  we  must  necessarily  admit  the  earlier  date; 
for  if  his  confinement  at  Rome  had  been  contem- 
poraneous  with  the  great  conflagration,  he  would 
certainly  have  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  the  fury  then 
excited  against  the  Christians. 


call ;  but  on  the  night  after  he  had  borne 
testimony  to  his  faith  before  the  assembled 
Sanhedrim,  the  Lord   imparted  the  assu- 
rance to  him  by  a  vision,  that  as  he  had 
been  his  witness  in  the  capital  of  the  Jew- 
ish  world,  he  should  also  be  the  same  in 
that  of  the   Gentile  world.     It  was   this 
which    confirmed    him    in   his   resolution, 
when  the  Procurator  was  about  to  sacrifice 
him  to  the  wishes  of  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim, 
of  seeking  deliverance  by  an  appeal  to  the 
Emperor.     The  arrival  at  Ca^sarea  of  the 
young  King  Agrippa  II.,  as  a  person  ac- 
quainted with  the  Jews  and  their  religion, 
was  acceptable  to  Festus,  since  he  hoped 
that,  by  admitting  Paul  to  an  examination 
in  his  presence,  he  could  learn  something 
more  decisive  in  this  affair,  which  might 
be  communicated  in  his  report  to  Rome. 
Paul   appeared    before    so    numerous    and 
august   an    assembly,   before    the  Roman 
Procurator  and  the  Jewish  King,  with  ex- 
ultation at  the  thought  of  being   able  to 
testify  of  what  filled  his  heart  before  such 
an  audience.     He  addressed  himself  espe- 
cially to  King  Agrippa,  in  whom,  as  a  pro- 
fessor of  the'jewish  faith,  he  hoped  to  find 
more  points  of  connexion  than  in  a  heathen 
magistrate.     He  narrated  how  he  had  been 
educated  in  zealous  attachment  to  Phari- 
saic principles,  and  from  a  violent  perse- 
cutor had,  by  a  call  from  the  Lord  himself, 
become  a  devoted  preacher  of  the  gospel, 
— that  in  obeying  this  call  up  to  that  time 
he  had  testified  before  Jews  and  Gentiles, 
great  and  small,  but  had  published  nothing 
else   than   what   Moses   and   the  Prophets 
had  foretold,  that  the  Messiah  should  suffer, 
that  he  should  rise  from  the  dead,  and  by 
the  assurance  of  an  everlasting  divine  life 
diffuse    light   among    Jews  and    Gentiles. 
This  he  might  presume  was  admitted  by 
the  King   as  an   acknowledged  article   of 
faith,  but  it  must  appear  utterly  strange  to 
the  Romans ;  strange  also  must  the  reli- 
gious inspiration  with  which  Paul  uttered 
all  this  appear  to  the  cold-hearted  Roman 
statesman.     He  could  see  nothing  in  it  but 
enthusiastic  delusion.     "  Too  much  Jewish 
learning,"  he  exclaimed,  "  hath  made  thee 
mad."     But  with  calm  confidence  Paul  re- 
plied, "  I  am  not  mad,  but  speak  the  words 
of  truth  and   soberness !"  and,  turning  to 
Agrippa,  he  called  upon  him  as  a  witness, 
since  he  well  knew  that  these  things  were 
not  done  in  a  corner  of  the  earth,  in  secret, 


Chap.  VIII.] 


PAUL  AND  THE  JEWS  AT  ROMK 


179 


but  publicly  at  Jerusalem.  And  with  a 
firm  conviction,  that  in  all  he  had  testified 
the  promises  of  the  prophets  were  fulfilled, 
he  said  to  the  King,  "  Believest  thou  the 
prophets  ?  I  know  that  thou  believest !" 
Agrippa,  offended  by  Paul's  confidence, 
answered,  "  Truly  in  a  short  tiiTie*  thou 
wilt  make  me  a  Christian."  Paul,  with 
his  fetters  on  his  arm,  was  conscious  of 
possessing  more  than  all  the  glory  of  the 
world,  uttered  the  noble  words,  "  Yes,  I 
pray  God  that  in  a  longer  or  a  shorter 
time,  he  would  make  not  only  thee,  O 
King,  but  all  who  hear  me  to-day,  what  I 
now  am,  except  these  bonds  !" 

As  the  King  and  the  Procurator  after 
this  examination  could  not  find  Paul  guilty 
of  any  offence  punishable  by  the  laws,  the 
Procurator  would  probably  have  set  him 
at  liberty,  if  after  his  appeal  to  Csesar  it 
had  not  been  necessary  for  the  matter  to 
take  its  legal  course ;  yet  the  report  {do- 
gium)  with  which  he  would  be  sent  to 
Rome,  could  not  be  otherwise  than  in  his 
favour.  The  centurion  to  whom  he  was 
committed  with  other  prisoners  in  order  to 
be  taken  to  Rome,  certainly  corroborated 
the  impression  of  this  favourable  report  by 
the  account  he  gave  of  Paul's  conduct 
during  his  long  and  dangerous  voyage. 
Hence  he  met  at  Rome  with  more  indul- 
gent treatment  than  the  other  prisoners : 
he  was  allowed  to  hire  a  private  dwelling 
in  which  only  one  soldier  attended  him  as 
a  guard,  to  whom  he  was  fastened  by  a 
chain  on  the  arm  (the  usual  mode  of  the 
custodia  militaris),  and  could  receive  all 
who  were  disposed  to  visit  him  and  write 
letters. 

As  he  had  cause  to  fear  that  the  Jews 
dwelling  at  Rome  had  received  from  Jeru- 


*  I  understand  the  words  6i>  oxtym  (Acts  xxvi.  28) 
in  the  only  sense  which  they  can  have  according 
to  the  usus  loquendi  and  Paul's  answer.  The  in- 
terpretation adopted  by  Meyer  and  some  others  is 
indeed  possible,  but  appears  to  me  not  so  natural. 
If  the  reading  of  the  Cod.  Alex,  and  of  the  Vul- 
gate, which  Lachmann  approves,  be  adopted,  h 
fxt-yttxZ,  in  Paul's  answer,  the  words  of  Agrippa 
must  be  thus  explained,  "  With  a  little,  or  with 
few  reasons  (which  will  not  cost  you  much  trouble) 
you  think  of  making  me  a  Christian" — and  the 
answer  of  Paul  will  be,  Whether  with  great  or 
with  little — for  many  or  few  reasons,  I  pray  God, 
&c.  But  I  cannot  make  up  my  mind  to  receive 
as  correct  this  reading  which  may  be  explained  as 
a  gloss,  and  is  not  supported  by  very  preponde- 
rating authorities. 


salem  a  report  inimical  to  his  character, 
and  regarded  him  as  an  accuser  of  his 
people,  he  endeavoured  speedily  to  remove 
this  unfavourable  impression.  Accordingly, 
three  days  after  his  arrival,  he  invited  the 
principal  persons  among  them  to  visit  him.  • 
It  proved  that  no  report  to  Paul's  prejudice 
had  yet  reached  them,  if  it  be  allowed  that 
they  spoke  the  truth.  It  also  appeared  from 
the  statements  of  these  respectable  Jews, 
that  they  had  heard  little  or  nothing  of  the 
Christian  'church  which  existed  in  the  same 
city  with  themselves.  Nor  is  this  incon- 
ceivable, if  we  only  consider  the  immense 
size  of  the  metropolis,  and  the  vast  conflu- 
ence of  human  beings  it  contained,  and  if 
to  this  we  add,  that  the  main  body  of  that 
church  consisted  of  Gentiles,  and  that  these 
wealthy  Jews  busied  themselves  far  more 
about  other  objects  than  about  the  concerns 
of  religion.  Yet  it  by  no  means  appears 
from  the  statenrients  of  the  Jews  that  they 
had  scarcely  heard  of  a  Christian  church 
existing  at  Rome,  but  only  that  they  had 
not  taken  any  pains  to  acquire  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  it.  They  knew  indeed  that  this 
new  sect  met  every  where  with  opponents, 
and  hence  it  might  be  inferred  that  they  had 
heard  of  the  controversies  which  had  been 
carried  on  at  Rome  about  it,  for  the  "every 
where"  ('rraMra-x^av),  in  Acts  xxviii.  22,  in- 
cludes (certainly  does  not  exclude)  a  refe- 
rence to  what  was  going  on  at  Rome  itself, 
and  we  must  not  forget  that  only  the  sub- 
stance of  what  the  Jews  said  is  handed  down 
to  us.*  As  they  heard  much  of  the  opposi- 
tion excited  against  this  new  sect,  but  noth- 
ing precise  respecting  their  doctrines,  they 
were  well  pleased  that  Paul  proposed  to  give 
them  an  address  on  the  subject.  But  here, 
as  every  where  else,  Paul's  preaching  found 
more  acceptance  with  the  Gentiles  than 
with  the  Jews.f 


*  I  cannot  find  any  foundation  for  the  contra- 
diction which  Dr,  Baur,  in  his  treatises  so  often 
quoted,  thinks  he  has  detected  between  this  narra- 
tion in  the  Acts,  and  the  existence  of  such  a 
church  at  Rome,  which  we  must  suppose  accord- 
ing to  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans. 

t  The  position  developed  and  advocated  with 
equal  acuteness  and  learning  by  H.  Bottger  in  the 
second  part  of  his  "  Beilrage  zur  historisch-kriti- 
schen  Einleilung  in  die  paulinischen  Briefe,  Got- 
tingen,  1837," — that  Paul  was  a  prisoner  only  for 
the  first  tliree  or  five  days  after  his  arrival  in  Rome, 
that  he  then  obtained  his  freedom,  and  lived  for 
two  years  in  a  hired  house,  quite  at  liberty  ; — tiiis 
position,  if  it  were  true,  would  cast  a  new  light  on 


180 


PAUL'S  FIRST  CONFINEMENT  AT  ROME. 


[Book  III. 


With  the  confinenaent  of  Paul,  a  new  and 
important  era  commenced  not  only  in  his 


Paul's  history  during  this  period ;  for  it  would  then 
appear  that  all  those  Epistles,  which  evidently 
were  written  during  some  one  imprisonment,  could 
not  have  been  written  at  Rome  or  during  his  first 
confinement  there.  But  the  narrative  in  the  Acts 
is  directly  opposed  to  this  supposition.  I  cannot 
understand  Acts  xxviii.  16,  otherwise  than  that 
permission  was  then  granted  to  Paul  to  reside  in 
a  private  house,  the  same  which  is  designated  in 
V.  23,  his  lodging,  ^sv/a,  and  in  v.  30,  as  h  lita> 
/uKrday/uaTi,  "his  own  hired  house."  It  cannot  be 
imagined,  that  if,  after  three  days,  so  important 
an  alteration  had  taken  place  in  Paul's  circum- 
stances, Luke  would  not  have  mentioned  it,  for 
the  assertion  that  his  readers  must  have  supposed 
this  of  themselves,  from  the  known  forms  of  Ro- 
man justice,  cannot  satisfy  us.  Even  if  this  could 
have  been  supposed,  he  would  hardly  have  omitted 
to  point  out  in  a  few  words  so  important  a  change 
in  Paul's  lot.  But  it  is  not  easily  proved  that  such 
an  inference  could  be  drawn,  from  what  is  known 
respecting  the  course  of  Roman  justice  at  that 
time.  The  manner  also  in  which  Luke  expresses 
himself  (Acts  xxviii.  30,  31)  respecting  Paul's  re- 
sidence  for  two  years  at  Rome,  certainly  implies 
that  he  had  not  then  obtained  his  freedom,  for  we 
are  merely  told  that  he  preached  the  gospel  in  his 
own  dwelling;  but  it  is  not  narrated  that  he  visited 
the  synagogue  or  anyplace  where  the  church  met, 
for  which  omission  no  other  reason  can  be  given, 
than  that,  altlwugh  he  could  receive  any  visit  in 
his  own  residence,  under  the  inspection  of  his 
guard,  he  was  not  at  liberty  to  go  to  whatever 
place  he  chose  ;  and  least  of  all,  would  a  prisoner, 
whose  cause  was  not  yet  decided,  have  been  per- 
mitted to  attend  these  meetings  of  the  church, 
even  if  accompanied  by  his  guard.  Here,  there- 
fore, we  have  a  fact  which  cannot  be  explained, 
unless  we  admit  the  continued  confinement  of 
Paul.  How  likewise  can  it  be  imagined,  that 
Paul,  who  wished  to  visit  the  church  at  Rojne 
only  on  his  way,  would  have  stayed  there  for  two 
years,  where  suitxble  measures  had  already  been 
taken  for  the  continued  propagation  of  Chris- 
tianity, instead  of  travelling  to  those  regions  of 
the  West,  where  nothing  had  yet  been  done  for 
making  known  the  gospel  ?  This  is  explicable 
only  on  the  supposition,  that  he  remained  so  long 
a  time  at  Rome  under  constraint. 

According  to  the  account  in  the  Acts,  we  may 
receive  it  as  an  established  fact,  that  Paul  lived 
two  years  in  Rome  as  a  prisoner, — a  fact  which 
can  be  overturned  by  nothing  that  we  know  of  the 
course  of  Roman  justice  in  the  case  of  such  ap- 
peals ;  even  without  waiting  to  examine  how  both 
could  be  reconciled  to  one  another. 

Meanwhile,  from  what  is  known  of  the  legal 
processes  in  the  time  of  the  first  Cffisars,  it  can 
by  no  means  be  proved,  what  is  in  the  higliest  de- 
gree improbable,  that  all  the  causes  which,  in  con- 
sequence  of  an  appeal,  were  brought  to  Rome  for 
decision,  were  decided  in  the  course  of  five  or  ten 
days.  It  was  one  thing  to  decide  on  the  admissi- 
bility of  the  appeal,  and  another  thing  to  decide 
on  the  point  of  law  respecting  which  the  appeal 
was  made.     My  respected  colleague  Professor  Ru- 


life  and  ministry,  but  also  in  the  develope- 
ment  of  the  churches  founded  by  him,  for 
in  proportion  as  Christianity  spread  more 
widely,  a  number  of  heterogeneous  mental 
elements  were  brought  into  action,  many 
important  phenomena  became  conspicuous, 
while  the  divine  word  operated  among  them 
in  an  independent  manner,  and  they  were 
deprived  of  the  apostle's  personal  oversight 
and  guidance. 


■  CHAPTER  IX. 

PAUL  DURING  HIS  FIRST  CONFINEMENT  AT  ROME,  AND 
THE  DEVELOPEMENT  DURING  THE  SAME  PERIOD  OF 
THE  CHURCHES  PREVIOUSLY  FOUNDED  BY  HIM. 

In  examining  this  portion  of  Paul's 
history,  we  must  fix  our  attention  on  three 
principal  points  ;  his  relation  to  the  Roman 
state — to  the  Church  at  Rome, — and  to  the 
Churches  in  other  parts. 

With  respect  to  the  first,  the  main  thing 
to  be  considered  is,  from  what  point  of  view 
the  charge  under  which  he  was  detained  as 
a  prisoner  is  to  be  viewed?  Christianity 
was  not  yet  denounced  as  a  religio  illicita, 
therefore  Paul  could  not,  like  the  later 
teachers  of  Christianity,  be  accused  of  vio-  • 
lating  the  laws  of  the  state,  on  account  of 
his  exertions  in  propagating  this  religion. 
Christians  appeared  only  as  a  sect  proceed- 
ing from  Judaism,  who  were  accused  by 
Paul's  Jewish  adversaries  "^of  adulterating 
the  original  doctrines  of  their  religion;  so 
that  at  Rome  no  attention  was  paid  to  dis- 


dorff,  who  has  had  the  goodness  to  make  me  a 
written  communication  on  this  subject,  concludes 
with  the  statement,  that  the  term  of  five  or  ten 
days  related  not  to  the  duration  of  the  judicial 
proceedings,  but  to  the  lodging  of  the  appeal,  and 
to  the  apostoli  {=liter<B  dimissorict),  that  it  gave 
no  prescription  relative  to  the  term  of  the  trans- 
action itself,  and  that  the  accused  remained  under 
arrest  till  the  decision  of  the  Emperor.  Thus,  in 
the  Sententiis  Receptis  of  Julius  Paulus,  lib.  v.  tit. 
34,  it  is  said  expressly  of  the  aposloUs,  "  Quorum 
postulatio  et  acceptio  intra  quintum  diem  ex  officio 
facienda  est."  In  a  law  enacted  by  the  Emperor 
Constantine  in  314,  according  to  which  we  are  not 
justified  in  determining  the  legal  process  in  the 
times  of  the  first  Cffisars,  is  the  express  provision 
that  the  appellator  should  be  free  from  arrest  only 
in  causas  civiles,  but  of  criminalibus  causis  it  is 
said,  "  In  quibus,  etiamsi  possunt  provocare,  eum 
tamen  statim  deberit  obtinere,  ut  post  provoca- 
tionem  in  custodia  perseverent,"  Cod.  Theodos. 
lib.  xi.  tit.  30,  c.  2. 


Chap.  IX.] 


PAUL  AT  ROME. 


181 


putes  that  merely  concerned  the  religious 
institutions  of  the  Jews.  This  charge 
against  Paul  might  therefore  be  considered 
as  altogether  foreign  to  Roman  judicature, 
and  he  would  soon  regain  his  liberty  ;  in 
this  manner,  the  affair  would  soon  be 
brought  to  a  close  ;  but  it  cannot  be  shown, 
that  it  would  be  viewed  under  this  aspect, 
the  most  favourable  for  the  apostle.  The 
Jews  might  accuse  him  as  being  a  disturber 
of  the  public  peace,  who  interfered  with  the 
privileges  guaranteed  to  them  by  the 
Roman  Government,  as  their  advocate 
Tertullus  had  already  atte'mpted  to  prove. 
Hence  an  additional  allegation  might  be 
made,  which  from  the  standing-point  of  the 
Roman  law  would  tend  much  more  to 
Paul's  injury — that  he  had  caused  among 
other  Roman  subjects  and  citizens  in  the 
provinces,  and  in  Rome  itself,  movements 
which  were  detrimental  to  the  good  order 
of  the  state,  that  he  had  tempted  them  to 
apostatize  from  the  state  religion,  by  propa- 
gating a  religion  at  variance  with  the 
ancient  Roman  institutions,  in  which  reli- 
gion and  politics  were  intimately  blended.* 
If  the  church  at  Rome,  consisting  mainly 
of  Gentile  Christians,  gave  the  impression 
in  its  whole  appearance  of  being  unjewish, 
in  short,  a  genus  tertium ;  this  view  of 
Paul's  conduct  would  be  formed  so  much 
the  more  easily.  The  existence  of  this 
new  religious  sect  in  the  capital,  would  be 
made  an  object  of  public  attention  by 
the  proceedings  against  Paul.  We  may 
suppose,  that  his  fanatical  and  artful  adver- 
saries among  the  Jews,  would  leave  no  ar- 
tifice untried  to  set  his  conduct  in  the  worst 
possible  light  to  the  Roman  authorities. 
Thus  the  investigation  of  his  cause,  with 
the  accusation  and  defence,  might  be  pro- 
tracted, and  his  prospects  might  by  turns 
become  favourable  or  unfavourable.  During 
the  first  period  of  his  residence  at  Rome  he 
underwent  no  public  exatnination.t     His 


*  The  point  of  view  as  a  Roman  statesman  from 
which  Cicero  formed  his  model  of  law.  "Separa- 
tim  nemo  habessit  Deos  neve  novos  sive  advenas, 
nisi  publice  adscitos  privatim  colunto.  Ritus  fa- 
mili(Z  patriumque  servanlo."  Cicero  de  Legibus  ; 
and  in  the  Commentaries,  c.  x.,  against  the  confu- 
sio  religionum,  wiiich  arose  from  the  introduction 
of  foreign  new  religions.  This  was  the  point  of 
view  from  which  a  Tacitus  and  the  Younger 
Pliny  formed  their  judgment  of  Christianity. 

+  Whether  this  term  embraced  the  wliole  of  the 
first  two  years  of  his  confinement  we  cannot  with 
certainty  "determine,  for  the  silence  of  Luke  in  the 


situation  justified  the  most  favourable  ex- 
pectations, and  he  proposed  when  set  at 
liberty,  before  he  extended  his  sphere  of 
labour  towards  the  West,  according  to  the 
plan  he  had  previously  formed,  to  visit 
Lesser  Asia,  where  his  personal  exertions  • 
seemed  to  be  very  necessary  to  counteract 
many  influences  that  were  operating  in- 
juriously on  the  churches.  He  intimated 
to  the  overseer  of  the  church  at  Colossse, 
Philemon,  that  he  intended  to  take  up  his 
abode  with  him. 

At  a  later  period*  of  his  imprisonment, 
when  he  had  already  undergone  a  public 
examination,  he  had  no  such  favourable 
prospect  before  him  ;  the  thought  of  martyr- 
dom became  familiar  to  his  mind,  yet  the 
expectation  of  being  released  from  confine- 
ment was  predominant,  so  that  he  wrote  to 
the  church  at  Philippi  that  he  hoped  to 
come  to  them  soon.  But  if  the  view  we 
have  taken  of  the  origin  and  original  con- 
stitution of  the  church  at  Rome  be  correct, 
a  close  connexion  and  intimate  communion 
may  be  presumed  to  have  existed  between 
its  members  and  the  individual  whom  they 
might  regard  mediately  as  their  spiritual 
father,  and  whose  peculiar  form  of  doc- 
trine prevailed  among  them.  Now  if  the 
epistles  which  Paul  wrote  during  his  first 
confinement  at  Rome  bore  evidence  against 
such  a  supposition,  they  might  also  be  ad- 
duced against  our  views.  If  these  epistles 
make  us  acquainted  with  any  difference 
existing  between  the  Roman  church  and 
Paul,  this  fact  would  be  very  decisive,  and 
we  should  be  forced  to  conclude  that  a 
strongly  marked  Judaizing  element  pre- 
dominated in  that  church. f  But  the  Roman 
Christians  had  already,  even  before  he 
arrived  at  Rome,  evinced  their  sympathy, 
since  several  of  their  number  travelled  a 
day's  journey,  as  far  as  the  small  town  of 
Forum  Appii,  and  some  a  shorter  distance 
to  the  place  called  2Ves  Tahejiice,  in  order 
to  njeet  him.  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Philip- 
pians  he  sends  salutation  from  the  tchole 
church  (ifa\jTsg  oi  ayioi),  which  is  a  proof  of 
the  close  connexion  in  which  he  stood 
with  them.  As  to  his  giving  special  salu- 
tations from  the  Christians  in  the  service  of 


Acts  is  not  a  sufficient  proof  that,  during  the  whole 
of  this  period,  there  was  nothing  memorable  to  be 
narrated  respecting  tlie  situation  of  the  apostle. 

*  As  appears  from  his  Epistle  to  the  Philippians. 

t  See  Schneckenburger,  p.  123. 


182 


PAUL  AT  ROME. 


[Book  IIL 


the  Imperial  Palace  (the  C(2sariani),  we 
are  notfto  infer  that  these  persons  were 
more  in  unison  with  him  than  the  rest  of 
the  church,  but  rather  that  they  were  better 
acquainted,  and  on  more  intimate  terms 
with  the  church  at  Philippi.  At  all  events, 
it  is  an  arbitrary  supposition  that  these 
Gentile  Christians  were  those  who,  in  dis- 
tinction from  the  rest  of  the  church,  con- 
sisting of  Jewish  Christians,  were  in  closer 
connexion  with  Paul.  It  might  indeed  be 
expected,  that  if  these  Ccesariani  were 
more  allied  by  their  Gentile  origin  to  the 
church  at  Philippi,  he  would  have  men- 
tioned, this  circumstance  as  the  reason  for 
presenting  their  special  salutations.  It  is 
not  at  all  inconsistent  with  this  view,  if 
these  epistles  contain  undeniable  marks, 
that  in  the  Roman  church  Judaizers  were 
found  hostile  to  Paul  and  who  occasioned 
him  much  vexation;  for  we  ourselves  have 
pointed  out  a  Judaizing  tendency  in  a  small- 
er part  of  this  church  sufficient  to  account 
for  such  an  appearance.  As  the  Gentile 
Christians  who  advocated  the  Pauline  prin- 
ciples, now  found  so  important  a  support 
in  his  personal  presence,  and  co-operated 
with  him  in  publishing  the  gospel  among 
the  Gentiles,  the  opposition  of  the  Judaiz- 
ing antipauline  party  must  have  been  ex- 
cited by  it  and  rendered  still  more  violent. 
The  whole  tone  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Philip- 
pians  testifies  of  the  conflicts  he  sustained 
in  his  intercourse  with  the  Judaizers.  His 
excited  feelings  caimot  be  mistaken ;  his 
displeasure  was  called  forth  by  anxiety  for 
the  purity  of  the  gospel  against  those  who, 
where  the  soil  appeared  in  a  fit  state  for 
receiving  the  gospel,  sought  to  take  advan- 
tage of  it  for  gaining  adherents  for  their 
Jewish  ceremonies  and  doctrine  of  meri- 
torious works.  And  Paul  himself  distin- 
guishes those  among  the  Roman  Christians 
who,  with  friendly  feelings  towards  him- 
self, were  active  in  co-operating  with  him 
for  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  from  those 
who,  animated  with  jealousy  at  his  success, 
endeavoured  to  form  a  party  against  him, 
and  to  "  add  affliction  to  his  bonds,"  Phil, 
i.  1.5-18;  and  among  the  Jewish  Chris- 
tians he  could  only  point  out  two  who 
laboured  with  him  for  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  contributed  to  his  comfort ;  Col.  iv.  11. 
During  his  confinement,  anxiety  for  the 
extension  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  for 
the  prosperity  of  the  churches  he  had  found- 


ed, occupied  him  far  more  than  the  care  of  his 
personal  welfare.  As  all  persons  had  free  ac- 
cess to  him,  he  thus  enjoyed  opportunities  for 
preaching  the  gospel.  By  the  soldiers  who 
relieved  one  another  in  standing  guard  over 
him,  it  became  known  among  their  com- 
rades, (among  the  cohortes  prcetoriancs,  in 
the  castra  prcetoria,  in  the  prcston-ium) ; 
and  hence  to.  a  wider  extent  in  the  city, 
that  he  was  put  in  confinement  not  on  ac- 
count of  any  civil  offence,  but  for  his  zeal 
in  behalf  of  the  new  religion ;  and  this 
tended  to  promote  it,  since  a  cause  for 
which  its  advocate  sacrificed  every  thing 
was  certain  of  attracting  attention.  By  his 
example  also  many  of  the  Roman  Chris- 
tians were  roused  to  publish  the  truth  zeal- 
ously and  boldly.  But  while  some  co-ope- 
rated with  Paul  in  a  oneness  of  heart  and 
mind,  others  came  forward  who  belonged 
to  the  antipauline  Judaizing  party,  in  oppo- 
sition to  his  method  of  publishing  the  gos- 
pel. The  manner  in  which  he  expresses 
himself  respecting  these  his  opponents  is 
worthy  of  notice  on  two  accounts.  We 
here  see  a  man  who  could  entirely  forget 
his  own  person  when  the  cause  of  his  Lord 
was  concerned, — who  could  even  rejoice  in 
what  bore  an  unfriendly  aspect  towards 
himself,  if  it  contributed  to  pi'omote  the 
cause  of  Christ.  We  perceive  how  far  his 
zeal  for  the  truth  and  against  error  was 
from  all  selfish  contractedness ;  with  what 
freedom  of  spirit  he  was  able  to  pass  a 
judgment  on  all  doctrinal  differences.  Even 
in  the  erroneous  views  of  these  Judaizers 
he  acknowledged  the  truth  that  lay  at  their 
basis ;  and  when  he  compared  the  errors 
propagated  by  them,  with  the  fundamental 
truth  which  they  announced  at  the  same 
time,  it  was  still  a  cause  of  joy  to  him  that 
this  fundamental  truth  was  becoming  more 
generally  known,  that  in  every  way, 
whether  in  pretence  (by  those  who  in  their 
hearts  preferred  Judaism  to  Christianity) 
or  with  an  upright  intention,  Christ  was 
preached,  Phil.  i.  18.  For  even  by  these 
persons  the  knowledge  of  the  facts  on  which 
the  gospel  rested  was  spread  to  a  greater 
extent ;  and  where  faith  in  Jesus  as  the 
Messiah,  the  founder  and  king  of  the  king- 
dom of  God,  was  once  produced,  on  this 
foundation  a  superstructure  could  be  raised 
of  more  correct  and  extended  instruction. 
But  from  this  we  learn  what  is  of  service 
for  explaining  later  appearances  in  the  his- 


Chap.  IX.] 


THE  FALSE  TEACHERS  AT  COLOSS^E. 


lea 


tory  of  the  Roman  church,  that  in  connex- 
ion with  the  lessons  of  the  Pauline  theo- 
logy the  germ  of  a  Judaizing  tendency  was 
implanted  in  this  church. 

The  concerns  of  the  churches  in  Lesser 
Asia  first  occupied  Paul's  attention  in  his 
imprisonment,*  He  had  received  an  exact 
account  of  their  situations  from  an  emi- 
nent individual  belonging  to  the  church  of 
Colossae,  Epaphras,  the  founder  of  that 
and  of  the  neighbouring  Christian  commu- 
nities. He  visited  Paul  at  Rome,  and  gave 
practical  ^proofs   of  his   sympathy,!   and 


*  The  supposition  on  which  we  here  proceed, 
that  Paul  wrote  the  Epistles  to  the  Colossians,  the 
Ephesians,  and  Philemon,  during  this  confinement 
at  Rome,  has  found  in  later  times  strenuous  op- 
ponents in  Schulz  and  Schott,  to  whom  must  be 
added  Bottger ;  but  the  arguments  advanced  by 
them  against  it  do  not  appear  to  me  adapted  to 
overthrow  the  opinion  hitherto  most  generally  held, 
though  no  demonstrative  truth  can  be  given  in  its 
favour,  since  Paul  does  not  exactly  state  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  he  wrote.  What  he  says 
of  the  opportunities  presented  for  announcing  the 
gospel,  agree  very  well  with  what  we  know  of  his 
confinement  at  Rome,  from  the  hints  given  in  the 
Acts  and  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians.  (The 
latter  indeed  cannot  be  urged  against  Bottger,  for 
he  supposes  that  epistle  to  be  written  while  Paul 
was  confined  at  Caesarea.)  It  docs  not  appear  to 
me  surprising,  that  a  runaway  slave  from  Colossae 
should  betake  himself  at  once  to  Rome  ;  for  the 
constant  intercourse  with  the  capital  of  the  empire 
would  easily  furnish  him  with  an  opportunity,  and 
he  might  hope  for  greater  security  from  the  dis- 
tance and  the  immense  population  of  the  metropo- 
lis. Nor  is  it  at  all  strange,  that  a  teacher  of  the 
church  at  Colossae  should  be  induced,  by  the  dan- 
gers that  threatened  pure  Christianity  there,  to 
travel  as  far  as  Rome  in  order  to  consult  the  apos- 
tle, and  to  solicit  his  assistance;  though  we  can- 
not determine  with  certainty  whether  other  per- 
sonal concerns  also  brought  Epaphras  to  Rome. 
Neither  can  the  fact  that  Paul,  when  at  Rome, 
desired  a  lodgirig  to  be  in  readiness  for  him  at  Co- 
lossce,  determine  any  thing ;  for  though  he  had  at 
an  earlier  period  formed  the  intention  to  travel  first 
into  Spain,  yet,  as  we  have  already  remarked,  he 
might  be  induced,  by  the  information  respecting 
the  changes  in  the  churches  of  Lesser  Asia,  to 
alter  his  plan.  Nor  is  it  otherwise  than  natural, 
that,  during  his  confinement  at  Rome,  he  should 
collect  around  him  younger  men,  who  at  other 
times  had  been  used  to  serve  as  companions  and 
fellow-labourers  in  his  ministry,  and  that  he  should 
now  make  use  of  them  in  order  to  maintain  with 
the  distant  churches,  of  whose  situation  he  could 
receive  information  through  various  channels  at 
Rome,  a  living  connexion  adapted  to  their  necessi- 
ties. 

t  It  is  remarkable  that  Paul,  in  the  Epistle  to 
Philemon,  calls  this  Epaphras  his  "fellow-prisoner 
in  Christ  Jesus."  As  he  thus  distinguishes  him  from 
his  other  fellow-labourers,  we  may  conclude  that  it 


through  him  the  apostle  learned  how  many 
things  which  had  happened  in  their  church 
during  his  absence  required  to  be  promptly 
counteracted. 

During  the  preceding  year,  a  new  in- 
fluence emanating  from  Judaism  had  been 
developed  in  those  regions  ; — ^n  influence 
with  which  Christianity  had  hitherto  net 
come  in  contact,  but  which  now  threatened 
to  mingle  with  it,  and  to  endanger  its  purity 
and  simplicity.  It  might  be  expected  that 
Christianity  on  its  first  spread  among  the 
Jews,  would  chiefly  come  in  contact  with 
the  Pharisaic  mode  of  thinking  which  was 
then  predominant.  Hence  the  first  false 
teachers,  with  whom  Paul  had  hitherto  beea 
so  often  in  conflict,  had  attempted  a  mix- 
ture of  Pharisaic  Judaism  with  Christianity. 
But  now,  after  Christianity  had  spread  fur- 
ther among  the  Jews,  and  had  attracted  the 
attention  of  those  who  lived  in  great  retire- 
ment, and  troubled  themselves  little  about 
the  novelties  of  the  day,  its  infliience  affect- 
ed sects  that  had  long  existed  among  the 
Jews  of  a  theosophic-ascetic  character,  such 
as  that  of  the  Essenes.*  Persons  of  such  a 


could  be  affirmed  only  of  Epaphras.  Since  the 
judicial  inquiry  instituted  against  Paul  would  have 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  Roman  magistrates 
to  the  new  religious  party  that  were  opposed  to 
the  religion  of  the  state,  it  may  be  assumed  that 
this  led  to  the  apprehension  of  Epaphras,  who  had 
laboured  so'  zealously  on  behalf  of  this  cause  ia 
Lesser  Asia.  But  it  is  against  this  opinion,  that 
he  is  not  mentioned  with  this  epithet  in  the  Epis- 
tie  to  the  Colossians,  unless  we  suppose  that  the 
apprehension  of  Epaphras  did  not  occur  till  after 
that  epistle  was  written.  Still  it  is  fair  to  suppose, 
that  he  was  distinguished  by  this  epithet  to  Phile- 
mon only  as  a  faithful  companion  of  the  apostle  in 
his  confinement ;  as  on  the  other  hand  he  is  dis- 
tinguished by  another  epithet  in  the  epistle  to  the 
whole  church  at  Colosste  ;  and  this  title  of  honour 
(o  (7t/va/;^^^2iMj)To;  fxov)  is  applied  in  the  same  epis- 
tle to  Aristarchus,  who  had  accompanied  the  apos- 
tle in  his  confinement. 

*  Storr's  opinion  that  the  Jewish-Christian  sect 
at  ColossfE  was  derived  immediately  from  the  Es- 
senes, who  yet  can  be  regarded  only  as  one  niani- 
festation  of  this  general  mental  tendency,  is  not 
supported  by  sufficient  evidence.  Yet  it  is  not 
a  decisive  objection  against  it,  that  the  Essenes 
had  not  spread  themselves  beyond  Palestine,  and 
showed  no  inclination  for  prosclytism  ;  for  by  the 
influence  of  Christianity,  it  is  very  possible  that 
the  original  character  of  such  a  sect  might  be 
somewhat  modified.  And  I  would  by  no  means 
adduce  against  it,  what  is  said  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Colossiims,  not  merely  of  the  practically  as- 
cetic,  but  also  of  the  theosophic  tendency  of  this 
sect  (their  9i}.o!ro<pix),  since  we  cannot  trust  what 
Philo  says  of  the  Essenes  as  the  ideal  of  practical 


iS4 


THE  TWOFOLD  TENDENCY  OF  MYSTICISM. 


[Book  III. 


tendency  must  have  felt  themselves  attract- 
ed, still  more  than  Jews  of  the  common 
Pharisaical  bias,  by  what  Christianity  pre- 
sented that  was  suited  to  the  internal  re- 
ligious sentiment ;  only  they  were  too  much 
entangled  in  their  mystical -ascetic  bias,  so 
opposite  to  the  free  practical  spirit  of  the 
gospel,  and  in  their  spiritual  pride,  to  be 
able  to  appropriate  the  gospel  simply  and 
purely  with  a  renunciation  of  the  pre-emi- 
nence of  a  higher  religious  philosophy, 
which  they  fancied  themselves  to  possess, 
and  of  a  higher  practical  perfection  in  their 
modes  of  abstinence.  They  must  have 
been  rather  tempted  to  remodel  Christianity 
according  to  their  former  ideas  and  tenden- 
cies, and  to  cast  it  into  a  theosophic  form 
of  their  own.  We  here  see  a  tendency, 
first  germinating  in  the  circle  of  Judaism, 
from  which,  in  the  following  century,  mani- 
fold branches  proceeded  of  a  gnosticism 
that  corrupted  the  simple  gospel.  Paul 
had  probably  cause,  from  his  experience 
during  his  long  sojourn  in  Lesser  Asia,  to 
apprehend  the  springing  up  of  a  tendency 
so  injurious  to  the  gospel,  and  hence  we 
may  account  for  his  warnings  addressed  to 
the  presbyters  of  the  Ephesian  church. 
His  apprehensions  were  now  verified,  Jew- 
ish false  teachers  of  this  tendency  had 
made  their  way  into  the  church  at  Colossse. 
What  distinguished  them  from  the  common 
pharisaically-minded  Jewish  Christians  was 
this, — that  they  did  not  begin  with  recom- 
mending to  the  Gentiles  the  observance  of 


philosophers.  See  my  Church  History,  vol.  i.  p.  58. 
But  although  in  this  epistle  some  marks  may  be 
found  which  suit  the  Essenes,  as,  for  instance, 
what  is  said  of  abstinence,  of  chastising  the  body, 
of  the  observance  of  the  ceremonial  law,  of  the 
reverence  paid  to  angels,  &c. ;  yet  all  this  is  too 
general,  not  to  suit  many  other  similar  manifesta- 
tions, arising  from  the  same  mental  tendency,  and 
on  the  other  hand,  we  find  nothing  which  marks 
the  whole  peculiar  character  of  the  Essenes.  As 
a  ])roof  how  much  a  propensity  to  bring  them- 
selves with  angelology  was  spread  among  the 
Jews,  we  may  notice  the  words  in  the  x-n^vy/Act 
nsTg^i;,  in  which  it  is  said,  "/u))(fs  kuta  'lov^movc 
<ri!ii7^i,  KUt  yig  iKihoi  oUfAivoi  tov  S-fov  yivm^nuv 
ohx,  iTrtrra.v'Tdit,  xsit^si/ovtsc  ayyiXoi;  nctt  u^;j(_tiyyi- 
hci;.'-'  See  Clement.  Stromata  vi.  635.  Grabe 
Spicilcg.  i.  64.  If  also  an  intention  was  contained 
in  these  words  to  indicate  a  subordinate  place  to 
Judaism  as  a  religious  system  communicated  by 
angels  (the  idea  which  at  a  later  period  was  formed 
by  the  gnostics),  the  doctrine  in  vogue  among  tlie 
Jews  concerning  angels,  and  their  connexion  witi 
them,  might  serve  as  a  point  of  connexion  for  this 
censure. 


Jewish  ceremonies,  as  indispensable  for 
justification  and  sanctification,  and  for  ob- 
taining eternal  happiness.  Had  they  pro- 
ceeded in  this  manner,  they  would  in  all 
probability  not  have  found  an  entrance  so 
easily  into  the  churches  consisting  purely 
of  Gentile  Christians.  But  they  boasted 
of  the  knowledge  of  a  higher  wisdom  trans- 
mitted by  tradition  among  the  initiated  ;* 
they  pretended  to  a  higher  knowledge  of 
the  spiritual  world,  to  stand  in  closer  con- 
nexion with  it,  and  that  they  could  com- 
municate  it  to  those  who  were  disposed  to 
be  initiated  into  their  mysteries.  With  this 
theoretical  tendency  they  joined  a  strict 
ascetism  in  practice,  which  was  probably 
in  close  connexion  with  their  theosophic 
principles,  and  had  its  foundation  in  their 
notions  of  matter,  as  the  source  and  prin- 
ciple of  evil :  and  thus  also  many  particu- 
lars in  their  rules  for  abstaining  from  cer- 
tain things,  which  it  would  be  injurious  to 
touch  or  taste,  may  be  referred  not  simply 
to  the  Jewish  laws  respecting  food,  but  to 
their  peculiar  theoretic  doctrines. 

The  history  of  religion  acquaints  us 
with  a  twofold  tendency  of  mysticism  ;  one 
that  adheres  to  the  prevailing  cultus,  and 
professes  to  disclose  its  higher  meaning : 
another  that  wears  a  hostile  aspect  towards 
it,  and  entirely  despises  what  is  external 
and  historical  in  religion.  This  contrariety 
had  already  made  its  appearance  in  the 
Jewish  philosophical  religion  at  Alexandria. 
Among  the  Jews  in  that  place,  a  class  of 
religious  Idealists  had  been  formed,  who, 
viewing  the  historical  and  the  literal  in  re- 
ligion only  as  the  covering  or  vehicle  of 
general  ideas,  drew  the  inference  that  the 
attainment  of  perfection  depended  on  hold- 
ing fast  those  ideas,  while  all  besides  was 
abandoned  to  the  childish  multitude  who 
were  incapable  of  higher  conceptions,  and 
satisfied  with  the  outward  husk  of  sensible 
objects.f  Philo,  in  whom  we  have  an  ex- 
ample of  the  first  tendency,  combats,  al- 
though agreeing  with  them  in  the  principles 

*  Perhaps  they  used  the  term  <piho3-oj>i:t,  since 
this  appellation,  in  consequence  of  the  mixture  of 
Oriental  and  Grecian  ideas  at  this  time,  might  be 
used  as  well  as  the  word  yvcert;,  afterwards  em. 
ployed  among  the  Jewish  theosophic  sects  to  de- 
signate tlieir  pretended  mysteries. 

t  Thus  characterized  by  Philo  :  "  o*  touc  '^htcu; 
yo/ULOui  a-u/ui0OK'X  foirZv  Tr^xy/wxTODi  CTroKaf^^^vovn;, 
rx  fA.iv  aya.v  iiKPiQceo-itv,  rZv  Si  'ga3-t/|Ma)i'  oo^/^a)g!t<^«tv.' 
See  his  work.  De  Migratione  Abrahami,  p.  16. 


Chap.  IX.] 


THE  FALSE  TEACHERS  AT  COLOSSI. 


185 


of  allegorical  interpretation,  those  despisers 
of  the  letter;  while  he  taught  that  it  was 
possible  only  by  spiritual  intuition  to  pene- 
trate into  the  true  internal  meaning  of  reli- 
gion, and  to  know  those  mysteries  of  which 
outward  Judaism  presented  the  symbols. 
But  he  also  taught,*  that  in  proportion  to 
the  conscientious  reverence  with  which  the 
external  was  contemplated,  would  be  the 
progress  through  divine  illumination  in  the 
examination  of  the  internal.  This  last 
tendency  we  must  suppose  to  exist  in  the 
sect  of  which  we  are  now  speaking. 

In  however  slight  a  degree  a  "party  of 
common  Judaizers  would  have  been  dan- 
gerous  to  the  church  at  Colossre,  yet  Juda- 
ism under  this  modification  would  be  far 
more  dangerous  for  many,  for  the  people 
of  that  age  who  were  filled  with  anxiety 
for  the  communication  with  Heaven,  and  for 
the  investigation  of  the  invisible,  stretching 
beyond  the  limits  of  earthly  existence,  the 
promise  of  a  higher  knowledge  that  to  a 
certain  extent  would  release  them  from  the 
thraldom  of  the  senses,  was  very  seducing. 
Such  anxious  inquiries  had  led  many  an 
individual  to  Christianity,  which,  while  it 
brought  them  to  a  consciousness  of  the  real 
wants  of  their  religious  and  moral  nature, 
for  which  it  guaranteed  the  relief,  commu- 
nicated on  this  side  another  tendency  to 
their  minds ;  but  before  it  had  thoroughly 
penetrated  their  life  and  thoughts,  it  might 
easily  happen  that  such  illusions,  flUling°in 
with  a  previous  and  only  partially  con- 
quered tendency,  would  deceive  them  by 
the  dazzling  appearance  of  something 
higher  than  what  was  offered  them  in  the 
simple  and  ever  practical  doctrine  of  the 
apostles.  Moreover,  in  a  country  lilve  Phry- 
gia,  where  a  propensity  for  the  mystical  and 
magical  was  always  rife,  as  was  evident 
from  the  forms  of  religion  peculiar  to  the 
country,  the  worship  of  Cybele,  and  after- 
wards Montanism,t  such  a  tendency  would 
be  peculiarly  dangerous  to  Christianity. 

Paul  describes  the  higher  philosophy  of 
religion  of  which  these  people  boasted,  as 
the  following  of  human  traditions,:{:  as  a 


*  Philo's  words,  (tvA^Tov-^svajv  ToyT»v  (the  out- 
ward, the  literal)  u^i.$;,ACTigr,v  ^.j.t  'iKw-t  y^a-itT^y^a- 
T^i  u\i  £iV/v  oi/To;  g-u/u/SoKo..  De  M'lgr.  Abrah.  §  16 
p.  313,  Tom.  II.  Lips.  1828. 

+  Compare  Bshmer's  Isagogo  in  Epistolam  ad 
Coloss.,  p.  9. 

t  Not  proceedinor  from  what  tlie  Spirit  of  God 
had  revealed. 

24 


cleaving  to  the  elements*  of  the  world,  and 
not  proceeding  from  Christ.  He  objects 
to  the  preachers  of  this  doctrine,  that  they 
did  not  adhere  to  Christ  as  the  head.  From 
this  it  has  been  incorrectly  inferred  by- 
many,  that  these  persons  were  in  no  sense 
Christians,  But  the  main  point  in  Paul's 
disapproval  of  them  is  this,  that  their  doc- 
trine, although  connected  with  Christianity, 
was  in  contradiction  to  its  spirit  and  nature^ 
— that  although  they  acknowledged  Jesus 
as  the  Christ,  and  therefore  as  their  Lord 
and  Head,  yet  the  spirit  and  tendency  of 
their  doctrine  were  at  variance  with  this 
acknowledgment,  since  they  did  not,  in  ac- 
cordance with  it,  set  out  from  their  relation 
to  him  in  their  striving  after  a  knowledge 
of  divine  things,  and  make  him  their  cen- 
tral point.  In  fact,  it  is  only  on  the  sup- 
position that  they  professed  to  attach  them- 
selves to  the  Christian  faith,  that  this  dis- 
approval retains  its  full  significance. 

It  would  indeed  be  possible  so  to  explain 
the  relation  of  these  pereons  to  Christian- 
ity,! that  they  did  not  come  forward  in  di- 
rect hostility  against  it,  but  yet  ascribed  it 
only  a  subordinate  importance  in  their  reli- 
gious developement — that  they  acknow- 
ledged Christ  only  as  the  prophet  of  the 
heathen  world,  which  hitherto  had  kaown 
nothing  of  the  true  God,  and  attributed  to 
the  religion  revealed  by  htm  only  a  subor- 
dinate value  for  the  religious  culture  of  the 
heathen.:}:     They  perhaps  taught  that  by 


*  The  a-Toi^HsL  Tou  KorfAov,  if!  Col.  ii,  8,  and 
other  passages,  are  noi  to  be  understood,  it  appears 
to  me,  as  is  commonly  explained  of  the  rudimenta 
reliaionis,  both  in  .Judaism  and  Heathenism ;  but 
a  comparison  of  all  the  Pauline  p;issaj,'es,  and  the 
Piinlme  association  of  ideas,  seems  to  favour  our 
understanding  tlie  phrase  of  the  elements  of  the 
world  in  a  peculi.ir  sense,  as  denoting  the  earthly, 
elsewhere  termed  t*  craeKiKu..  Hence  ii.  20,  o-toi. 
)(^iia  Tov  Koa-fj.ozj  and  K.cio-y.og  may  be  considered  as 
synonymous. 

t  This  view  has  been  recently  developed  with 
much  skill  and  acutcness  by  Dr.  Schneckenburger, 
in  his  work  on  the  Baptism  of  Proselytes.  See 
also  his  Beilrage  zur  EinLeitung  in's  Neue  Tesla^ 
meni,  p.  146. 

X  Among  the  Jewish  tlieologians,  there  were 
those  who  had  borrowed  from  the  Platonic  philo- 
sophy  the  doctrine  of  the  constellations,  as  3-sot 
ctta-^nrcr,  and  accordingly  explained  the  passage 
in  Deut.  iv.  19,  as  meaning  that  God  had  left  the 
adoration  of  the  heavenly  bodies  as  a  subordinate 
religious  standing-point  to  other  nations,  but  had 
revealed  himself  only  to  the  Jews.  This  view 
might  afterwards  be  further  modified,  that  God 
had  given  the  Logos  or  Jesus  to  the  heathen  as 


186 


THE  FALSE  TEACHERS  AT  COLOSSI. 


[Book  HI. 


their  connexion  with  the  hidden  supreme 
God  which  was  effected  through  Judaism, 
they  were  raised  above  the  revelations  of 
the  Mediator,  the  Logos,  and  thus  above 
Christianity,  and  thereby  obtained  the  power 
to  employ  higher  spirits  themselves  in  their 
service.*  According  to  this  view,  we  may 
suppose  that  these  persons,  from  the  stand- 
ing-point of  a  pretended  spiritual  concep- 
tion of  Judaism,  had  formed  the  same  judg- 
ment respecting  the  subordinate  standing- 
point  of  Christianity,  as  many  of  the  later 
gnostics  from  the  standing-point  of  a  spiri- 
tualized Christianity  were  accustomed  to 
pass  on  Judaism  as  the  religion  of  the  De- 
miurges. 

But  although  such  a  conception  of  the 
peculiarities  of  this  sect  is  possible,  yet  it 


their  teacher  and  governor,  but  that  the  knowledge 
and  worship  of  tlie  Supreme  God  was  only  to  be 
found  among  the  Jews.  Since  Justin  Martyr,  in 
his  dialogue  with  Trypho,  in  what  he  represents 
these  Jewish  theologians  as  saying,  has  put  into 
Trypho's  mouth  what  they  were  at  that  time  in 
the  habit  of  saying,  we  may  consider  him  as  ex- 
pressing their  views,  when  he  brings  in  Trypho 
as  saying  ;  irro)  u/jlZv  «^  sS-vaiv  xyg/of  xa/  S^scc  yvu)- 
gi^o/uivo^,  lie  M  y^ct^Ai  a-Kfjottvova-iv,  oItivi;  y.cu  dwo 
Tov  ovojuaTOi  aurov  ^^lo-Tf-ivol  >ia>.iia^oi.i  TUVTi;  i<r- 
•^HxetTS  iifxin  Si  ToS  ^i'Ai  Kttt  uvTov  TOVTOV  cro/«cravTOC 
'  Sio/ui^d.  TKC  ofjLoMytdi^  cti/rov,  oiSi 
'     The  doctrine  of  the  Clemen- 


tines  also  may  be  here  compared.  According  to 
this  work,  Christianity  contained  in  a  form  of  re- 
velation designed  for  heathens,  the  same  as  original 
Judaism  purified  from  foreign  admixtures,  so  that 
he  who  adhered  to  Jesus  alone,  as  well  as  he  who 
adhered  to  Moses  alone,  could  attain  to  a  partici- 
pation of  the  kingdom  of  God,  provided  the  latter 
did  not  transgress  by  blaspheming  Christ,  and  the 
former  by  blaspheming  Moses.  If  a  Jew,  with  a 
greater  partiality  for  Judaism,  contemplated  Chris- 
tianity, yet  the  same  fundamental  principle  could 
easily  be  so  modified,  that  genuine  Judaism  would 
appear  more  valuable  than  that  form  of  revelation 
which  was  specially  intended  for  the  Gentiles. 

*  This  idea  was  always  to  be  found  among  the 
gnostics  of  the  second  century,  and  meets  us  in 
the  Indian  religious  systems,  and  in  Buddhism, 
that  men,  by  communion  with  the  Supreme  origi- 
nal being,  obtained  power  to  make  use  of  inferior 
spirits  for  their  own  ends,  and  that  in  this  manner 
wonderful  things  could  be  accomplished  by  their 
aid.  Here  the  contrast  which  Philo  makes  be- 
tween the  vlolc  Tou  xcyou  and  the  vloh  tov  ovtoc 
may  be  applied,  only  modified,  otherwise  than  in 
Philo ;  for  the  Alexandrian  theologians  of  Philo's 
school  attached  no  importance  to  the  connexion 
with  angels,  since  they  comprised  every  thing  in 
the  contact  of  the  spirit  with  God  himself,  and  the 
contemplation  of  ideas.  In  the  sect  here  spoken 
of,  the  oriental-theosophic  rather  than  the  Grecian- 
philosophic  element  of  Philo's  theology  is  promi- 
nent. 


is  by  no  means  sufficiently  suported  by  the 
marks  which  are  deducible  from  Paul's  ar- 
gumentation.   Had  they  sought  actually  to 
seduce    from    Christianity    those    among 
whom   they   found   entrance,   Paul   would 
have   marked   this    much    more    strongly. 
His  reasonings,  indeed,  as  they  are  carried 
on   in   this  epistle,  would   apply   to   those 
persons  who,  though  engaged  in  no  imme- 
diate and  open  opposition  to  Christianity, 
yet  assigned   to  it  a  subordinate  place  ;* 
but  the  peculiar  manner  in  which  he  ar- 
gues by  no  means  justifies  us  in  concluding 
that  they  are  the  direct  object  of  his  cen- 
sure.    Since  he  reproves  these  persons  for 
their  reverence  of  angels,  it  follows  that 
they  placed  themselves   in  a    subordinate 
relation  to  angels,  and  hence  certainly  to 
the  Logos,  a  being  exalted  above  all  an- 
gels   (the   a^j^ayysXog).     Had   they  main- 
tained   that   by    an    immediate  connexion 
with  the  hidden  God,  they  could  exalt  them- 
selves above  the  Logos  and  his  revelation, 
Paul  would  without  doubt  have  expressed, 
in   direct   opposition   to  this  doctrine,   the 
fundamental   principle,  that  men  can  enter 
into  connexion  with  the  Father  only  through 
the  Logos.     He  makes  use,  it  is  true,  of 
this  principle,  but  in  reference  to  a  different 
object  of  debate. 

In  that  Judaizing  sect  which  here  came 
into  conflict  with  the  simple  apostolic  doc- 
trine, we  see  the  germ  of  the  Judaizing 
gnosticism.  Though  the  account  given  by 
Epiphanius  of  the  conflict  between  Cerin- 
thus  and  the  apostle  Paul  is  not  worthy  of 
credit,  yet  at  least  between  the  tendency 
which  Paul  here  combats  and  the  tendency 
of  Cerinthus  the  greatest  agreement  is  found 
to  exist,  and,  judging  by  internal  marks, 
we  may  consider  the  sect  here  spoken  of 
to  be  allied  to  the  Cerinthian.  It  is  re- 
markable that,  to  a  late  period,  traces  of 
such  a  Judaizing  angelological  tendency 
were  to  be  found  in  those  parts,  for  at  the 
council  of  Laodicea  canons  were  framed 
against  a  Judaizing  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath, and  a  species  of  angelolatry,f  and 


*  Schneckenburger  has  developed  this  view  in 
his  late  essay  on  this  subject. 

t  Can.  XX.  oTi  oil  Sii  ^^t<r'Ti:tvoh  lovSAi^m  Ktti  cy 
T?  (ra/?/3«Ta)  (7-;^oxa<f6;v.  Can.  xvi.  ordains  sv  trayg- 
/SiTO)  ibctyyixta.  jxitx  iri^m  y^a.<pZv  (the  Old  Testa- 
ment)  av^yivcea-Ku^ai.  Can.  xxxv.  oti  ou  iil  X^'""' 
Tta.vov;  iyKATct),ii7rnv  rtiv  suxxxo-zotv  tou  S-eou  koj 
etyyixovt  ovo/jttt^tiy  ndi  ffvtuj^w  (meetings  for  pay- 


Chap.  IX.] 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  COLOSSIANS. 


187 


even  in  the  ninth  century  we  find  a  kindred 
sect,  the  Athinganians.* 

In  the  example  of  Paul  we  recognise  the 
pecuU^r  character  of  the  apostolic  mode  of 
refuting  error,  and  how  it  differs  from  that 
of  later  times.  While  this  busies  itself 
with  the  confutation  of  particular  errors, 
Paul,  on  the  conti-ary,  seized  the  root  of 
the  doctrine  in  its  peculiar  religious  funda- 
mental tendency  from  which  all  the  parti- 
cular errors  pi'oceeded,  and  opposed  to  it 
the  spirit  of  the  gospel.  This  method  was 
rather  positive  than  negative.  Thus  he' 
repressed  the  boasting  of  a  pretended  su-j 
perior  wisdom  and  of  a  delusive  acquaint-i 
ance  with  spirits,  without  setting  himself 
to  oppose  each  separate  particular,  by  ex-' 
hibiting  a  truth  that  marks  the  central  point 
of  Christianity ;  that  by  communion  with 
Christ  alone,  we  receive  all  the  fulness  of 
the  divine  life,  by  him  alone  we  are  intro- 
duced into  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  we 
belong  to  that  same  kingdom  to  which  all 
higher  spirits  belong,  by  union  with  him; 
as  the  common  head  of  the  whole  ;  in  him' 
we  have  all  things  which  are  needed  for 
the  developement  of  the  internal  life,  and 
hence  we  need  no  other  Mediator.  For 
the  purpose  of  combating  a  painful  super- 
stition, which  represented  this  and  the  other 
object  as  polluting  and  offensive,  and  re- 
commended various  charms  or  amulets  for 
warding  off  the  influence  of  evil  spirits, f 
he  appealed  to  the  facts  of  Christian  con- 
sciousness ;  that  Christians  were  redeemed 
from  the  power  of  evil,  and,  in  communion 
with  Christ,  were  certain  of  their  triumph 


ing  reverence  to  angels).  The  following  canon  is 
also  worthy  of  notice,  as  indicating  the  predomi- 
nant  and  peculiar  mental  tendency  on  ou  Sti  U^a- 

TiKOV!    »    X\>lg<l£OUC    /Xdiyoui;    i     iTTCtOl^'jVi  ilVHt    «    jUU.d'll- 

fxctTiKOvi;  ii  atrr^oMyoui  It  ttohTv  rm  Myofjuvft  tjiuxctjt- 
<r)tg/s(.  Theodoret  says,  in  his  commentary  on  this 
epistle  (ii.  18),  that  this  superstition  for  a  long 
time  maintained  itself  in  Phrygiaand  Pisidia,  and 
that  iti  his  day,  oratories  were  to  be  found  in  this 
and  the  neighbouring  districts  dedicated  to  the 
Archangel  Michael. 

*  See  my  Church  History.  Part  vii.  p.  545 ; 
part  viii.  p.  660. 

t  With  the  doctrine  of  various  orders  of  angels, 
this  sect  combined  the  doctrine  of  various  orders 
of  evil  spirits.  These  evil  spirits  were  considered 
especially  connected  with  matter  {Trvi'jfxrtr-J.  vxtn^). 
By  sensuality,  and  es|  ecially  by  the  enjoyment  of 
certain  kinds  of  food,  men  were  especially  exposed 
to  their  influence ;  and  by  chastening  the  body, 
and  abstaining  from  the  indulgence  of  the  senses, 
men  were  withdrawn  from  these  influences. 


over  all  the  powers  of  darkness — that  as 
their  inner  life  was  exalted  above  the 
reach  of  earthly  things,  to  which  they  were 
dead  with  Christ  as  it  already  belonged  to 
heaven,  with  whom  they  were  incorporated 
through  Christ,  so  it  ought  to  be  altogether 
carried  out  of  the  reach  of  a  religion  cleav- 
ing to  the  senses  ;  nor  ought  Christians  to 
allow  this  their  life  thus  exalted  to  heaven 
and  rooted  in  communion  with  God,  to  be 
dragged  down  to  the  elements  of  the  world, 
to  sensible  earthly  things, — "  See  to  it," 
said  the  apostle,  "  that  no  one  robs  you  of 
your  Christian  freedom,  that  no  one  trepans 
you  as  his  prey  by  the  worthless  deceitful 
appearance  of  a  pretended  higher  wisdom 
which  follows  human  traditions,  cleaves  to 
the  elements  of  the  world,  and  proceeds 
not  from  Christ.  Every  thing  which  does 
not  proceed  from  him  is  delusion ;  for  the 
whole  church  of  God,  which  belongs  to 
him  as  his  body,  exists  in  dependence  on 
him;  and  through  him,  who" is  the  com- 
mon head  of  all  the  powers  of  the  spiritual 
world,  are  ye  also  incorporated  with  that 
church,  ye  who  before  were  as  Gentiles 
excluded  from  the  developement  of  God's 
kingdom.  He  has  obtained  for  you  the 
forgiveness  of  sins,  and  thus  has  also  freed 
you  from  the  law  which  testified  against 
you  as  an  indictment,  having  blotted  it 
out.  By  his  sufferings,  he  has  triumphed 
over  the  whole  kingdom  of  evil ;  let  none 
of  you  therefore  hazard  becoming  slaves 
again,  and  condemn  yourselves  on  account 
of  those  outward  things,  all  of  which  are 
only  shadows  of  what  was  to  come ;  but 
in  Christ  we  behold  the  reality  itself  May 
no  one  succeed  in  beguiling  you  in  refer- 
ence to  your  highest  interests  (merely  be- 
cause  it  so  pleases  him — for  his  own  arbi- 
trary pleasure),  by  the  appearance  of  a 
humility  put  on  for  show,  by  the  worship 
of  angels,  since  he  is  disposed  to  pry  into 
what  is  hidden  from   man* — for  such  a 


*  In  the  passage.  Col.  ii.  18,  that  reading  which 
omits  the  //«  has  much  in  its  favour,  the  authority 
of  the  most  important  manuscripts,  and  the  com- 
parison  with  the  other  reading  ovii,  which  may  be 
considered  as  a  similar  gloss.  It  is  also  more  easy 
to  explain  how  the  connexion  of  the  whole  verse 
might  occasion  the  interpolation  of  the  negative, 
than  how  it  should  occasion  its  rejection,  by  which 
it  is  only  made  more  difficult.  If  this  reading  be 
adopted,  we  must  understand  the  passage  thus: 
"  He  pries  into  which  (as  he  imagines)  he  has 
seen,  the  appearances  of  angels — puffed  up  by  the 


188 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  EPHESIANS. 


[Book  III. 


one,  with  all  his  appearance  of  humility 
and  a  spiritual  life,  is  pufFed  up  with  an 
uno-odly  mind,  which  places  its  confidence 
in  a  nullity;  he  can  neither  exalt  hiaiself 
above  the  world  nor  to  Christ,  for  he  does 
not  hQld  fast  the  head  from  which  alone 
the  body,  animated  by^  it  and  held  together 
by  its  influence  in  all  its  members,  can  de- 
velope  itself  for  the  end  designed  by  God: 
How  is  it,  if  ye  are  dead  with  Christ  to  the 
things  of  the  world,  that  ye  can  adopt  as 
if  ye  belonged  to  the  world,  such  maxims 
as.  Touch  not  this,  taste  not  that ;  since 
all  this,  acccording  to  the  doctrine  of  these 
persons,  will  only  by  the  use  tend  to  de- 
struction !  Which  doctrines  certainly  have 
an  appearance  of  wisdom  in  the  arbitrarily 
invented  worship  of  God,  the  show  of  hu- 
mility, and  the  chastening  of  the  body ; 
but  yet  things  which  have  no  real  value, 
and  only  serve  to  gratify  an  ungodly  mind. 
If,  therefore,  ye  are  risen  with  Christ,  seek 
after  that  which  is  above  :  let  your  thoughts 
be  directed  thither  where  Christ  is,  who  is 
exalted  to  the  right  hand  of  God  :  let  your 
wishes  be  fixed  on  heaven."  This  ten- 
dency towards  heaven,  this  life  rooted  in 
God,  was  always  set  in  opposition  by  Paul 
to  the  superstition  that  would  drag  down 
divine  knowledge  to  the  objects  of  sense. 

This  epistle  was  conveyed  to  the  church 
at  Coloss'cE  by  Tychicus,  one  of  the  mis- 
sionary assistants'of  Paul,  who  was  return- 
ing  to  Lesser  Asia,  his  native  country. 
But  since  Paul  could  not  furnish  him  with 
epistles  for  all  the  Asiatic  churches,  and 
yet  would  gladly  have  testified  his  lively 
interest  in  all,  and  wished,  as  the  apostle 
of  the  Gentiles,  to  address  a  word  to  all 
collectively,  he  prepared  a  circular  letter 


delusive  images,  which  are  only  a  reflection  of  the 
sensuality  that  prevails  over  him,  of  his  sensual 
earthly  tendency  to  which  he  drags  down  the  ob- 
jects of  religion,  the  Invisible."  And  in  this  case 
the  contrast  would  be  very  suitable  ;  he  adheres 
not  in  faith  to  the  invi-iihlc  Head.  But  yet  this 
reading  appears  to  me  to  have  the  connexion  and 
the  meaning  of  single  words  too  much  against  it 
for  me  to  admit  it.  The  s/zfitTsv  tiv  appears  to 
me  too  plainly  to  designate  an  impertinent  eager- 
ness to  pry  into  what  is  hidden  from  human  sight, 
and  to  presuppose  the  negative  ^«  ;  and  if  the 
apostle  had  wished  to  mark  supposed  appearances 
of  angels,  he  would  certainly  nut  have  used  sce^axEii 
without  some  further  limitation,  some  additional 
phrase,  with  which  the  following  {.xii  niiglit  be 
connected;  as,  for  example,  by  a  socgxxsva;  J'.ku, 
this  vision  would  have  been  marked  as  deceptive 
and  presumptuous. 


designed  for  all  the  churches  in  that  region. 
In  this  epistle,  in  which  the  apostle  of  the 
Gentiles  addressed  himself  to  all  Gentile 
Christians  as  such,  he  treats  only  of  one 
great  subject  of  general  interest,  the  actual 
efficiency  of  the  gospel  among  the  Gen- 
tiles, without  entering  upon  other  topics.* 
The  similarity  of  the  two  epistles  (the 
Epistle  to  the  Colossians  and  the  so-called 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians)  is  of  such  a  kind, 
that  we  see  in  it  the  work  of  the  same 
author,  and  not  an  imitation  by  another 
hand.  Let  us  remember  that  Paul,  when 
he  wrote  this  epistle,  was  still  full  of  those 
thoughts  and  contemplations  which  occu- 
pied his  mind  when  he  wrote  the  Epistle 
to  the  Colossians ;  thus  we  can  account 
for  those  points  of  resemblance  in  the 
second,  which  was  written  immediately 
after  the  first.  And  hence  it  also  is  evi- 
dent, that  of  these  two,  the  Epistle  to  the 
Colossians  was  written  first,  for  the  apostle's 
thoughts  there  exhibit  themselves  in  their 
original  formation  and  connexion,  as  they 
were  called  forth  by  his  opposition  to  that 
sect  whose  sentiments  and  practices  he 
combats  in  that  epistle. f 

Though  this  epistle  has  come  down  to 
us  in  the  manuscripts,  now  extant,  as  ad- 
dressed to  the  church  at  Ephesus,  yet  the 
general  character  of  the  contents,  suited 
to  the  wants  of  the  Asiatic  Christians  of 
Gentile  descent,  testifies,  by  the  absence 
of  all  special  references  to  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  the  Ephesian  church, 
against  an  exclusive  or  predominant  ap- 
propriation of  it.  If  this  epistle  had  been 
designed  principally  for  the  Ephesian 
church,  Paul  would  certainly  have  been 
impelled  to  say  to  those  among  whom  he 
had  spent  so  long  a  time,  many  things  re- 
lating solely  to  their  peculiar  circum- 
stances. This  conclusion,  which  we  draw 
with  certainty  from  the  contents  of  the 
epistle,   is    confirmed    by  the    information 


*  It  was  so  fir  a  happy  thought  of  Schulz  to 
describe  this  Epistle  as  a  companion  to  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews. 

t  For  the  confirmation  of  this  relation  of  the 
two  epistles  to  one  another,  the  k^i  in  Eph.  vi.  21 
certainly  serves,  wiiich  can  only  be  explained  by 
.supposing  that  Paul  had  in  his  thoughts  what  he 
had  been  writing  to  the  Colossians,  iv.  8,  accord- 
ing to  the  correct  reading  Jv*  yvZ'Ti.  Harlcss  has 
noticed  this  mark  in  the  introdiiclion  to  his  Com- 
mentary on  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  and  after 
him  Wiggers,  jun.  in  the  Sludien  undKriliken; 
1841,  2d  part,  p.  453. 


Chap.  X] 


PAUL'S  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  TIMOTHY. 


189 


that  has  come  down  to  us  from  antiquity, 
that  the  designation  of  the  place  in  the  in- 
troductory salutation  is  wanting  in  an- 
cient manuscripts.  But  since  the  Ephesian 
church  consisted  for  the  most  part  of  Gen- 
tile Christians,  we  have  no  reason  to  doubt 
that  this  epistle  was  equally  designed  for 
them,  though  being  a  circular  letter,  the 
apostle  touched  only  on  those  circumstances 
and  wants  which  were  common  to  them 
with  the  other  churches  of  this  district.  It 
might  also  be  thought  most  proper,  that 
the  epistle  should  be  sent  from  Ephesus, 
as  the  metropolis  and  the  seat  of  the  mother- 
church,  to  the  other  churches.  This  would 
best  agree  with  the  designation  which  it 
generally  obtained  at  an  early  period,  as 
specially  addressed  to  the  Ephesian  church. 
Yet  from  this  remark  we  do  not  venture 
to  infer  too  much,  since  the  great  prepon- 
derance of  the  Ephesian  church,  as  one  of 
the  sedes  apostolicce,  although  the  epistle 
at  first  might  have  had  no  precise  designa- 
tion, must  have  procured  a  predominant 
value  to  its  name,  as  if  of  one  directed  to 
the  Ephesian  church.* 

In  the  second  period  of  his  confinement, 
Paul  received  a  contribution  from  the 
church  at  Philippi  (who  had  already  given 
practical  proof  of  their  love  for  him)  through 
Epaphroditus,  their  messenger,  from  whom 
also  he  received  an  account  of  their  state. 
In  consequence  of  this  information,  he  had 
occasion  to  put  the  Christians  at  Philippi 
on  their  guard  against  the  influence  of 
Judaizing  teachers,  to  exhort  them  to  union 
among  themselves,  and  to  recommend  to 
those  who  had  more  liberal  and  enlarged 
views,  forbearance  towards  their  weaker 
brethren.  On  this  last  topic,  he  gives  them, 
in  the  words  of  the  exhortation  which  he 
added  at  the  close  of  the  epistle,  the  im- 
portant rule,  that  all  should  seek  to  employ 
faithfully  the  measure  of  knowledge  which 
they  had  already  attained  (iii.  15),  that  then 
God  would  reveal  to  them  what  they  still 
Wanted,  and  thus  all  would  by  degrees 
arrive  at  a  stale  of  Christian  maturity.f 

*  The  well-founded  reaction  agrainst  the  nega- 
tive assertions  of  an  arbitrary  scepticism,  must  not 
seduce  us  into  a  superstitious  overvaluation  of  tra- 
dition, whicli  in  its  turn  may  lead  to  mere  arbi- 
trary assertions,  instead  of  that  result  which  offers 
itself  from  the  comprehensive  survey  of  Christian 
antiquity. 

t  The  gloss  of  the  common  reading  (»avov/,  to 
tfyTo  <fg;i'e?v),  which   injures  the  meaning,  arose 


He  exhorted  them,  under  the  persecutions 
to  which  the  Christians  in  Macedonia  were 
still  exposed,  to  bear  joyfully  their  suffer- 
ings for  Christ's  sake,  and  to  view  them  as 
a  gift  of  grace,  which  was  vouchsafed  to 
them. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Paul's  LABoyas  after  his  release  from  his  first 

CONFINEMENT  AT  ROME,  TO  HIS  MARTYRDOM. 

Hitherto  we  have  possessed  certain 
information  respecting  the  circumstances 
and  labours  of  the  apostle  Paul  during  his 
confinement  at  Rome.  But  in  reference  to 
the  sequel,  we  meet  on  all  sides  with  great 
obscurity  and  uncertainty.  The  question 
arises,  whether  he  ended  this  confinement 
with  martyrdom,  or  whether  he  was  re- 
leased from  it,  and  entered  afresh  on  his 
apostolic  labours.  The  decision  of  this 
question  depends  partly  on  the  depositions 
of  historical  witnesses,  partly  on  the  result 
of  an  examination  of  Paul's  Second  Epistle 
to  Timothy,  whether  this  epistle,  which 
was  evidently  written  during  a  confinement 
at  Rome,  must  be  classed  among  the  epis- 
tles written  in  the  time  of  his  first  confine- 
ment, or  whether  we  must  assume  the  ex- 
istence of  a  second.  The  narratives  of  the 
fourth  century,  according  to  which  Paul 
was  set  at  liberty  and  puljlished  the  gospel 
in  Spain,  cannot  be  taken  into  account,  for 
all  these  might  very  easily  arise  from  what 
he  says  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  of 
his  intentions  of  visiting  Spain.  But  more 
attention  is  due  to  an  account  which  is 
given  by  a  man  who  was  in  part  a  contem- 
porary, and  probably  a  disciple  of  Paul. 
Clement,  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  says  ex- 
pressly in  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians, (§  5)*  that  Paul  suffered  martyrdom, 


froni  mistaking  the  sense  of  the  passage,  and  sup. 
posing  that  it  referred  to  Christian  unity,  and  not 
to  the°agreement  of  practice  with  knowledge. 

*  What  we  learn  from  the  only  natural  inter- 
pretation of  this  pa'^sage  could  not  have  occurred, 
if  what  Schenkcl  has  remarked  in  his  dissertation 
against  a  second  confinement  of  Paul  (in  the 
Sludien  und  Kritiken,  1S41,  part  1),  respecting 
Clement's  Epistle  be  correct ;  namely,  that  it  was 
Virritten  only  a  few  years  after  the  Epistle  of  Paul 
to  the  Corintliians,  between  the  years  61  and  65 ; 
bat  we  cannot  entirely  agree  with  this  opinion. 
The  inference  from  §  41,  where  the  author  ex. 


190 


PAUL'S  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  TIMOTHY. 


[Book  IIL 


after  he  had  travelled  to  the  boundaries  of 
the  West.*  By  this  expression,  we  most 
naturally  understand  Spain;  and  though 
Clement  might  have  understood  by  it  some 
other  place  or  country  than  exactly  this, 
yet  WQ  cannot  in  any  case  suppose,  that  a 
person  writing  at  Rome  would  intend  by  it 
that   very   city.f     From    this    account  of 


presses  himself  as  if  the  temple  and  temple-wor- 
ship  at  Jerusalem  were  still  in  existence,  cannot 
countervail  those  passages  which  contam  the  most 
undeniable  marks  of  a  later  period ;  as  §  44,  on 
the  election  to  church-offices ;  §  47,  where  it  is 
presupposed  that  Paul  wrote  the  First  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians  at  the  beginning  of  the  publication  (or 
of  Ais  publication)  of  the  gospel  (b  a^x'^  tov  iucty. 
yiMov).  And  it  appears  that  the  author  knew  no- 
thing of  any  epistle  written  to  the  Corinthians  by 
Paul  before  our  first  epistle  to  them.  I  also  think 
that  Clement  would  have  expressed  himself  other- 
wise in  §  5,  if  he  had  written  only  a  few  years 
after  Paul's  martyrdom.  The  allusions  to  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  also  indicate  a  much  later 
date. 

*  The  /xagTugs^v  is  in  this  connexion,  "  y.cte_Tvgyi- 
<ra.%  \Tti  Tffiv  H^ot/^svajv,"  to  be  understood,  probably, 
not  in  the  later  meaning  of  martyrdom,  but  in  the 
original  sense  of  bearing  testimony  to  the  faith, 
although  with  a  reference  to  the  death  of  Paul, 
•which  was  brought  on  by  this  confession.  "  He 
bore  testimony  of  his  faith  before  the  heathen 
magistrates."  At  all  events,  the  words  ivi  t^Zv 
iryoviJLim  must  be  understood  as  a  general  desig- 
nation  of  the  heathen  magistrates;  and  we  cannot 
suppose  that  Clement  intended  to  give  a  precise 
chronological  mark,  or  to  refer  to  the  persons  to 
whom  a?  that  time  the  management  of  public  af- 
fairs was  committed  in  Rome. 

t  Schrader,  indeed,  adopts  Ernesti's  opinion, 
that  by  Tsg^a  tmc  (Tus-sai?  may  be  meant  the  boun- 
daries of  the  west  towards  the  east,  and  thus  no- 
thing else  be  intended  than  that  Paul  had  just 
reached  as  far  as  the  boundaries  of  the  west.  But 
though  we  are  willing  to  allow  that  the  words 
might  in  themselves  be  so  understood,  yet  it  is 
impossible  so  to  understand  them  in  this  con- 
nexion. For  Clement  had  just  said  that  Paul 
proclaimed  the  gospel  in  the  east  and  in  the  west 
(xxgul  ^svo/zsvoc  Iv  TM  ttv*T0?,5i  X.H.I  sv  TK  h^Tii),  that 
he  liad  taught  righteousness  to  the  whole  world 
{S'iKatctrvv>iv  Mdi^A;  omv  tcv  Ko<r/xvv),  and  then  foUov^s 
the  words  Wi  to  t^/xu,  tmc  (Tus-saic  sx3-aiv.  In  this 
connexion,  Clement  must  surely  have  intended  to 
say  that  Paul  advanced  far  into  the  west.  It  may 
here  be  remarked,  that  Clement  must  have  known 
more  of  the  events  in  general  of  Paul's  life,  for  he 
says  that  Paul  was  seven  times  put  in  fetters. 
After  what  has  been  said  since  the  publication  of 
this  work  against  this  interpretation  and  applica- 
tion  of  the  passage  in  Clement,  I  cannot  prevail 
on  myself  to  give  it  up ;  and  I  am  pleased  to  find 
critics  like  Credner,  who  hold  the  same  views. 
How  can  it  be  imagined  that  Clement,  if  he 
thought  only  of  Paul's  first  confinement  at  Rome, 
could  say  that  he  had  published  the  gospel  not 
merely  in  the  east  but  also  in  the  west,  and  had 
come  even  to  the  boundaries  of  the  west  ?    Even 


Clement,  if  we  must  infer  that  Paul  carried 
into  effect  his  intention  of  travelling  into 
Spain,  or  that,  at  least,  he  went  beyond 
Italy,  we  are  also  obliged  to  admit,  that  he 
was  released  from  his  confinement  at  Rome. 
And  we  must  abide  by  this  opinion,  if  we 
have  no  further  information  of  the  circum- 
stances of  Paul  during  his  second  confine- 
ment, if  we  also  place  his  Second  Epistle 
to  Timothy  in  the  time  of  his  first  imprison- 
ment. 

If  we  depart  from  this  last  supposition, 
we  can  put  two  cases ;  either  that  Paul 
wrote  this  epistle  at  the  beginning  or  at  the 
end  of  his  confinement.  As  to  the  first 
case,  we  know,  that  Paul  came  to  Rome 
without  Timothy,  but  that  he  was  after- 
wards in  his  society.  It  may  be  therefore 
supposed,  that  he  was  called  by  this  epistle 
from  Lesser  Asia  to  Rome,  and  that  from 
that  time  he  remained  constantly  with  him. 
But  the  information  furnished  by  this  epistle, 
of  Paul's  situation  at  that  time,  is  entirely 
opposed  to  such  a  supposition.  When  he 
wrote  it,  he  had  already  obtained  a  public 
audience,  and  had  been  heard  in  his  de- 
fence. On  the  contrary,  in  the  first  period 
of  his  confinement,  this  had  certainly  not 
happened,  since  it  is  first  mentioned  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Philippians.  He  then  had  his 
martyrdom  in  prospect,  while  his  First 
Epistle  during  his  confinement  held  out  the 
most  cheering  hopes  of  his  release. 

If  we  take  the  second  case,  and  consider 
this  epistle  as  the  last  he  wrote  in  that 
confinement  at  Rome,  it  will  connect  itself 
with  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  with 
respect  to  the  darker  prospects  of  the 
apostle's  situation,  of  which  it  contains 
several  indications.  But  several  other 
things  do  not  agree  with  this  supposition, 
and  rather  direct  us  to  another  date.  And 
although  not  every  particular  which  we 
could  mention  on  this  point  has  equal 
weight,  yet  all  taken  together  are  in  favour 
of  that  view,  according  to  which  all  the 
particulars  can  be  most  naturally  and 
simply  understood,  in  the  manner  which 
would  first  occur  to  an  unprejudiced  reader 
of  the  epistle.     Paul   desires  Timothy  to 


if  we  allow  much  for  the  rhetorical  form  of  the 
expression,  we  cannot  consider  this  as  a  proper 
designation  of  such  a  fact;  and  why  should  a 
writer  who  had  at  hand  so  many  rhetorical  desig- 
nations for  the  metropolis  of  the  world,  have  chosen 
one  so  unnatural  as  this  ? 


Chap.  X.] 


PAUL'S  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  TIMOTHY. 


191 


come  to  him,  without  any  allusions  to  his 
having  been  already  with  him  during  his 
confinement.  When  we  begin  to  read  the 
epistle,  every  thing  gives  the  impression, 
that  he  had  taken  leave  of  Timothy  in  the 
place  where  the  latter  was  now  residing, 
and  since  that  time  had  been  put  in  confine- 
ment. He  cautions  him  against  the  false 
teachers  in  his  neighbourhood  (in  Lesser 
Asia,  probably  at  Ephesus)  ii.  17,  and 
speaks  of  them  as  if  he  had  himself  the 
opportunity  of  knowing  them  from  personal 
observation.  This  could  not  have  been 
during  his  earlier  residence  in  Lesser  Asia, 
for  at  that  time  these  heretical  tendencies 
had  not  yet  shown  themselves,  as  appears 
from  what  we  have  before  remarked  ;  but 
every  thing  is  easily  explained  if  Paul, 
being  released  from  confinement,  travelled 
into  Lesser  Asia,  as  he  intended,  and 
entered  into  conflict  with  these  false 
teachers,  who  had  gained  a  footing  there 
during  his  absence.  He  informed  Timothy 
of  the  result  of  his  first  public  examination, 
iv.  16,  and  in  a  manner  which  implies  that 
Timothy  knew  nothing  before  of  it,  and 
that  it  had  taken  place  during  his  absence 
from  Rome.  But  when  Paul  made  his  de- 
fence during  his  first  confinement  Timothy 
was  with  him ;  (compare  Philip,  i.  7.) 
We  are  therefore  led  to  think  of  something 
that  happened  during  Paul's  second  con- 
finement. There  are,  besides,  many  marks 
which  indicate  that  he  had  come  to  the 
West  by  his  usual  route  from  Lesser  Asia 
through  Achaia,  but  which  we  know  was 
not  his  route  when  he  last  came  from 
Csesarea  to  Jerusalem.  He  charges  Timo- 
thy to  bring  with  him  the  cloak,  the  books, 
and  especially  the  parchments,  which  he 
had  left  behind  at  the  house  of  a  person 
whose  name  he  mentions.  Now  it  is  far 
more  probable,  that  he  left  these  things 
behind  after  a  visit  to  Troas  some  months 
before,  than  at  a  distance  of  four  or  six 
years,  which  we  must  suppose  to  have  been 
the  case,  if  the  epistle  was  written  during  his 
first  confinement,  and  that  they  should  not 
be  brought  to  him  till  after  so  long  an  in- 
terval.* In  order  to  depict  his  state  of 
desertion,  he  informs  him  that  Erastus,  one 
of  his  usual  companions,  who  probably  was 


!  with  him  the  last  time  in  Lesser  Asia,* 
stayed  behind  in  his  native  place  Corinth; 
and  that  he  had  left  another  of  his  com- 
panions Trophimus  sick  at  Miletum.f 
Although  we  find  several  persons  in  Paul's 
society,  who  were  also  with  him  during  his 
first  confinement  (though  this  circumstance 
will  not  serve  to  fix  the  date,  since  the  same 
causes  as  at  that  time  might  bring  them 
again  into  his  society) ;  yet  among  these  is 
a  Titus,  who  was  not  with  him  before,  for- 
we  have  not  met  with  them  together  since 
the  apostle's  last  sojourn  in  Macedonia  and 
Achaia,  and  a  Crescens,  who  is  not  named 
before  as  one  of  his  companions. 

Against  the  opinion  that  this  epistle, 
according  to  the  marks  we  have  indicated, 
was  written  in  Paul's  second  confinement, 
it  may  indeed  be  objected,  that  we  find  in 
it  no  reference  to  an  earlier  confinement  at 
Rome.     But  this  will  appear  less  strange, 


*  It  is  an  arbitrary  assumption  that  these  parch- 
ments contained  documents  relative  to  his  defence, 
and  that  for  that  reason  he  wished  to  have  them. 


*  See  Acts  xix.  22.  This  could  hardly  be  the 
same  as  the  oi^ovo^moc  of  Corinlh,  mentioned  in 
Rom.  xvi.  23,  for  his  office  would  scarcely  allow 
of  his  being  so  often  with  Paul  on  his  missionary 
jouineys. 

t  On  the  supposition  that  the  epistle  might  have 
been  written  during  Paul's  first  confinement,  it  is 
the  most  natural  supposition  that  such  persons  are 
here  spoken  of  who  had  resolved  to  come  to  Rome 
(as  Timothy  knew),  to  the  apostle's  assistance  on 
his  trial,  according  to  the  usages  of  Roman  law. 
'  One  of  them,  Erastus,  had  not  left  Corinth  as  he 
intended,  but  remained  there.     Trophimus  (who 
!  as  a  witness  might  have  been  of  great  service) 
I  they  (the  delegates  of  the  churches  in  Lesser  Asia 
I  who  had  agreed  to  travel  together  to  Rome)  had 
1  left  behind  sick   at   Miletum  (ci^sx/Trov,  the   third 
!  person  plural).     But  certainly  the  other  interpre- 
tation, in  which  nothing  needs  to  be  supplied,  is 
'  the  simplest,  and  that  which  would  first  occur  to 
j  an  unprejudiced  reader  of  the  epistle.     Besides,  if 
j  Paul  had  reminded  Timothy  of  something  which 
must  have  been  known  to  him,  in  order  to  stir  hira 
still  more  to  set  off  without  delay  to  Rome,  (as 
Timothy,  who  was  probably  staying  at  Ephesus, 
must   have    known   that  the   delegates    from    the 
churches  had  left  Trophimus  sick  in  his  neigh- 
bourhood), he  would  have  added  some  such  word 
as  olJac,  to  signify  that  he  was  merely  reminding 
him  of  something  he   knew  alreadJ^      We   may 
also  doubt  whether  the  testimony  of  Trophimus 
was  of  so  much  consequence  to  Paul.    The  charge 
of  raising  a  tumult  at  Jerusalem  would  probably 
not  be  so  dangerous  to  him ;  on  the  contrary,  he 
was  most  probably  justified  sufficiently  on  his  ar- 
rival at  Rome  by  the  statements  that  were  sent  at 
the  same  time  from  the  Roman  authorities,  whose 
inquiries  had  hitherto  led  to  a  favourable  result. 
But  that  charge  of  having  prompted  among  Ro- 
man citizens  to  apostatize  from  the  state  religion, 
and  propagated  a  religio  nova  et  illicita,  must  have 
been  really  dangerous,  and  in  this  case  Trophimus 
could  be  of  no  assistance  to  him. 


192 


PAUL'S  RELEASE. 


[Book  IIL 


if  we  attend  to  the  following  considerations. 
By  this  epistle  to  Timothy,  the  apostle  by 
no  means  intended  to  give  the  first  infor- 
mtition  of  his  new  confinement;  he  rather 
assumes,  that  this,  and  in  part  the  pecu- 
liarities of  his  condition  in  it,  were  already 
known  to  him,  as  appears  from  i.  15,*  and 
by  means  of  the  constant  intercourse  be-, 
tween  the  chief  cities  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire, and  the  lively  interest  taken  by  the 
churches  in  Paul's  affairs,  information  re- 
specting him  must  soon  have  reached  Ephe- 
sus.  i\'Ioreover,  during  this  period  after  his 
release,  so  many  things  occurred  in  his  re- 
newed.apostolic  labours,  which  fully  occu- 
pied the  mind  of  one  who  was  more  affected 
by  events  relating  to  the  kingdom  of  God 
than  by  any  personal  considerations,  and 
pushed  into  the  background  the  recollec- 
tion of  his  former  confinement;  and  in  the 
prospect  of  martyrdom,  he  would  fix  his 
thoughts  more  on  the  future  than  on  the 
past,  especially  in  reference  to  events  that 
were  likely  to  aflect  the  progress  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 

Now  if  we  admit  that  Paul  was  released 
from  that  confinement,  we  must  assume 
that  he  regained  his  freedom  before  the  per- 
secution against  the  Christians  occasioned 
by  the  conflagration  at  Rome  in  the  year 
64  ;  for  had  he  been  a  prisoner  at  this  time 
he  would  certainly  have  not  been  spared. 
And  it  agrees  with  the  chronological  data 
which  we  have  before  discovered,  that  after 
more  than  a  two  years'  imprisonment,  he 
regained  his  freedom  between  the  years  62 
and  63,  a  result  of  the  proceedings  against 
him  which  in  itself,  and  in  connexion  with 
existing  circumstances,  is  by  no  means  im- 
probable. The  accusation  of  raising  a  tu- 
mult at  Jerusalem  had  been  proved  to  be 
unfounded ;  but  the  opposition  of  Chris- 
tianity to  the  Sfate-religion  had  not  then 
attracted  the  public  attention,  and  though 
this  fact  could  not  have  passed  altogether 
unnoticed,  yet  no  definite  law  existed  on 
the  subject,  and  under  the  Emperor  Nero, 
who  ridiculed  the  established  religion,  and 
gave  himself  little  concern  about  the  an- 


*  This  passage  may  be  most  naturally  under- 
stood of  a  number  of  Christians  from  Lesser  Asia, 
wlio,  on  coming  lo  Rome,  were  afraid  to  visit  Paul 
in  his  confini-ment,  and  whom  he  met  wiih  in 
Lesser  Asia  when  he  wrote  this  epistle.  Paul 
marks  the  persons  to  whom  he  alluded  by  speci- 
fying  two  of  their  number. 


cient  Roman  enactments,  such  a  point 
might  more  easily  be  waived.  The  friends 
whom  Paul  had  gained  by  his  behaviour 
during  his  confinement,  and  by  the  manner 
of  conducting  his  defence,  would  probably 
exert  their  influence  in  his  favour.  Thus 
he  might  regain  his  freedom  ;  and  the  an- 
cient tradition  that  he  was  beheaded*  and 
not  crucified  like  Peter,  if  true,  favours  his 
not  having  suffered  death  in  the  persecu- 
tion of  64 ;  for  had  he  been  put  to  death 
in  that  persecution,  so  much  regard  would 
not  have  been  paid  to  his  Roman  citizen- 
ship as  to  spare  the  hated  leader  of  a  de- 
tested sect  from  the  more  painful  and  igno- 
minious mode  of  execution. 

From  the  epistles  written  by  Paul  during 
his  first  confinement,  we  learn  that  he  la- 
boured much  at  Rome  in  publishing  the 
gospel ;  his  firm  advocacy  of  the  cause  of 
God,  and  his  happy  release,  must  have  had 
a  beneficial  influence  in  this  respect.  Hence 
it  came  to  pass,  that  Christianity  from  this 
time  spread  with  still  greater  power  among 
the  Gentiles  in  Rome.  But  owing  to  the  same 
cause,  the  new  sect,  while  gaining  ground 
among  the  heathen  to  the  injury  of  idola- 
try, drew  on  itself  the  attention  of  the 
fanatical  people,  who  could  not  feel  other- 
wise than  hostile  to  the  enemies  of  their 
gods  ;  and  the  hatred  thus  excited  soon  oc- 
casioned the  report  to  be  spread  of  unna- 
tural crimes  committed  in  the  assemblies 
of  these  impious  persons.  Perhaps  also 
the  Jews,  who  were  more  embittered  against 
the  Christians  when  their  designs  against 
Paul  proved  abortive,  contributed  their  part 
to  excite  the  popular  hatred  against  them. 
But  a  persecution  on  the  part  of  the  state 
would  hardly  have  been  threatened  so  soon, 
if  the  Emperor  Nero  had  not  availed  him- 
of  the  popular  feeling,  which  easily  credited 
every  thing  bad  of  the  Christians,  in  order 
to  cast  an  odium  on  the  Christians  which 
he  wished  to  throw  off  from  himself  f  Yet 
it  by  no  means  appears  that  this  outbreak 
against  the  Christians  ii)  Rome  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  general  persecution  against 
them  throughout  the  provinces,  and  hence 
Paul  might  meanwhile  continue  his  aposto- 
lic labours  without  molestation  in  distant 
parts. 


*  See  Eusebius,  ii.  25. 

t  On  this  persecution  in  Rome,  see  my  Church 
History,  vol.  i.  part  1,  p.  136;  and  part  3,  p.  239. 


Chap.  X.] 


PAUL'S  EPISTLES  TO  TIMOTHY  AND  TITUS. 


193 


As  for  the  histoiy  of  his  labours  in  this 
new  field,  we  have  no  information  respect- 
ing it ,'  nor  can  the  total  want  of  sources 
for  this  part  of  church  history  be  at  all 
surprising.  But  this  defect  of  information 
cannot  be  made  use  of  to  render  doubtful 
the  fact  of  Paul's  second  confinement. 
Nothing,  therefore,  is  left  for  us,  but  to 
compare  the  short  account  (already  men- 
tioned) in  the  Epistle  of  Clemens  Romanus, 
with  what  Paul  himself  tells  us  respecting 
his  intentions  in  case  he  regained  his  free- 
dom, in  the  epistles  written'during  his  first 
confinement,  and  with  what  may  be  ga- 
thered from  his  other  letters,  which  it  seems 
probable  that  he  wrote  after  his  release. 

Before  his  confinement,  Paul  had  ex- 
pressed the  intention  of  going  into  Spain, 
and  the  testimony  of  the  Roman  Clement 
favours  this  belief  that  he  fulfilled  this  in- 
tention. But  during  his  confinement  at 
Rome  he  had  altered  his  views,  and  was 
determined,  by  reasons  which  we  have  al- 
ready noticed,  to  visit  once  more  the  scene 
of  his  early  labours  in  Lesser  Asia.  The 
Second  Epistle  to  Timothy  contains  hints 
of  his  returning  by  his  usual  route  through 
Achaia.  But  it  would  be  possible  that  after 
his  release  he  travelled  first  into  Spain  ;* 
that  he  there  exerted  himself  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  Christian  churches,  and  then 
revisited  the  former  sphere  of  his  minis- 
try ;  that  he  was  on  his  return  to  the  West, 
in  order  to  close  there  his  apostolic  com- 
mission, but  before  he  could  reach  his  des- 
tination was  detained  and  executed  at  Rome. 
However,  the  want  of  any  memorial  of  his 
labours  in  Spain,  the  want  of  any  record 
of  an  ecdesia  apostolica,  does  not  favour 
the  supposition  that  Paul  spent  any  length 
of  time  in  that  country ;  and  hence  the 
other  explanation,  that  he  first  renewed 
his  labours  in  the  East,  then  betook  him- 
self to  Spain,  and  soon  after  his  arrival  was 
beheaded,  seems  to  deserve  the  preference. 

We,  therefore,  are  of  opinion  that  Paul 
first  fulfilled  his  intention  of  returning  to 
Lesser  Asia.  Now  the  First  Epistle  of 
Paul  to  Timothy  and  the  Epistle  to  Titus, 
by  the  peculiarities  of  their  mode  of  ex- 
pression,  and    the   peculiar   references  to 


*  Which  Mynster  (with  whom  otherwise  I  am 
glad  to  agree  on  many  points  in  my  view  of  this 
part  of  the  Apostolic  History)  Adopts  in  his  Essay 
De  ullimis  minis  rnuneris  apostolici  a  Paulo  gesli, 
in  his  smaller  theological  writings,  p.  234. 

25 


ecclesiastical  relations,  connect  themselves 
so  closely  with  the  Second  Epistle  to  Timo- 
thy, and  exhibit  so  many  marks  of  the 
later  apostolic  age  (one  of  which  we  have 
already  noticed),  that  it  appears  reasonable 
to  assign  both  these  epistles  to  this  period. 

In  the  earlier  history  of  the  apostle,  we 
can  find  no  point  of  time  in  which  he  could 
have  written  such  a  letter  to  Timothy  at 
Ephesus,  in  reference  to  the  concerns  of 
that  church,  as  his  first  epistle  ;*  for  this 


*The  genuineness  of  the  First  Epistle  to  Timo- 
thy being  presupposed,  the  view  I  have  here  taken 
of  the  relations  and  circumstances  under  which  it 
was  written,  appears  to  be  the  only  tenable  one. 
But  I  confess  that  I  am  not  convinced  of  the 
genuineness  of  the  First  Epistle  to  Timothy,  with 
the  same  certainty  as  of  the  Pauline  origin  of  all 
the  other  Pauline  Epistles,  and  of  the  two  other 
Pastoral  Letters,  and  the  Epistles  to  the  Ephesians 
and  the  Collossians.  What  is  said  in  this  Epistle 
of  the  false  teachers  excites  no  suspicion  in  my 
mind ;  and  I  can  find  nowhere  the  allusions  to  the 
later  gnostic  doctrines,  which  Bauer  would  find  in 
this  as  well  as  in  the  Pastoral  Letters.  The  germ 
of  such  Judaizing  gnosticism,  or  of  a  Judaizing 
theosophi<!  ascetic  tendency,  as  it  sliows  itself  in 
the  two  Epistles  to  Timothy,  I  would  presuppose 
a  priori  to  be  existing  at  this  time,  since  the  ap.. 
pearances  of  the  second  century  point  back  to 
such  a  tendency  gradually  evolving  itself  out  of 
Judaism.  In  this  respect,  the  absence  of  the  marks 
of  a  later  date  in  the  controversial  part  of  this 
epistle,  is  to  me  proof  of  its  high  antiquity.  To 
the  declaration  of  Hegesippus  in  Eusebius,  iii.  32, 
that  the  falsifications  of  doctrine  first  began  afi,er 
the  death  of  the  apostle,  or  rather  then  ventured 
to  make  their  public  appearance,  I  can  attach  no 
such  weight  as  historical  evidence,  as  to  cast  a 
doubt  on  these  undeniable  facts.  As  there  is  an 
unhistorical  tendency  produced  by  a  dogmatic  bias 
which  transposes  tlie  originators  of  all  heresies  to 
the  apostolic  age,  and  makes  the  apostles  to  be  the 
first  impugners  of  them ;  so  also  there  is  a  more 
unhistorical  tendency,  and  equally  proceeding  from 
a  dogmatic  bias  (as  is  the  case  with  all  the  depo- 
sitions of  Hegesippus),  which  would  maintain  that 
up  to  a  certain  date,  the  church  was  wholly  pure, 
and  that  all  heresies  broke  out  first  after  tJie  de- 
cease of  the  apostles.  A  common  but  one-sided 
truth  lies  at  the  bottom  of  both  opinions.  I  can 
find  nothing  surprising  in  the  fact,  that,  in  the  two 
Epistles  to  Timothy,  such  an  aspect  of  the  pre- 
sent as  an  omen  and  germ  of  wliat  would  be  de- 
veloped in  the  future  is  to  be  seen.  The  atten- 
tive observer,  capable  of  deeper  insight  must  here 
behold  the  future  in  the  present.  But  I  cannot 
deny  that,  when  I  come  from  reading  other  Pauline 
Epistles,  and  especially  tlie  two  other  Pastoral  Let- 
ters, to  this  epistle,  I  feel  myself  struck  by  the  im- 
pression of  something  not  Pauline.  More  parti- 
cularly, the  mode  of  transition  appears  to  me  not 
in  the  Pauline  style, — as  in  ii.  7 ;  iii.  1 ;  iii.  15  ; 
v.  17,  18;  and  the  relation  of  this  epistle  to  the 
two  other  Pastoral  Letters  is  also  suspicious.  I 
can  indeed  find  reasons  for  allaying  these  doubts, 


194 


PAUL  AT  EPHESUS. 


[Book  111. 


epistle  presupposes  a  church  already  for 
some  time  in  existence,  which,  in  many- 
respects  required  a  new  organization  of 
church  relations,  the  displacing  several  of 
the  leading  officers  of  the  church,  and  the 
appointment  of  others.  The  new  class  of 
false  teachers  who  had  sprung  up  in  Lesser 
Asia  during  Paul's  imprisonment,  had  ac-. 
quired  great  influence  in  the  Ephesian 
church.  As  Paul  (according  to  an  inter- 
pretation not  absolutely  necessary  of  his 
farewell  address  at  Miletus)  had  anticipated, 
several  overseers  of  the  churches  had  al- 
lowed themselves  to  be  seduced  by  the 
spirit  oC  false  doctrine.  The  false  teachers 
to  whom  we  refer  bore  the  same  marks 
which  we  find  in  those  who  appeared  in 
the  church  at  Colossoe  during  Paul's  con- 
finement. They  belonged  to  the  class  of 
Judaizers  who  maintained  the  perpetual 
obligation  of  the  Mosaic  law.*  But  they 
distinguished  themselves  from  the  common 
Judaizers  by  a  theosophic  ascetic  tendency. 
They  taught  abstinence  from  certain  kinds 
of  food,  and  prescribed  celibacy  as  essen- 
tial to  Christian  perfection.!  But  they 
united  with  this  practical  tendency  a  theo- 
retical peculiarity.  They  prided  themselves 
on  possessing  a  higher  yvwci'ig  (the  cpiXo- 
o'o(pia  of  the  epistle  to  the  Colossians),  and 
by  this  they  were  seduced  from  the  simpli- 
city of  the  faith.  They  taught  legendary 
tales  respecting  the  origin  and  propagation 
of  spirits,  like  the  false  teachers  at  Co- 
lossse.^     They  brought    forward    subjects 


but  none  which,  taken  altogether,  can  satisfy  the 
unprejudiced  lover  of  truth. 

*  As  appears  from  the  Pauline  antithesis,  1  Tim. 
i.  9. 

t  Among  the  (yufx-XTiKn  yuuvcfT-ici,  1  Tim.  iv.  8, 
must  without  doubt  be  included  a  devotion  that 
consisted  in  outward  gestures,  abstinencies,  and 
ceremonies,  the  opposite  of  which  is  true  piety, 
iuT-ifiiiu,  having  its  seat  in  the  disposition. 

i  The  genealogical  investigations  common 
among  the  Jews,  by  which  they  sought  to  trace 
their  descent  from  persons  of  no'e  in  former  times 
up  to  the  Patriarchs,  cannot  certainly  be  intended 
in  1  Tim.  i.  4,  for  inquiries  of  this  sort  could 
never  be  introduced  among  Gentiles,  nor  could 
their  minds  be  so  much  occupied  with  them,  that 
an  attention  to  them  should  be  set  down  among 
the  marks  of  character.  Nor  can  we  suppose  a 
reference  to  inquiries  respecting  the  genealogy  of 
Jesus;  what  has  just  been  said  would  in  part  ap. 
ply  to  this  supposition,  and  in  this  case  Paul  would 
iiave  marked  liis  moaning  more  precisely,  and  ac- 
cording to  his  usual  antithetical  style,  contrasted 
the  ;tg/5-Tcic  kuto.  7rw[j.a.  with  the  ;^g/3-T0c  xcit* 
o-agxrt.    On  the  contrary,  it  will  be  quite  suitable 


which  gave  rise  to  subtle  disputations,  in- 
stead of  leading  men  to  accept  in  faith  the 
divine  means  of  their  salvation  ;  1  Tim.  i.  4. 
The  conflict  with  this  false  Gnosis  now 
springing  up,  must  have  occupied  the 
churches  in  these  parts.  As  the  prophets 
in  the  assemblies  of  believers  frequently 
warned  them  of  the  dangers  which  from 
the  signs  of  the  times  they  perceived  were 
threatening  the  charch ;  so  these  warning 
voices  spoke  also  of  the  conflict  that  awaited 
the  church  with  this  hostile  tendency,  which 
in  following  ages  was  one  of  the  severest 
which  the  simple  gospel  had  to  encounter. 
These  are  the  express  warnings  of  the  Di- 
vine Spirit  by  the  inspired  addresses  in  the 
churches,  to  which  Paul  appeals.*  To  this 
peculiar  state  of  the  church  several  of  the 
instructions  are  applicable  which  Paul  gives 
in  this  epistle  relative  to  the  appointment 
of  their  overseers. f 

Paul  therefore  executed  his  intention  of 
going  into  Lesser  Asia,  and  found  such  dis- 
turbances in  the  churches  there,  arising 
from  the  influence  of  the  unevangelical 
tendency  we  have  noticed,  that  he  held  it 
to  be  absolutely  necessary  to  remain  longer 
in  those  parts.  He  left  Ephesus  for  rea- 
sons unknown  to  us,  to  visit  the  churches 
of  Macedonia,  but  soon  returned  thither, 
and  in  the  meanwhile  left  Timothy  behind 
lor  the  special  purpose  of  counterworking 
these  false  teachers,  which  he  considered 
an  object  of  the  first  importance ;  to  this  he 


to  apply  it  to  the  yva^'kayi^i  tZv  a.yyi\mv,  similar 
to  the  later  gnostic  pneumatologies ;  on  tiie  sup- 
position, indeed,  that  he  wrote  of  them  as  already 
well  known  to  Timothy.  Any  other  person  who 
had  forged  this  epistle,  partly  for  tiie  purpose  of 
employing  the  authority  of  Paul  against  the  rising 
gnosis,  would  have  more  exactly  marked  the  ob- 
ject of  controversy, 

*  1  Tim.  iv.  1.  A  similar  expression  respecting 
prophetic  intimations  occurs  in  Acts  xx.  23. 

t  From  the  difference  in  circumstances  would 
arise  the  difference  of  manner  in  which  lie  ex- 
presses himself  here  and  in  the  First  Epistle  to 
the  Corintliians  respecting  a  single  life.  WJicn 
he  wrote  to  the  Corinthians,  he  opposed  tliose  wlio 
objected  to  a  single  life  from  the  common  Jewish 
standing-point ;  liere  lie  speaks  against  those  who 
went  so  far  in  depreciating  marriage  as  to  con- 
demn it  altogether  as  unchristian.  In  opposition 
to  these  persons,  who  led  females  to  forget  alto- 
gether the  proper  destiny  of  their  sex,  and  to  tiirust 
themselves  forward  as  public  teacliers,  Paul  says, 
I  Tim.  ii.  15,  that  the  woman  would  always  be 
saved  in  family  life  (the  cT/*  is  to  be  understood  in 
the  sense  of — hy  means  of,  in — as  it  is  often  used 
by  Paul),  if  she  lead  a  holy  life  in  faith  and  love. 


Chap.  X.] 


PAUL'S,  EPISTLE  TO  TITUS. 


195 


added  a  subordinate  concern,  the  new  or- 
ganization of  the  church  at  Ephesus,  and 
perhaps  also  the  superintendence  of  some 
others  in  the  neighbourhood,  which  had 
since  been  formed.* 

If  we  regard  the  geographical  position 
of  the  places  it  agrees  very  well  with  Paul's 
residence  in  Lesser  Asia,  and  his  travelling 
thence  to  Macedonia,  that  at  this  time  he 
visited  the  Island  of  Crete,  and  there  left 
behind  his  disciple  Titus,  to  whom  he  ad- 
dressed an  epistle.  It  is  indeed  easy  to 
imagine,  that,  as  Paul  had.often  sojourned 
for  a  longer  time  in  those  parts,  he  had 
already  founded  several  churches  in  Crete. 
But  besides  that,  for  reasons  before  men- 
tioned, we  are  led  to  fix  the  date  of  this  epis- 
tle nearer  that  of  the  two  Pastoral  Letters, 
it  is  also  striking  that,  while  Luke  in  the 
Acts  reports  so  fully  and  circumstantially 
the  occurrences  of  the  apostle's  last  voy- 
age to  Rome,  and  mentions  his  stay  at 
Crete,  he  says  not  a  word  (contrary  to  his 
usual  practice  in  such  cases)  of  the  friendly 
reception  given  to  him  by  the  Christians 
there,  or  even  of  his  meeting  with  them 
at  all.  Hence  we  may  conclude  that  no 
Christian  churches  yet  existed  in  the  island, 
though  that  transient  visit  would  naturally 
give  rise  to  the  intention  of  planting  the 
gospel  there ;  which  he  probably  fulfilled 
soon  after  he  was  set  at  liberty,  when  he 
came  into  those  parts.  As  in  the  last  pe- 
riod before  his  journey  to  Jerusalem  we  do 
not  find  Titus  in  his  company,  and  on  the 
other  hand  we  find,  in  the  Second  Epistle 
to  Timothy,  that  he  was  with  the  apostle, 
this  agrees  very  well  with  the  supposition 
that  Paul  after  his  release  once  more  met 
with  him  in  Lesser  Asia,  and  again  took 


*  That  Paul  does  not  mention  in  this  epistle  his 
deliverance  from  confinement  at  Rome,  proves  no- 
thing ag-ainst  this  statement,  for  a  number  of  events 
had  intervened  to  occupy  his  mind,  especially  when 
he  wrote  this  epistle.  It  is  indeed  surprising  that 
he  should  cliarge  Timothy  to  "  let  no  man  despise 
his  youth,"  since  Timothy  could  be  no  longer  a 
youth.  But  we  must  recollect  how  indefinitely 
such  terms  are  often  used,  and  that  Paul,  when  he 
wrote  this,  might  have  special  reasons  for  such  an 
injunc_tion  ;  among  the  leaders  of  tlic  unevangeli- 
cal  party,  there  might  be  persons  whose  great  age 
had  secured  for  them  deference  and  respect.  The 
passages  in  Titus  ii.  15,  and  also  2  Tim.  ii.  22, 
(which  in  tliat  connexion  has  nothing  strange), 
presents  no  fit  parallel ;  and  if,  in  the  First  Epistle 
to  Timothy,  traces  can  be  found  of  an  imitation 
of  the  two  others,  these  words  may  be  reckoned 
among  the  number. 


him    as    his    associate   in   preaching    the 
gospel. 

After  Paul  had  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
Christian  church  in  Crete,  he  left  Titus  be- 
hind to  complete  the  organization  of  the 
churches,  to  confirm  the  new  converts  in 
purity  of  doctrine,  and  to  counterwork  the 
influence  of  the  false  teachers.  If  we  com- 
pare the  marks  of  the  false  teachers  in  the 
two  other  Pastoral  Epistles  with  those  in 
the  Epistle  to  Titus,  we  shall  find  a  simi» 
larity.  Bfit  if  these  do  not  induce  us  to 
admit — (as  we  are  not  authorized  to  sup- 
pose the  same  appearances  of  the  religious 
spirit  in  Crete  and  in  Ephesus) — so  neither 
shall  we  be  led  by  what  can  be  inferred 
simply  from  the  epistle  itself,  to  imagine 
any  other  object  of  Paul's  opposition  and 
warning  than  the  common  Judaizing  ten- 
dency, and  an  unspiritual  pharisaic  study 
of  the  Old  Testament,  disputatious,  cleav- 
ing to  the  letter  and  losing  itself  in  useless 
hair-splittings  and  rabbinical  fables.*  Paul 
required  of  Titus  to  turn  the  attention  of 
men  to  objects  altogether  different  and  of 
practical  advantage,  deeply  to  impress  on' 
their  minds  the  doctrine  which  formed  the 
basis  of  salvation,  and  to  lead  them  to  ap- 
ply this  fundamental  truth  to  real  life,  and 
to  be  zealous  to  verify  their  faith  by  good 
works. f 


*  As  to  the  genealogies  in  Titus  ii!,,9,  if  we 
compare  this  passage  witli  the  endless  genealogies 
in  ]  Tim.  i.  4,  we  siiall  be  led  to  understand  a  re- 
ference to  a  theosophic  element,  an  emanation 
doctrine ;  but  this  expression  in  the  Epistle  to 
Titus,  witliout  any  thing  more  definite,  and  sim- 
ply in  its  own  connexion,  favours  no  such  suppo- 
sition ;  but  we  shall  be  induced  to  think  of  the 
common  Jewish  genealogies,  although  we  cannot 
determine  precisely  for  what  object  these  would 
be  employed,  and  the  comparison  of  1  Tim.  i.  4 
with  Titus  iii.  9,  might  excite  a  suspicion  of  a 
misunderstood  copying  in  the  former. 

t  All  that  is  said  in  opposition  to  this  tendency 
bears  the  impress  of  being  truly  apostolic  and 
Pauline.  If  the  passage  in  Titus  iii.  10  were  to 
be  understood  in  the  sense  of  the  later  unchristian 
hatred  of  heretics,  the  passage  in  iii.  2  would  be 
in  direct  contradiction  to  it,  for  in  this  an  exactly 
opposite  disposition  is  expressed  ;  Christians  are 
here  warned  of  spiritual  pride,  wliich  might  mis- 
lead  them  to  exalt  themselves  as  believers  and 
children  of  God  against  the  heathen,  to  treat  them 
as  enemies,  to  insult  them  on  account  of  their 
superstition  and  the  vices  prevalent  amongst  them, 
On  the  contrary,  it  was  tlieir  duty  to  cherish  gen- 
tleness and  kindness  towards  them,  from  tlie  con- 
sciousness  tliat  they,  like  the  heathen,  were  once 
tiie  slaves  of  delusion  and  of  sin,  and  owed  their 
deliverance  from  this  state,  not  to  their  own  merits, 


196 


PAUL'S  SECOND  CONFINEMENT  AT  ROME. 


[Book  III. 


When  Paul  wrote  this  letter  to  Titus  he 
had  the  prospect  of  spending  the  winter  at 
Nicopolis,  where  he  wished  Titus  to  join 
him.  As  there  were  so  many  cities  in 
different  parts,  which,  having  been  built  on 
the  occasion  of  some  victory,  were  called 
Nicopolis,  and  we  have  no  exact  informa- 
tion respecting  the  travels  of  the  apostle  in 
this  last  period  of  his  ministry,  and  the  ex- 
act dates  are  wanting,  we  cannot  deter- 
mine what  city  is  here  intended,  whether 
we  are  to  look  for  it  in  Cilicia,  Macedonia, 
Thrace,  or  Epirus.  We  might  suppose 
that  the  city  built  in  the  last-named  coun- 
try by  Augustus  to  commemorate  the  sea- 
fight  'at  Actium  was  intended ;  but  at  all 
events,  it  appears  from  the  plan  of  his 
journey  indicated  in  the  Second  Epistle  to 
Timothy,  that  Paul  was  come  from  Lesser 
Asia  into  the  West,  and  that  he  had  proba- 
bly taken  farewell  of  his  beloved  Timothy 
at  Ephesus. 

As  soon  as  he  had  returned  to  the  West, 


but  to  divine  grace  aJone.  But  the  sentiment  here 
expressed,  if  rightly  understood,  by  no  me<ans  con- 
tradicts tiie  injunction  which  Paul  gives  to  Titus 
in  iii.  10.  In  this  latter  passage,  by  tliose  who 
bring  in  ai^ia-iis  (Gal.  v.  2U),  a  class  of  persons  are 
referred  to  different  from  those  in  the  former,  such 
at  least  who  went  to  greater  lengths,  separated 
from  Christian  fellowship  on  account  of  their  pe- 
culiar opinions,  and  founded  open  schisms.  Now, 
Paul  advised  Titus  to  enter  into  no  disputations 
with  persons  who  wished  to  make  these  schisms, 
respecting  the  peculiarities  to  which  they  attached 
so  much  importance;  but  if  they  were  not  dis- 
posed to  listen  to  repeated  admonitions,  to  avoid 
all  further  intercourse  with  them,  since  such  dis- 
putations could  be  of  no  advantage,  and  tended 
only  to  injure  the  hearers,  and  throw  their  minds 
into  a  state  of  perplexity.  Such  persons,  whose 
errors  were  interwoven  with  their  whole  charac- 
ter, were  not  to  be  convinced  by  argument.  And 
as  he  reprobated  their  whole  mental  tendency  in 
reference  to  religion  as  unpractical,  it  followed,  of 
course,  that  he  admonished  his  disciples  not  to 
engage  with  his  adversaries  on  this  standing-point, 
but  if  they  would  not  listen  to  repeated  exhorta- 
tions to  relurn  to  evangelical  simplicity,  they 
should  be  left  to  themselves.  In  perfect  accord- 
ance with  this  injunction,  is  that  which  Paul 
gives  Timothy  in  2  Tim.  ii.  23,  to  avoid  "foolish 
and  unlearned  questions,"  since  they  only  engen- 
dered strife,  but  "  with  meekness  to  instruct  those 
that  oppose  themselves,"  to  try  whctiier  they 
might  not  be  led  to  repent  of  their  errors,  and  be 
brought  to  an  acknowledgment  of  the  truth. 
Here  also,  as  in  tlie  Epistle  to  Titus,  lie  forbids 
arguing  with  these  false  teachers  on  their  erro- 
neous opinions.  It  was  quite  a  different  thing  to 
point  out  the  right  way  to  those  opponents  of 
whose  recovery  some  hope  might  be  entertained, 
and  to  this  class  the  first  passage  refers. 


he  fulfilled  his  purpose  of  publishing  the 
gospel  in  Spain.  But  there  he  was  soon 
seized  and  sent  as  a  prisoner  to  Rome.* 
After  he  had  been  in  confinement  a  long 
time,  and  had  been  subjected  to  one  judi- 
cial examination,  he  wrote  his  last  Epistle 
to  Timothy,  whom  (as  we  have  just  said) 
he  probably  had  left  behind  at  Ephesus. 
His  situation  at  this  time  was  evidently 
very  different  from  that  in  which  he  found 
himself  during  his  first  confinement  after 
his  examination.  It  was  then  universally 
allowed  that  he  was  a  prisoner  not  on  ac- 
count of  any  moral  or  political  ofTence,  but 
only  for  publishing  the  gospel,  and  his  ex- 
ample gave  many  courage  boldly  to  con- 
fess their  faith.  But  noio  he  appeared  in 
his  fetters,  as  an  "evil-doer,"  ii.  9,  for  all 
Christians  in  Rome  were  considered  as 
malefici.  Only  a  k\\  had  the  courage 
openly  to  show  themselves  as  his  friends 
and  companions  in  the  faith.  Then  he 
was  in  a  state  of  uncertainty  between  the 
expectation  of  martyrdom  and  of  release, 
though  the  latter  was  more  probable.  Noiv, 
on  the  contrary,  he  looked  forward  to  mar- 
tyrdom as  the  more  probable  event.  He 
informed  Timothy,  indeed,  that  the  Lord 
had  granted  him  power  to  testify  confidently 
of  the  faith,  and  that  he  would  be  delivered 
from  the  jaws  of  the  lion,  from  the  death 
that  was  then  threatening  him  ;f  still  he 
was  far  from  indulging  the  hope  of  being 
freed  absolutely  from  the  danger  of  death. 
But  this  confidence  he  did  enjoy,  that  the 
Lord  would  deliver  him  from  all  moral 
evil,:}:  and  preserve  him  to  his  heavenly 


*  It  may  indeed  appear  remarkable  that  Paul, 
during  the  last  part  of  Nero's  reign,  at  a  time 
when  arbitrary  cruelty  so  predominated,  when 
Christians  were  so  much  the  object  of  public 
hatred,  still  enjoyed  so  favourable  a  situation  as  a 
prisoner,  so  that  he  could  see  his  friends  and 
write  epistles.  But  the  exact  situation  of  prison- 
ers depended  so  much  on  accidental  circumstances, 
that  we  cannot  draw  certain  conclusions  respect- 
ing it  merely  from  tlie  general  state  of  things. 
Some  Christians  might,  for  aught  we  can  tell,  en- 
joy these  privileges  even  amidst  the  most  violent 
persecutions. 

t  The  words  2  Tim.  iv.  17,  may  be  taken  as  a 
figurative  expression,  to  denote  generally  deliver- 
ance from  apparently  impending  death.  But  it 
would  be  also  possible  to  understand  them  literally, 
for  at  that  time  it  would  be  always  possible  that 
Paul,  notwitlistanding  his  Roman  citizenship, 
might  have  reason  to  apprehend  so  shameful  a 
death,  tliougli  he  was  actually  exempted  from  it. 

X  After  Paul  had  said,  2  Tim.  iii.  17,  that  the 
Lord  had  delivered  him  from  impending  death,  he 


Chap.  X.] 


PAUL'S  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  TIMOTHY. 


197 


kingdom.  As  Paul  did  not  ascribe  the 
power  of  persisting  steadfastly  in  the  con- 
fession of  the  faith  even  unto  death,  to  him- 
self, but  to  the  power  of  God,  who  strength- 
ened him  for  this  purpose ; — he  therefore 
thus  expressed  himself,  that  the  Lord  would 
uphold  him  steadfast  under  all  conflicts 
even  until  death,  preserve  him  from  all  un- 
faithfulness, and  thus  lead  him  to  blessed- 
ness in  his  kingdom.  The  apostle's  feel- 
ings in  the  prospect  of  martyrdom  are  in- 
imitably expressed  in  his  last  epistle  ;  his 
elevated  composure,  his  self- forgetful  ness, 
his  tender  fatherly  care  for  his  disciple 
Timothy,  his  concern  for  the  cause  of  the 
gospel  which  he  was  about  to  leave  exposed 
to  so  many  attempts  to  adulterate  it,  and 
yet  his  confidence  in  the  divinity  of  that 
cause,  and  in  the  al mightiness  of  God 
watching  over  it,  and  conducting  its  deve- 
lopement,  a  confidence  that  rose  victorious 
over  every  doubt. 

When  he  wrote  the  Epistle  to  the  Phi- 
lippians,  and  the  end  of  his  earthly  course 
was  not  yet  in  sight,  he  said,  referring  to 
the  defects  and  infirmities  of  which  he  was 
conscious  as  a  man,  that  he  was  far  from 
believing  that  he  had  already  attained  his 
aim — perfection  ;  but  that  he  was  continu- 
ally striving  after  that  aim,  if  he  might 
attain  that  for  which  he  was  called  by 
Christ.  Phil.  iii.  12.  But  since  he  now 
saw  himself  actually  at  the  end  of  his 
course — since  he  now  looked  back  on  that 
course  with  the  prospect  of  approaching 
martyrdom,  and  by  the  power  of  the  Lord 

expressed  the  hope  that  he  would  still  further  de- 
liver him.  But  this  it  was  needful  for  him  more 
distinctly  to  define  and  limit,  for  he  would  have 
said  more  than,  under  the  circumstances,  he  was 
warranted  to  expect,  if  he  had  not  added  a  limit- 
ing  clause, — namely,  that  God  would  deliver  him 
from  all  moral  evil,  such  as  want  of  fidelity  to  the 
gospel,  and  thus  bring-  him  victorious  out  of  all 
conflicts  into  his  heavenly  kingdom ;  whether  he 
had  in  his  thoughts  that  participation  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,  which  he  hoped  to  attain  by  mar- 
tyrdom, in  a  fuller  communion  with  Christ  and 
God,  or  liis  deliverance  to  a  participation  in  the 
perfected  kingdom  of  Christ  after  his  second 
coming ;  as  he  felt  certain,  if  he  were  preserved 
from  all  evil,  of  partaking  in  this  kingdom  of 
Christ,  whether  he  lived  to  that  time  or  died  be- 
fore it  came.  I  will  not  now  attempt  to  decide 
between  these  two  modes  of  interpretation.  But 
one  of  them  must  necessarily  be  taken  in  con- 
nexion with  what  goes  before.  I  cannot  allow 
that  these  words  are  a  contradiction  to  2  Tim.  iv. 
6-8,  nor  assent  to  vvliat  Credner,  in  his  Einleitung, 
i.  p.  470,  founds  upon  it. 


had  remained  faithful  under  all  his  con- 
flicts hitherto,  and  since  he  was  animated 
by  the  confident  persuasion,  that  by  the 
same  power,  he  would  be  brought  forth 
victorious  from  the  conflicts  that  still  awaited 
him,* — at  this  critical  moment,  resting 
alone  on  the  divine  promise,  all  uncertainty 
vanished  from  his  soul,  and  he  could  with 
assurance  say  of  himself,  "  I  have  fought 
the  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course, 

1  have  kept  the  faith.  Henceforth  there  is 
laid  up  for*  me  a  crown  of  righteousness." 

2  Tim.  iv.  7,  S.j 

He  was  far  less  occupied  with  thoughts 
about  himself,  than  with  anxiety  for  the 
church  which  he  was  on  the  point  of  leav- 
ing in  a  vehement  conflict,  both  internal 
and  external,  but  the  dangers  of  the  inter- 
nal conflict  were  those  which  gave  him  the 
greatest  uneasiness.  In  Lesser  Asia,  he 
had  been  brought  into  frequent  collision 
with  a  false  Jewish-Christian  Gnosis  which 
was  spreading  in  opposition  to  the  simple 
gospel.  He  saw  in  spirit  that  this  false 
tendency  was  continually  gaining  ground, 
and  that,  by  its  arts  of  deception,  it  was  se- 
ducing numbers.  Still,  he  was  confident, 
that  its  deceptions  would  at  last  be  exposed, 
and  that  the  Lord  would  maintain  that 
gospel  which  he  had  entrusted  to  his  minis- 
try, and  without  him,  preserve  it  pure  until 
the  day  of  his  second  coming.:]:  Since  he 
might  assume,  that  these  false  teachers 
were  known  to  Timothy,  and  had  no  doubt 
often  conferred  with  him  on  the  means  of 
counteracting  them,  he  satisfied  himself 
with  a  general  delineation  of  their  charac- 
ter. He  mentioned  amongst  others,  those 
who  taught  that  the  resurrection  was  al- 
ready past  (like  the  later  Gnostics),  and 
who  probably  explained  every  thing  which 
Christ  had  said  respecting  the  resurrection, 
of  the  spiritual  awakening  by  the  divine 
power  of  the   gospel.      From   this   single 


*  This  confidence  he  also  expressed  in  Philip, 
i.  20. 

t  Hence  there  is  no  contradiction  between  the 
judgment  Paul  expresses  of  himself  in  this  epistle 
and  in  that  to  the  Philippians. 

X  If  wc  picture  to  ourselves  how  Paul  was  then 
occupied  with  the  thoughts  of  death,  how  uncer- 
tain his  condition,  and  under  what  perplexing  re- 
lations Timothy  found  himself  in.  the  field  of 
labour  where  Paul  had  left  him,  we  cannot  deem 
it  v«ry  surprising  that  he  should  communicate  to 
him  these  fuller  instructions,  although  he  still 
hoped  to  see  him  again  in  Rome. 


198 


PAUL'S  MARTYRDOM. 


[Book  III. 


mark  we  may  conclude,  that  in  general  | 
they  indulged  in  very  arbitrary  treatment  | 
of  the  historical  facts  of  religion,  as  far  as 
these  did  not  harmonize  with  their  precon- 
ceived opinions.* 

*  It  may  be  doubted  whether  Alexander  the 
coppersmith,  mentioned  in  2  Tim.  iv.  14,  belonged 
to  the  number  of  these  false  teachers.  In  this  case, 
he  would  be  the  same  as  the  person  mentioned  in 
1  Tim.  i.  20.  It  would  indeed  be  possible  that  this 
false  teacher  from  Lesser  Asia,  exasperated  at 
being  excluded  by  Paul  from  church  communion, 
when  he  came  to  Rome,  sought  to  take  revenge 
on  the  apostle.  And  the  M/zfT^e^o/  xoyoi  might  then 
be  understood,  not  of  the  Christian  doctrine  gene- 
rally, Wut  of  the  pure  exposition  of  the  evangelical 
doctrine  as  it  was  given  by  Paul.  But  a  Gentile 
or  Jew  from  Lesser  Asia  might  be  intended,  who 
violently  persecuted  Christianity.  In  this  case,  he 
would  be  distinct  from  the  person  mentioned  in  the 
First  Epistle  to  Timothy  ;  and  it  would  be  on  that 
account  by  no  means  clear,  that  the  author  of  the 
First  Epistle  to  Timotliy  was  some  one  else  than 
Paul,  who,  from  a  mistake,  had  made  Alexander 
a  false  teacher,  and  had  classed  him  with  Hymen- 
BBUS ;  for  why  should  not  so  common  a  name  as 
Alexander  belong  to  two  different  persons  in 
Lesser  Asia?  There  is  no  ground  whatever  to 
suppose  that  this  Alexander  was  the  same  who  is 
mentioned  in  Acts  xix.  33,  for  it  is  far  from  being 
evident  that  he  was  so  violent  an  enemy  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  the  Jews  put  him  forward,  not  to  make 
complaints  against  the   Christians  or   Paul,  but 


We  cannot  determine  with  certainty  the 
year  in  which  Paul's  martyrdom  occurred. 
We  can  only  place  it  in  one  of  the  last  of 
Nero's  reign.  And  with  this  supposition, 
another  circumstance  agrees.  At  this  time 
most  probably  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
was  written  by  an  apostolic  man  of  the 
Pauline  school.t  At  its  conclusion,  xiii. 
23,  we  find  mention  made  of  the  lately  ob- 
tained release  of  Timothy",  whom  we  can- 
not suppose  to  be  any  other  than  the  disci- 
])le  of  and  companion  of  Paul.  It  was 
Paul's  desire  that  he  should  come  to  him, 
and  the  zealous  sympathy  which  he  evinced 
had  the  effect  of  causing  him  to  be  appre- 
hended as  one  of  the  most  active  members 
of  the  hated  sect.  If  this  happened  at  the 
time  of  the  Neronian  persecution,  Timothy 
I  would  probably  have  shared  the  fate  of  all 
j  the  Christians  at  Rome  who  could  then  be 
I  discovered.  But  if  it  happened  some  years 
j  later,  it  is  not  improbable,  that,  by  the  in- 
1  fluence  of  particular  circumstances,  Ti- 
I  mothy  obtained  his  freedom  after  the  mar- 
tyrdom of  Paul. 

'  rather  to  prevent  the  rage  of  the  heathens  against 
1  the  enemies  of  their  gods  from  being  turned  against 
I  themselves. 
1      t  See  Bleek's  Introduction  to  this  epistle,  p.  434. 


Chap.  L] 


THE  APOSTLE  JAMES. 


199 


BOOK    IV. 


A  REVIEW  OF  THE  LABOURS  OF  JAMES  AND  PETER  DURING  THIS  PERIOD. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  CHARACTKR  OF  JAMES — REMARKS  ON  HIS 
EPISTLE. 

As  along  with  that  unity  of  the  spirit 
which  proceeded  from  Christ,  we  have  ob- 
served an  important  difference  existing  in 
the  forms  of  its  representation  among  the 
apostles,  so  the  apostle  Paul,  and  that 
James  who  was  known  as  a  brother  of  the 
Lord,  present  the  most  striking  contrast  to 
each  other,  whether  we  regard  their  natural 
peculiarities,  their  Christian  conformation, 
or  the  sphere  of  their  labours.  In  Paul, 
Christianity  is  exhibited  in  its  most  decided 
self-subsistence,  freed  from  the  preparatory 
garb  of  Judaism  ;  while  James  represents 
the  new  spirit  under  the  ancient  form,  and 
we  may  observe  in  him  the  gradual  transi-  i 
tion  from  the  old  to  the  new.  Hence  Paul 
and  James  mark  the  two  extreme  limits  in 
the  developement  of  Christianity  from  Ju- 
daism ;  as  Paul  was  the  chief  instrument 
for  presenting  Christianity  to  mankind  as 
the  new  creation,  so  was  James  for  exhibit- 
ing the  organic  connexion  of  Christianity 
with  the  preparatory  and  prefiguring  sys- 
tem of  Judaism.  After  the  martyrdom  of j 
the  elder  James,  who  was  a  son  of  Zebedee  \ 
and  brother  of  John,  only  one  very  influ- 
ential person  of  this  name  appears  in  the  j 
Christian  history  who  stood  at  the  head  of  j 
the  church  at  Jerusalem,  and  under  the  j 
titles  of  the  Brother  of  the  Lord,  and  the  \ 
Just,  was  held  in  the  highest  esteem  by  | 
Christians  of  Jewish  descent.  But  from ' 
ancient  times  it  has  been  doubted,  whether  | 
this  James  was,  strictly  speaking,  a  brother 
of  the  Lord,  that  is,  either  a  son  of  Joseph 
by  a  former  marriage,  or  more  probably  a 
later  son  of  Mary,*  and  therefore  a  differ- 


ent person  from  the  apostle  the  son  of  AI- 
pheus,  or  whether  he  was  in  a  general 
sense  a  relation  of  Jesus,  a  sister's  son  of 
Mary,  a  son  of  Cleopas  or  Alpheus,  and 
accordingly  identical  with  the  apostle  of 
this  name.* 


*  See  Leben  Jesu,  p.  40. 


*  This  question  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  in 
the  apostolic  history.  Dr.  Schncckenburger  in 
his  acute  and  profound  investigation  (in  his  An- 
notatio  ad  Epistolam  Jacobi.  Stuttgart  1832,  p. 
144)  has  brought  the  hypothesis  of  only  one  James 
to  a  higher  degree  of  probability  tlian  it  had  be- 
fore attained,  and  has  said  many  things  deserving 
consideration,  which  tend  to  remove  tlie  difficulties 
attached  to  it ;  but  after  all  his  remarks,  many 
reasons  for  doubting  remain.  Later  investiga- 
tions, especially  those  of  Credner  in  his  Einleitung, 
p.  573,  have  tlirown  additional  weight  into  the  op- 
posite scale.  We  wish  to  present  in  an  impartial 
manner  the  arguments  for  and  against  this  hypo- 
thesis. Since,  after  the  death  of  James  the  son 
of  Zebedee,  only  one  James  is  mentioned  as  one 
of  the  most  influential  men  in  the  first  apostolic 
church,  and  ranking  with  those  apostles  who  were 
most  esteemed,  there  is  the  highest  probability  that 
this  James  was  no  other  than  the  only  apostle  still 
living  of  this  name.  If  the  term  aSix/poi;  is  under- 
stood only  in  a  laxer  sense,  the  title  of  "  Brother 
of  the  Lord"  proves  nothing  against  the  identity 
of  the  person ;  for,  from  comparing  Matt,  xxvii. 
56;  xxviii.  1,  Mark  xv.  40,  with  John  xix.  25,  it  is 
evident  that  James  the  apostle,  son  of  Alpheus  or 
Cleopas   (both   names   derived  from  the  Hebrew 

^kj^pj),  was  really  a  sister's  son  of  Mary  the 
mother  of  Jesus.  As  so  near  a  relation  of  Jesus, 
he  might  accordingly  be  distinguished  from  the 
other  apostles  by  the  title  of  a  brother  of  the  Lord. 
But  then  it  is  asked,  why  was  he  not  rather  dis- 
tinguished by  the  strictly  appropriate  name  of 
uvi^tot  ?  And  if  at  that  time,  there  were  persons 
in  existence  who  might  with  strict  propriety  be 
called  "  Brothers  of  the  Lord,"  is  it  not  so  much 
the  less  probable,  that  this  name  in  an  improper 
sense  would  be  applied  to  him  ?  Nevertheless,  we 
may  suppose,  that  in  common  discourse — since  it 
was  not  a  point  of  consequence  to  mark  definitely 
the  degree  of  kin  between  Jesus  and  this  James, 
but  only  to  represent  him  in  general  terms  as  en- 
joying the  honour  of  near  relationship  to  the  Lord, 
— it  had  become  customary  to  designate  him  sim- 


200 


THE  APOSTLE  JAMES. 


[Book  IV. 


If  we  put  together  all  that  is  handed 
down  to  us  in  the  New  Testament,  and  in 

ply  a  brother  of  the  Lord,  especially  among  the 
Judaizing-  Christians,  by  whom  such  distinctions  of 
earthly  afSnity  would  be  most  highly  prized,  and 
this  might  be  still  more  easily  explained,  if  we 
admit  with  Schncckenburger,  that  after  the  death 
of  Joseph  (which  took  place  at  an  early  period), 
Mary  removed  to  tlie  house  of  her  sister  the  wife 
of  Alpheus  ;  hence,  it  would  be  usual  to  designate 
her  sons  who  lived  from  their  childhood  with  Jesus, 
who  had  no  other  In-others,  simply  as  the  brethren 
of  Jesus.  Thus,  then,  this  James  would  be  one 
of  the  brethren  of  Jesus  who  are  named  in  Matt, 
xiii.  55;  Mark  vi.  3.  Among  these  we  find  a 
Joses,  who,  in  Matth.  xxvii.  56,  is  distinguished 
as  the  brother  of  James,  and  a  Judas  ;  and  if  we 
explain  the  surname  'laxaj^ou  given  to  the  apostle 
Judas,  on  comparing  it  with  the  Epistle  of  Jude, 
V.  1,  by  supplying  the  word  atTsXcpoc  (which  cannot 
be  assumed  as  absolutely  certain),  we  shall  also 
again  find  in  him  a  brother  of  the  apostle  James. 
And  the  one  named  Simon  among  these  brethren, 
we  may  perhaps  find  again  in  the  apostles,  as  all 
three  are  named  together  in  Acts  i.  13.  According 
to  tliat  supposition,  it  would  be  no  longer  surpris- 
ing that  the  brethren  of  Christ  are  often  mentioned 
in  connexion  with  his  mother ;  and  yet  from  that 
circumstance  no  evidence  can  be  deduced  that 
would  prove  them  to  be  in  a  strict  sense  his  bre- 
tliren.  We  must  then  assume  with  Schnccken- 
burger, tliat  when  Matthew  (xiii.  55)  after  the 
mention  of  the  twelve  apostles,  distinguishes  the 
brethren  of  Jesus  from  them,  it  proceeded  from 
tiie  want  of  chronological  exactness  in  his  mode 
of  narration. 

But  if  several  of  the  so-called  brethren  of  Jesus 
were  among  the  apostles,  still  the  manner  in 
which  the  former  are  distinguished  from  the 
latter  in  Acts  i.  14,  is  remarkable.  Besides,  ac- 
cording to  the  account  in  Mark  iii.  31,  a  state  of 
mind  towards  Jesus  is  supposed  to  exist  in  these 
brethren,  which  could  not  be  attributed  to  the 
apostles,  and  yet  it  appears  from  comparing  this 
account  with  the  parallel  passages  in  Matt.  xii. 
and  Luke  viii.  that  this  incident  must  be  placed 
after  the  choice  of  the  twelve  apostles.  This  view 
is  confirmed  by  the  disposition  manifested  by  these 
brethren  of  Christ,  even  in  the  last  half  year  before 
his  sufferings.  All  this  taken  together,  must  de- 
cide us  in  favour  of  the  supposition,  that  the 
brethren  of  Jesus,  commonly  mentioned  in  con- 
nexion with  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus,  are  to  be 
altogether  distinguished  from  the  apostles,  and 
therefore  they  must  be  considered  as  the  brethren 
of  Jesus  in  a  stricter  sense,  either  as  the  sons  of 
Joseph  by  a  former  marriage,  or  the  later  born 
sons  of  Joseph  and  Mary,  which  from  Matt.  i.  25, 
is  most  probable.  That  Christ  when  dying  said 
to  John,  that  from  that  time  he  should  treat  Mary 
as  his  mother,  can  at  all  events  oppose  only  the 
supposition,  that  these  brethren  were  the  offspring 
of  Joseph  and  Mary;  and  not  the  supposition  tliat 
they  were  the  stepsons  of  Mary.  But  even  against 
the  first  supposition,  this  objection  is  not  decisive  ; 
for  if  these  brethren  of  Jesus  still  continued 
estranged  from  him  in  their  disposition,  we  can  at 
once  perceive  why  at  his  death  he  commended  his 


other  historical  records,  the  most  probable 
result  of  the  whole  is,  that  this  James  was 


mother  to  his  beloved  disciple  John.  It  may  in- 
deed appear  surprising,  that  these  brethren  of 
Christ,  according  to  Matthew  xiii.  55,  bore  the 
same  names  as  their  cousins,  but  this  can  be  af- 
firmed with  certainty  only  of  two,  and  as  the  two 
sisters  had  one  name,  it  might  happen,  owing  to 
particular  circumstances,  that  one  son  of  each 
was  named  alike. 

But  from  what  has  been  said,  it  by  no  means 
follows,  that  the  James  who  is  distinguished  in 
the  New  Testament  as  a  brother  of  the  Lord,  was 
one  of  these  brethren  of  Christ  in  a  stricter  sense. 
It  might  still  be  consistent  with  that  fact,  that  this 
James  was  to  be  distinguished  from  the  James 
who  was  the  actual  brother  of  the  Lord,  andj  as  a 
cousin  of  Christ  who  was  honoured  with  this 
name,  was  to  be  held  as  identical  with  tlie  apostle, 
although  in  this  case  it  is  less  probable  that  when 
an  actual  brother  of  Jesus  bore  the  name  of  James, 
the  cousin  should  be  honoured  with  the  same  title, 
instead  of  being  distinguished  by  the  epithet  uvs4'oc 
from  that  other  James,  to  whom  the  surname  of 
Brother  of  the  Lord  would  in  strictest  propriety 
be  given. 

If  we  are  disposed  to  examine  the  passages  in 
the  Pauline  epistles  which  contain  a  particular 
reference  to  this  point,  there  are  two  especially 
deserving  of  notice.     As  to  the  passage  in  1  Cor. 

ix,  5,    "xii    01    KOtTTOt    aTTOO-TOKIt   KO^t  Ot  a^i\(prjl   TOU  xy- 

gict/,"  it  cannot  be  proved  from  these  words  that 
the  brethren  of  the  Lord  were  distinct  from  the 
apostles,  for  they  may  be  supposed  to  mean,  that 
Paul,  by  '■'the  other  apostles,"  understood  those 
who  could  not  claim  such  a  relationship  to  the 
Lord,  and  that  he  particularly  distinguishes  those 
who  were  brethren  of  the  Lord  from  the  other 
apostles,  because,  in  virtue  of  that  relationship, 
they  stood  high  in  the  opinion  of  the  party  with 
wliom  he  had  here  to  do.  That  he  names  Peter 
immediately  after,  rather  favours  the  notion  that 
the  bretiiren  of  the  Lord,  as  well  as  Peter,  be- 
longed to  the  number  of  the  apostles.  Yet  this  is 
not  a  decisive  proof,  for  it  would  surely  be  possi- 
ble that,  although  the  brethren  of  the  Lord  did  not 
belong  to  the  apostles,  Paul  might  mention  them 
in  this  connexion,  because  they,  or  some  of  them, 
were  held  in  equal  estimation  by  the  Jewish 
Christians  of  Palestine  ;  and  as,  along  with  them, 
Peter  was  most  highly  respected,  he  is  particu- 
larly mentioned  at  the  same  time.  It  is  indeed 
possible,  that  Paul  here  uses  the  term  apostle,  not 
in  the  strictest  sense,  but  in  a  wider  meaning,  as 
in  Rom.  xvi.  7  ;  and  so  much  the  more,  since  he 
afterwards  mentions  Barnabas,  to  whom  the  name 
of  an  apostle  could  be  applied  only  in  that  more 
general  acceptation  of  the  term.  The  second  im- 
portant passage  is  Gal.  i.  19,  where  Paul,  after 
speaking  of  his  conference  with  the  apostle  Peter 
at  Jerusalem,  adds,  that  he  had  seen  no  other  of 
the  apostles,  "  save  James  the  Lord's  brother." 
Yet,  from  this  passage,  it  cannot  be  so  certainly 
inferred  as  Dr.  Sclmeckenburger  thinks,  that  the 
James  here  named  was  one  of  tlie  apostles.  The 
state  of  the  case  may  be  conceived  to  have  been 
thus :  Paul  had  originally,  in  his  thoughts,  only  a 
negative  position,  ho  liad  seen  no  other  apostle  but 


Chap.  I.] 


THE  APOSTLE  JAMES. 


201 


one  of  the  brethren  of  Christ,  of  whom  we 
have  spoken  in  our  "  Life  of  Jesus,"  p.  40. 


Peter  at  Jerusalem.  But  a.s  it  afterwards  occurred 
to  him,  that  he  had  seen  at  Jerusalem  James  the 
brother  of  the  Lord,  who,  though  no  apostle,  was 
held  in  apostolic  estimation  by  the  Judaizers,  on 
this  account  he  added,  by  way  of  limitation,  a  re- 
ference  to  James.  We  must  therefore  add  to  the 
h  ^i),  a  complementary  idea  allied  to  that  of  onrotr- 
Toxoc;  on  a  construction  of  this  kind,  see  Winer, 
p.  517.  It  may  be  asked  whether  Paul  would 
have  expressed  himself  in  this  manner,  if  he  had 
reckoned  James  in  the  stricter  sense  among  the 
apostles  ?  Would  he  have  expressed  the  negation 
so  universally,  and,  after  he  had  so  expressed  it, 
have  here  first  introduced  tlie  limitation,  if  from 
the  first  he  had  thought  of  saying  that  he  saw  none 
of  the  apostles  excepting  two  ?  When  Schnecken- 
burger,  from  the  words  in  Acts  ix.  27,  infers  that 
Paul  must  at  that  time  have  conferred  with  at 
least  two  apostles  at  Jerusalem,  he  attaches  greater 
weight  than  can  be  allowed  with  certainty  to  single 
expressions  in  this  short  narrative. 

Yet,  if  we  compare  on  this  point  the  oldest 
ecclesiastical  traditions,  the  comparison  of  the 
account  in  the  gospel  of  the  Hebrews  (see  Hiero- 
nym.  de  V.  L  c.  ii.)  with  1  Cor.  sv.  7  appears  to 
favour  the  identity  of  the  one  James,  for  in  that 
gospel  it  is  said  that  Christ,  after  his  resurrection, 
appeared  to  James  the  Just,  the  brother  of  the 
Lord.  But  in  the  passage  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  the  same  James  seems  to  be  men- 
tioned as  one  of  the  twelve  apostles.  Still  we  find 
here  nothing  absolutely  certain,  for  it  cannot  be 
shown  that  the  reference  in  that  gospel  is  to  the 
same  appearance  of  Christ  as  in  the  epistle.  And 
if  it  be  assumed  that  James,  the  brother  of  the 
Lord,  was  then  held  in  such  great  esteem,  that 
when  this  name  was  mentioned  only  one  individual 
would  be  generally  thought  of,  it  is  not  perfectly 
clear,  from  his  being  brought  forward  in  this  con- 
nexion, that  he  was  reckoned  by  Paul  among  the 
apostles.  Now,  in  reference  to  the  tradition  of 
Hegesippus,  in  Euseb.  ii.  23,  when  he  says  that 
James  the  brother  of  the  Lord  undertook  with  the 
apostles,  /uiTA  tZv  uTo^rToxaiv,  the  guidance  of  the 
church  at  Jerusalem,  it  is  most  natural  to  suppose 
that  he  means  to  distinguish  James  from  the  apos- 
tles, otherwise  he  would  have  said  ,6<sTa  tZv  xcitZv, 
although  we  would  not  consider  the  other  inter-  I 
pretation  as  impossible,  especially  in  writers  of] 
this  class,  in  whom  we  do  not  look  for  great  pre-  I 
cision  in  their  mode  of  expression.  Also  the  whole 
narrative  of  Hegesippus  leads  us  to  believe,  that 
he  considered  James  as  distinct  from  the  apostles ; 
for  although  this  representation  bears  upon  it,  at  i 
all  events,  marks  of  internal  improbability,  yet  it  i 
would  not  appear  altogether  irrational,  on  tlie  sup-  | 
position  that  this  James  was  an  apostle  appointed  j 
by  Christ  himself  But  we  must  compare  with  i 
this  passage  tlie  words  of  Hegesippus  in  Euseb.  ! 


Thus  it  appears  how  very  much  the  course 
of  his  religious  developement,  was  distin- 
guished from  that  of  the  apostle  Paul.  The 
latter,  during  the  life  of  Christ  on  earth, 
was  at  a  distance  from  all  personal  outward 
communication  with  him,  and  learnt  to 
know  him  first  by  spiritual  communication. 
James,  on  the  contrary,  stood  in  the  closest 
family  relation  to  the  Redeemer,  and  from 
the  first  was  present  with  him  during  the 
whole  of  his  earthly  developement ;  but  it 
was  e.xactly  this  circumstance  which  con- 
tributed to  his  being  more  slow  to  recog- 
nise in  the  son  of  man,  the  Son  of  God ; 
and  while  he  clave  only  to  the  earthly  ap- 
pearance, he  was  prevented  from  penetrat- 
ing through  the  shell  to  the  substance. 
Paul,  by  a  violent  crisis,  made  the  transi-. 
tion  from  the  most  vehement  and  unsparing 
opposition  to  the  gospel,  to  the  most  zeal- 
ous advocacy  of  it.  James  gradually  ad- 
vanced from  a  Judaism  of  great  earnestness 
and  depth,  which  blended  with  a  faith  that 
constantly  became  more  decisive  in  Jesus  as 
the  Messiah,  to  Christianity  as  the  glorifi- 
cation and  fulfilling  of  the  law. 

There  is  probably  some  truth  in  what  is 


iv.  22. 


fAiTJ.    TO    fXU^r-J^IJ 


''lav.of^sv  Tov  Smatov,  a>; 


x.:it    0    nu^lo;    iTTt   ^Z  aurce  /c^ai,  tt'-iKiv  o   iit.    ^iicv 


TT^Ci 


rtiVTii  oyrsc.  c.vt-^nv  tov   KV^tCU  SwTi^O 


If, 


we  understand  by  these  words,  that  this  Simeon  j 
was  called  the  second  nephew  in  relation  to  the 
aforementioned  James  the  Just,  as  the  first  nephew  I 

26 


of  the  Lord,  it  would  follow  that  that  James,  as  a 
nephew  of  the  Lord,  is  called  his  brother.  Yet  if 
another  interpretation  is  possible,  according  to 
which  Hegesippus  agrees  with  himself,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  words  before  quoted,  such  an  interpre-. 
tation  must  be  readily  preferred.  And  this  inter- 
pretation is  that  which  agrees  best  with  the  words 
in  their  existing  position.  For,  since  James  is  the 
principal  subject  in  the  first  half  of  the  sentencet 
the  uuTou  must  refer  to  him.  Cleopas,  accordingly, 
is  called  the  uncle  of  James,  and  his  son  Simeon 
cannot  therefore  be  the  brother  of  James,  but  is 
his  cousin;  as  Cleopas  (=  Alpheus)  is  the  uncle 
of  Jesus,  (and,  according  to  Hegesippus  in  Euseb. 
iii.  11,  both  on  the  side  of  Joseph  as  well  as  of 
Mary),  Simeon  tlie  cousin  of  Jesus  and  the  cousin 
of  James,  which  again  favours  the  opinion  that 
they  were  brothers.  But  Hegesippus  might  call 
this  Simeon  a  second  nephew,  since  he  looked  upon 
the  apostle  James,  the  son  of  Alpheus,  who  was 
no  longer  living,  as  the  first  nephew.  We  might 
also  insert  a  stop  after  ^tu^icv,  and  connect  SiuTi^ov 
with^lcsS^svTo;  by  this  construction,  mention  would 
be  made  of  only  one  cousin  of  tlie  Lord,  as  the 
successor  of  his  brother,  as  tlie  second  overseer  of 
the  church.  But  the  position  of  the  words  is  very 
much  against  this  construction.  Certainly  the 
testimony  of  Hegesippus  must  have  great  weight, 
on  account  of  his  high  antiquity,  his  descent,  and 
his  connexion  with  tlie  Jews  of  Palestine.  But  it 
is  undeniable,  if  we  compare  the  two  passages 
from  the  Hypotyposcis  of  Clement,  quoted  by  Eu- 
sebius,  ii.  1,  that  he  distinguishes  James,  who 
bore  the  surname  of  the  Just,  as  an  apostle  in  the 
stricter  sense  of  the  word. 


202 


THE  APOSTLE  JAMES. 


[Book  IV- 


narrated  by  the  Christian  historian  Hege- 
sippus,  that  this  James  led  from  childhood 
the   life    of  a  Nazarene.     If  we  consider 
what  an  impression  the  appearances  at  and 
after  the  birth  of  Christ,  and  the  conviction 
that  the  first-born  son  of  Mary  was  destined 
to  be'  the  Messiah — must  have  left  on  the 
minds  of  the  parents,  it  may  be  easily  ex- 
plained how  they  felt  themselves  compelled 
to  dedicate  their  first-born  son  James,*  to 
the  service  of  Jehovah  in  strict  abstinence 
for  the  whole  of  his  life.     To  this  also  it 
might  be  owing,  that  the  freer  mode  of  liv- 
ing which  Christ  practised  with  his  disci- 
ples was  less  congenial  to  him ;  and  from 
his  sfrict,  legal,  Jewish  standing-point  he 
could  not  comprehend  the  new  spirit  which 
revealed  itself  in  Christ's  words ;  many  of 
these  must  have  appeared  to  him  as  "hard 
sayings."     Proceeding  from  the  common 
Jewish    standing-point,    he    expected   that 
Jesus,  if  he  were  the  Messiah,  would  verify 
himself  to  be  such  in  the  presence   of  the 
people  by  signs  that  would  compel  the  uni- 
versal recognition  of  his  claims,  by  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  visible  kingdom  in  earthly 
glory.      By   the    impression    of    Christ's 
ministry  he  became  indeed  excited  to  be- 
lieve, but  the  power  of  early  habit  and  pre. 
judice  always  counteracted  that  impression, 
and  he  found  himself  in  a  state  of  indeci- 
sion from  which  he  could  not  at  once  free 
himself.     Only  half  a  year  before  the  last 
sufferings  of  Christ   we  find   him  in  this 
vacillating  condition,  for  John  does  not  in 
this  respect  distinguish  him  from  the  other 
brethren  of  Jesus,  with  whom  this  was  cer- 
tainly the  case ;  John  vii.  5.     But  after  the 
ascension  of  Christ,  he  appears   as  a  de- 
cided and  zealous  member  of  the  company 
of  disciples  ;  Acts  i.  13.     We  see  how  im- 
portant the  Saviour  deemed   it  to  produce 
such  a  faith  in  him  by  his  honouring  him 
with  a  special  appearance  after  the  resur- 
rection  (1  Cor.  XV.  7),  whether   this  was 
occasioned  or  not,  by  his  having  expressed 
doubts    like  Thomas,  f     This    James    ob- 

*  His  being  described  by  the  appellation  of  the 
son,  indicates  that  he  was  the  eldest. 

+  The  narrative  in  the  Gospel  of  the  Hebrews 
(see  Leben  Jesu,  p.  720),  is  not  an  authority  of 
sufficient  credit  to  allow  of  our  following  it  here. 
It  tells  us  that  James,  after  partaking  of  the  Last 
Supper  with  Christ,  made  a  vow  thnt  he  would  not 
again  taste  food  till  he  had  seen  him  risen  from 
the  dead ;  that  Christ  appeared  to  him  as  the  Risen 
One,  and  said,  "  Now  eat  thy  bread,  for  the  Son  of 


tained  constantly  increasing  respect  in  the 
church  at  Jerusalem. 

Every  feature  of  his  character  which  we 
can  gather  from  the  Acts,  from  Josephus,* 
and  from  the  traditions  of  Hegesippus  in 
Eusebiusjf  well  agrees  with  the  image  of 
him  presented  in  the  epistle  that  bears  his 
name.  By  his  strict  pious  life,  which 
agreed  with  the  Jewish  notions  of  legal 
piety,  he  won  the  universal  veneration,  not 
only  of  the  believers  among  the  Jews,  but 
also  of  the  better  disposed  among  his  coun- 
trymen generally  :  on  this  account,  he  was 
distinguished  by  the  surname  of  the  Just, 
pTl^''  ^ixaioj  ;  and,  if  we  may  credit  the 
account  of  Hegesippus,  he  was  viewed  as 
one  of  those  men  of  distinguished  and  com- 
manding excellence  who  set  themselves 
against  the  corruptions  of  their  age,  and 
hence  was  termed  the  bulwark  of  the  peo- 
ple.:]: According  to  the  representations  of 
this  writer,  he  must  have  led  a  life  after 
the  manner  of  the  strictest  ascetics  among 
the  Jews.  The  consecration  of  his  child- 
hood had  already  introduced  him  to  such 
a  mode  of  life,  and  we  might  suppose,  that 
he  had  already  won  by  it  peculiar  respect 
among  the  Jews,  if  it  were  not  surprising 
that  no  trace  can  be  found  of  it  in  the 
gospels,  no  marks  of  special  distinction 
awarded  to  him  by  his  brethren.  At  all 
events,  he  might  afterwards  avail  himself 
of  this  ascetic  strictness  as  a  means  of  at- 
tracting the  attention  of  the  multitude  to 
his  person,  and  thereby  to  the  doctrine  he 
published.  This  mode  of  life  considered 
in  itself,  provided  its  value  was  not   rated 

Man  is  risen  from  the  dead,"  We  must  certainly 
consider  how  important  it  was  for  the  wavering- 
minded  James,  who,  in  his  episile,  has  so  vividly 
described  the  unhappiness  of  such  a  state  (i.  5),  to 
attain  to  the  certainty  on  this  subject,  which  such 
an  occurrence  would  give  him,  and  which  such  a 
vow  led  him  to  e.xpect.  But  not  only  is  the  work 
of  the  Jewish  Christian  who  bestowed  so  much 
pains  in  embellishing  the  history  of  James,  not  a 
credible  source  of  information  in  itself,  but  there 
is  also  a  palpable  contradiction  in  the  chronology 
of  the  history  of  the  resurrection  between  this  nar- 
rative and  Paul's  account. 

*  Joseph.  Archasol.  xx.  9. 

t  Hist.  Eccles.  ii.  23. 

t  Perhaps  Q^  ^^j;  or  Q^S  2^^  which 

comes  nearer  the  phraseology  of  Hegesippus;  un- 
less, which  is  indeed  less  probable,  we  read  with 

Fuller,  Qt7^  f t^,  which  Hegesippus  translates 


Chap.  I.} 


THE  I3>ISTLE  OF  JAMES. 


208 


too  high,  was  by  no  rueans  unchristian. 
What  Hegesippus  narrates  of  him  perfectly 
suits  his  character,  that  he  frequently  pros- 
trated himself  on  his  knees  in  the  Temple, 
calling  upon  God  to  forgive  the  sins  of  his 
people,  (probably  having  a  special  refer- 
ence to  the  forgiveness  of  their  sins  against 
the  Messiah), — that  the  divine  judgments 
on  the  unbelievers  might  be  averted, — and 
that  they  might  be  led  to  repentance  and 
faith,  and  thus  to  a  participation  of  the 
kingdom  of  the  glorified  Messiah. 

But  some  important  dpubts  may  be 
raised  against  the  credibility  of  this  account 
of  Hegesippus,  taken  in  its  full  extent. 
That  Ebionite  party  among  whom  an  as- 
cetic, theosophic  tendency  prevailed,  and 
who  circulated  apocryphal  writings  under 
the  name  of  James,  had  probably  formed 
an  ideal  conception  of  his  character  in 
harmony  with  their  own  peculiarities,  and 
Hegesippus  might  mistake  the  image  deli- 
neated in  their  traditions  for  an  historical 
reality.  The  epistle  of  James  by  no  means 
bears  decided  marks  of  such  a  tendency, 
for  every  thing  which  has  been  supposed 
to  be  of  this  kind  may  very  properly  be 
referred  to  the  simple  Christian  renuncia- 
tion of  the  world,  such  as  has  its  seat  in 
the  disposition.  If  the  Jewish  love  of  gain 
is  here  spoken  against,  if  the  earthly-mind- 
edness  of  the  rich,  the  homage  paid  to  this 
class  and  the  contempt  of  the  poor,  is  con- 
demned, and  it  is  declared  that  the  gospel 
has  found  the  most  ready  access  to  the  lat- 
ter, and  exalted  them  to  the  highest  dig- 
nity, yet  it  by  no  means  follows,  that  the 
author  of  this  epistle  entirely  condemned, 
like  the  Ebionites,  all  possession  whatever 
of  earthly  goods. 

This  epistle  is  especially  important,  not 
only  for  illustrating  the  character  of  James, 
but  also  for  giving  us  an  insight  into  the 
state  of  the  Christian  churches  which  were 
formed  from  Judaism,  and  unmixed  with 
Christians  of  Gentile  descent.  According 
to  an  opinion  very  generally  prevalent  from 
ancient  times,  we  should  be  led  to  believe 
that  the  peculiar  doctrinal  system  of  the 
apostle  Paul  had  already  been  formed  and 
disseminated  when  this  epistle  was  written, 
and  that  those  churches  particularly  to 
whom  it  was  addressed,  had  been  affected 
by  the  influence  of  this  Pauline  system. 
The  opinion  we  refer  to  is,  that  James  in 
this  epistle  either   combated   the   Pauline 


doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  in  and  for 
itself,  or  a  misunderstanding  and  an  errone- 
ous application  of  it.  And  it  would  not  be 
difficult  to  support  this  opinion  by  many 
isolated  passages  in  the  epistle  taken  alone, 
without  a  reference  to  their  connexion  with 
the  whole  :*  for  it  seems  as  if  the  express 
reference  to  the  Pauline  formula  of  the  jus- 
tification to  be  obtained  by  faith  alone,  and 
to  which  works  can  contribute  nothing, 
could  not  be  mistaken  ;  especially  as  the- 
same  examples  of  faith  as  those  mentioned 
by  Paul,  namely,  those  of  Abraham  and 
Sarah,  are  adduced.  But  this  opinion, 
though  plausible  at  first  sight,  if  we  exa- 
mine  more  closely  the  relation  of  particular 
passages  to  the  whole  tenor  of  the  epistle, 
will  soon  appear  untenable.  The  error  in 
reference  to  faith  which  James  combats  in 
this  epistle,  is  certainly  not  one  altogether 
isolated :  but  it  appears  as  an  offset  pro- 
ceeding with  many  others  from  the  root  of 
one  false  principle :  and  this  principle  is 
quite  distinct  from  that  which  would  admit 
of  an  application,  whether  correct  or  incor^ 
rect,  of  the  Pauline  doctrine.  It  was  the 
tendency  of  the  Jewish  spirit,  refusing  to 
acknowledge  the  life  of  religion  as  seated  in 
the  disposition,  every  where  taking  up  the 
mere  dead  form,  the  appearance  instead  of 
the  reality,  in  religion;  this  tendency,  which 
substituted  a  lifeless  arrogant  acquaintance 
with  the  letter  for  the  genuine  wisdom  in- 
separable from  the  divine  life — which 
prided  itself  in  an  inoperative  knowledge 
of  the  law,  without  paying  any  attention  to 
the  practice  of  the  law — which  placed  de- 
votion in  outward  ceremonies,  and  ne- 
glected that  devotion  which  shows  itself  in 
works  of  love — which  contented  itself  with 
the  verbal  expression  of  love,  instead  of 
proving  it  by  works ;  it  was  this  same  ten- 
dency  of  the  Jewish  mind  estranged  from 

*  Wc  wish  to  remark  in  passing,  that  among 
those  who  have  thought  that  they  have  detected  a 
contradiction  between  James  and  Paul  in  the  doc- 
trine of  justification,  is  the  celebrated  patriarch 
Cyrillus  Lucaris  of  Constantinople,  who  was  led 
to  the  opinion  by  reading  the  epistle.  It  also 
struck  him  that  the  name  of  Christ  is  scarcely 
mentioned  above  once  or  twice,  and  then  coldly 
{ami  del  nomo  di  Jesu  Chrislo  a  pena  fa  mentione 
una  0  due  voile  e  f red  dame  nte);  that  the  mysteries 
of  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God  and  of  re- 
demption  are  not  treated  of,  but  only  morality  (solo 
a  la  moralita  attende) ;  see  Letter  vii.  in  Lellrea 
Anecdoits  de  Cijrille  Lucar.  Amsterdam,  1718, 
p.  85. 


204 


THE  EPISTLE  OF  JAMES. 


[Book  IV- 


the  spirit  and  life  of  religion,  which,  as  it 
laid  an  undue  value  on  the  opus  operatum 
of  outward  religious  acts,  so  also  on  the 
opus  operatum  of  a  faith  in  the  one  Jeho- 
vah and  in  the  Messiah,  which  left  the  dis- 
position unchanged  ; — and  which  presumed 
that  by  such  a  faith,  the  Jew  was  sufficient- 
ly distinguished  from  the  sinful  race  of  the 
Gentiles,  and  was  justified  before  God  even 
though  the  conduct  of  the  life  was  in  con- 
tradiction to  the  requirements  of  faith. 
Thus  we  find  here  one  branch  of  that  prac- 
tical fundamental  error  which  chiefly  pre- 
vailed among  these  Jewish  Christians, 
whom  James  combats  in  the  whole  of  the 
epistle,  even  where  faith  is  not  the  immedi- 
ate subject  of  discourse.  It  was  the  erro- 
neous tendency,  which  belonged  to  those 
that  commonly,  prevailed  among  the  great 
mass  of  the  Jews,  and  which  had  found  its 
way  also  among  those  Christians  in  whose 
minds  the  gospel  had  not  effected  a  com- 
plete transformation,  but  whose  Jewish 
spirit  had  only  connected  itself  with  faith 
in  Jesus  as  the  Messiah.*  (See  above, 
p.  27,  and  my  Church  History,  vol.  i.  p. 

But  as  to  the  Pauline  doctrine  of  justi- 
fication by  faith,  whether  correctly  or 
incorrectly  understood  and  applied,  we 
cannot  suppose  its  influence  to  be  pos- 
sible in  churches  of  this  class,  and  hence 
argumeBtation  against  it  from   the  stand- 


*  That  Jewish  mode  of  thinkincr  which  Justin 
Martyr  describes  in  Dial.  c.  Tryph.  jud.  fol.  370,  ed. 
Colon. — "  a)c  ii/j-in  xTrxrun  Ixurou;  kai  a.\xot  Ttvic 
vfMv  o/xoioi  K*T£t  toSto  (In  this  respect  Jewish- 
minded  Christians),  o(  >.iycv^tv,  crt  x.av  ufAUPTceKoi 
'Za-i,  ^iov  Si  •ytvaiT-icc/vo-iv,  ou  /uyi  Koyt^ttTi.i  al/Tcl;  nupioi 
af^st^Tnv"  That  mode  of  thinking  which  is  found 
in  the  Clementine  homihes,  according  to  wliich 
faith  in  one  God  (to  tkc  /uovn^y^ict?  kolxov)  has  such 
great  magical  power,  that  the  -^v^n  /jiovx^^mn,  even 
while  living  in  vice,  had  this  advantage  before 
idolaters,  that  it  could  not  perish,  but  through 
purifying  punishments  would  at  last  attain  to  sal- 
vation ;  see  Hom.  iii.  c.  6.  The  idea  of  faith, 
which,  from  an  entirely  different  source  than  from 
a  misunderstanding  of  Paul,  found  entrance  after- 
wards among  Christians  themselves,  and  to  which 
a  Marcion  directly  opposed  the  Pauline  idea  of 
faith.  Against  such  perversions  Paul  warned  the 
churches,  both  by  word  of  mouth  and  in  writing, 
when  he  so  impressively  charged  it  upon  them 
that  their  renunciation  of  heatlienism  was  nuga- 
tory, and  could  not  contribute  to  their  participation 
of  the  kingdom  of  God,  if  they  did  not  renounce 
their  former  sinful  habits;  see  Gal.  v.  21.  The 
nuot  Kcyot,  against  which  he  warns  the  Ephesians, 
V.  6. 


ing-point  of  James  is  utterly  inconceiva- 
ble.* As  the  superscription  and  contents 
of  his  epistle  inform  us,  it  was  mani- 
festly addressed  only  to  churches  that  were 
composed  entirely  of  Jewish  Christians. 
But  such  persons  were  least  of  all  disposed 
to  attach  themselves  particularly  to  Paul, 
and  least  of  all  disposed  and  fitted  to  agree 
to  the  Pauline  doctrine,  which  presented  the 
most  direct  opposition  to  their  customary 
mode  of  thinking.  It  was  precisely  from 
persons  of  this  stamp  that  the  intemperate 
fanatical  outcry  was  raised  against  this 
form  of  Christian  doctrine,  as  if,  by  depend- 
ing on  grace,  men  were  made  secure  in  sin, 
or  that  they  were  authorized  in  doing  evil 
that  good  might  come,  Rom.  iii.  8.  In  an 
entirely  different  quarter,  from  an  Hellenic 
(gnostic)  Antinomianism,  which  was  also 
Antijudaism,  arose  at  a  later  'period  an  er- 
roneous, practically  destructive  appropria- 
tion and  application  of  the  Pauline  doctrine 
of  justification,  such  as  Paul  himself 
thought  it  needful  to  guard  against  by  an- 
ticipation ;  Rom.  vi.  1  ;  Gal.  v.  13.  And 
this  later  erroneous  application  of  the  idea 
of  faith,  which  tended  likewise  to  the  injury 
of  practical  Christianity,  proceeded  from  an 
entirely  different  exposition  of  this  idea  than 
that  presented  by  the  one-sided  direction  of 
the  Jewish  spirit.  It  manifested  itself 
rather  as  an  Oriental  Hellenic  than  as  a 
Jewish  spirit;  it  was  not  the  abstract  idea 
of  faith,  but  a  one-sided  contemplative  or 
idealizing  tendency  which  deviated  from 
the  conception  of  faith  as  an  animating 
principle  of  the  will  and  a  practical  deter- 
mination of  the  life. 

From  what  has  been  said,  therefore,  it 
is  impossible  to  suppose,  in  an  epistle  ad- 
dressed to  such  churches  as  these,  any 
reference  whatever  to  the  Pauline  formula 
of  faith.     And  even  admitting  such  a  refer- 

*  Dr.  Kern,  in  his  essay  on  the  Origin  of  the 
Epistle  of  James,  in  the  Tubingen  "  Zeitschrift 
fur  Theologie,"  1835,  p.  25,  on  account  of  what  is 
here  asserted,  charges  me  with  a  petilio  principii ; 
but  I  cannot  perceive  with  any  justice.  This 
charge  might  be  brought  home  to  me  if  I  had  as- 
sumed, without  evidence,  that  this  epistle  was  ad- 
dressed to  an  unmixed  church;  or  if  I  had  passed 
altogether  unnoticed  the  possible  case  which  Kern 
considers  as  the  actual  (though  he  has  abandoned 
it  lately  in  the  Introduction  to  his  Commentary  on 
this  Epistle),  that  it  was  forged  by  a  Jewish  Chris- 
tian in  James's  name,  in  order  to  controvert  the 
Pauline  doctrinal  views  which  prevailed  among 
the  Gentile  churches. 


Chap.  I] 


THE  EPISTLE  OF  JAMES. 


205 


ence  to  exist,  yet  the  notion  that  it  consisted 
only  in  combating  a  misunderstanding 
of  the- Pauline  doctrine,  would  be  wholly 
untenable.  For  how  can  we  suppose  that 
James,  if  he  did  not  intend  to  contradict 
Paul,  but  to  maintain  apostolic  fellowship 
with  him,  and  the  knowledge  of  it  in  the 
churches, — would  not,  while  combating  an 
erroneous  interpretation  of  the  Pauline  doc- 
trine, at  the  same  time  expressly  state  the 
correct  interpretation,  and  guard  himself 
against  the  appearance  of  opposition  to 
Paul,  especially  when  an  opposition  might 
otherwise  be  so  easily  imagined  by  the 
Jewish  Christians  ?  But  if  we'assumed  that 
the  intention  of  James  was  really  to  com- 
bat Paul's  doctrine,  this  view  would  be  at 
variance  with  what  we  know  from  history 
of  the  good  understanding  between  the  two 
apostles,  and  which  cannot  be  set  aside  by 
the  fact  that  some  of  Paul's  opponents  were 
those  who  appealed  to  the  authority  of 
James.     See  p.  76. 

Another  supposition  still  remains,  that 
some  one  forged  the  Epistle  under  James's 
name,*  in  order  to  give  currency  in  the 


*  The  assertion  made  by  Kern,  p.  72  of  the  es- 
say before  quoted,  that,  according-  to  the  principles 
of  that  early  Christian  age,  such  a  literary  impos- 
ture would  be  irreproachable,  I  cannot  acknowledge 
as  well-founded,  if  expressed  witliout  limitation. 
There  was  indeed  a  certain  standing-point,  on 
which  such  a.fraus  pia,  as  we  must  always  call  it 
(when  a  palpable  falsehood  was  made  use  of  to 
put  certain  sentiments  in  circulation),  would  be 
allowed  ;  but  that  this  was  a  generally  approved 
practice,  appears  to  me  an  arbitrary  assumption. 
We  ought  carefully  to  guard  against  supposing 
that  to  be  an  universally  received  principle,  which 
was  only  tlie  peculiarity  of  individual  mental  ten- 
dencies. There  was  a  one-sided,  theoretic,  specu- 
lative standing-point,  from  which  lax  principles 
respecting  veracity  proceeded,  as  we  have  remark- 
ed in  Plato.  It  was  connected  with  that  aristo- 
craticism  of  antiquity,  first  overturned  by  the 
power  of  the  gospel,  which  treated  the  mass  of  the 
people  as  unsusceptible  of  pure  truth  in  religion, 
and  hence  justified  the  use  of  falsehood  to  serve  as 
leading-strings  for  the  Tcoxxot.  As  the  reaction  of 
such  an  earlier  standing-point,  we  find  this  view 
in  parties  of  kindred  tendencies,  such  as  tlie 
Alexandrian  Jews,  the  Gnostics,  the  Platonising 
Alexandrian  fathers.  But  from  the  first,  a  sounder 
practical  Christian  spirit  combated  this  error,  as 
we  see  in  the  instances  of  Justin  Martyr,  Irenasus, 
and  Tertullian.  The  anti-gnostic  tendency  was 
also  zealous  for  strict  veracity.  Now  a  similar 
practical  tendency  distinguishes  this  epistle,  in 
which  I  cannot  find  an  Ebionitish  anti-pauline 
standing-point.  This  spirit  of  strict  veracity  is 
shown  in  what  is  said  respecting  swearing.  This 
epistle,  indeed,  wears  altogether  a  different  cha- 


church  to  a  belief  in  an  opposition  between 
the  two  apostles,  and  this  design  would  well 
suit  the  one-sided  tendency  of  a  Jewish 
Christian.  But  such  a  person  would  not 
only  have  expressed  himself  in  a  more  de- 
cided manner  than  that  James,  of  whose 
reputation  he  wished  to  avail  himself;  but 
he  would  have  pointed  out  by  name  the 
individual  (Paul)  against  whom  he  directed 
his  attack,  and  would  have  expressed  in 
stronger  terms  the  censure  of  his  doctrine." 
The  subordinate  place  .which  in  this  case 
the  confutation  of  the  Pauline  doctrine  oc- 
cupies in  relation  to  the  whole  of  the  epis- 
tle, certainly  does  not  agree  with  this  hypo- 
thesis. Or,  if  it  be  said  that  the  author  of 
this  epistle,  who  presented  himself  under 
the  mask  of  James,  did  not  belong  to  the 
violent  Judaizing  opponents  of  Paul,  but  to 
a  milder,  more  accommodating  party,  who 
only  aimed  at  smoothing  down  the  pecu- 
liarities of  the  Pauline  scheme  -of  doctrine, 
and  so  modifying  it  as  to  bring  it  nearer 
the  Jewish-Christian  standing-point,  and 
for  that  reason  adopted  a  gentler  method, 
and  avoided  the  mention  of  Paul's  name ; 
in  this  case,  there  would  still  have  been  a 
necessity  of  naming  him,  and  explicitly 
stating  that  the  writer  of  the  epistle  im- 
pugned not  his  doctrine  in  itself,  but  only 
a  harsh  and  overstrained  construction  of  it. 
And  after  all,  the  singular  fact  would 
remain  unaccounted  for,  that  the  main  ob- 
ject and  design  of  the  writer  occupies  only 
a  subordinate  place  in  relation  to  the  whole 
of  the  epistle. 

What  has  given  occasion  to  all  these 
various  suppositions,  is  the  apparent  al- 
lusion, to  expressions  and  illustrations  made 
use  of  by  Paul.  But  is  this  allusion  really 
so  very  evident  ?  Let  us  recollect,  that  the 
Pauline  phraseology  formed  itself  from  Ju- 
daism, from  the  Jewish-Greek  diction — that 
it  by  no  means  created  new  modes  of  ex- 
pression,* but  often  only  appropriated  the 


racter  from  the  Clementines,  which  show  a  de- 
cided party  tendency  and  party  bias. 

*  On  the  manner  in  which  Paul  employed 
phrases  which  were  already  in  use  among  Jewish 
theologians,  compare  Dr.  Roeth's  work,  De  Epis- 
tola  ad  Hehraos,  p.  121,  &c.,  though  I  cannot 
agree  with  the  author  in  what  he  attempts  to 
prove ;  for  in  the  use  which  Paul  makes  of  an  ex- 
isting form  of  dogmatic  expresssion,  he  forms  the 
most  decided  contrast  to  the  Jewish  meaning. 
But  it  appears  from  this,  how  James,  proceeding 
from  the  Jewish  standing-point,  without  any  re- 


206 


THE  EPISTLE  OF  JAMES. 


[Book  IV. 


ancient  Jewish  terms,  employed  them  in 
combinations,  applied  them  to  new  con- 
trasts, and  animated  them  with  a  new 
spirit.  Thus  neither  the  term  (JwaiouCSrai 
in  reference  to  God,  nor  the  term  -Trirfris  was 
entirely  new  ;  but  both  these  terms  and  the 
ideas  indicated  by  them  (and  indeed,  in 
reference  to  the  first,  the  same  idea  the 
existence  of  which  among  the  Jews  Paul 
must  have  assumed  in  arguing  with  his 
Jewish  opponents)  had  been  long  familiar 
to  the  Jews.  The  example  likewise  of 
Abraham  as  a  hero  in  faith  must  have  been 
obvious  to  every  Jew,  and  the  example  of 
Rahqb  (which  is  adduced  only  in  the  Epis- 
tle to  the  Hebrews — an  epistle  neither  com- 
posed by  Paul  nor  containing  the  peculiarly 
Pauline  doctrinal  statement  of  justifying 
faith),  since  it  proved  the  benefit  of  the 
monotheistic  faith  to  a  Gentile  of  impure 
life,  must  have  especially  commended  itself 
to  the  Jews  who  were  disposed  to  extol  the 
importance  of  faith  in  Jehovah.* 

Since  it  appears  that  a  reference  to  the 
Pauline  doctrinal  scheme  is  not  indicated 
in  this  epistle,  that  mark  is  withdrawn  by 
which  it  has  been  thought  that  the  late 
period  of  its  composition  could  be  proved  ; 
in  order,  therefore,  to  determine  this  point, 
we  must  seek  for  other  marks  in  the  epis- 
tle itself.  It  is  remarkable  that,  according  to 
its  superscription,  it  is  addressed  only  to  the 
Jews  of  the  twelve  tribes  who  lived  in  the 
dispersion,  and  yet  it  is  manifestly  ad- 
dressed to  Christians.  Yet  this  may  be 
very  well  explained  if  we  consider  the 
standing-point  of  James,  such  as  it  is  shown 
to  be  by  the  whole  of  the  epistle.  He  con- 
siders the  acknowledgment  of  the  Mes- 
siahship  of  Jesus  as  essentially  belonging 
to  genuine  Judaism,  believers  in  Jesus  as 
the  only  genuine  Jews,  Christianity  as  per- 
fect Judaism,  by  which  the  vo,aoj  had  at- 
tained its  completion.  And  it  is  not  impos- 
sible that,  though  he  addressed  himself 
especially  to  Cliristians,  he  also  had  in  his 
thoughts  the  Jewish  readers  into  whose 
hands  the  ^epistle  might  fall,  as  Christians 
lived  among  the  Jews  without  any  marked 
separation.     From  the  mention  of  their  de- 


ference to  the  Pauline  doctrine,  would  be  led  to 
the  choice  of  such  expressions. 

*  Thus  it  appears  to  me  that  what  Dr.  De 
Wctte  says  in  the  Slndien  vnd  Kritiken,  1830,  p. 
349,  in  order  to  point  out  an  intentional  opposition 
of  James  to  Paul,  is  nullified. 


scent  from  the  twelve  tribes,  we  may  infer 
that  these  churches  consisted  purely  of 
Jewish  Christians,  or  that  James,  who  con- 
sidered himself  peculiarly  the  apostle  of  the 
Jews,  addressed  only  the  Jewish  part  of  the 
church.  Yet  as  no  notice  is  taken  of  the 
relation  of  the  .Jewish  to  the  Gentile  Chris- 
tians, it  is  by  far  the  most  probable  opinion 
that  these  churches  consisted  entirely  of 
the  former.  Partly  from  the  peculiar  stand- 
ing-point of  James,  and  partly  from  the 
peculiar  situation  of  these  churches  which 
had  retained  all  the  Jewish  forms,  we  may 
account  for  the  use  of  the  ancient  Jewish 
name  dvvayuyii],  instead  of  the  peculiar 
Christian  term  sxxKri(fia.  as  the  designation 
of  the  meeting  of  the  community  of  be- 
lievers.* Such  churches  might  exist  dur- 
ing the  later  apostolic  age  in  the  inland 
parts  of  Asia,  perhaps  in  Syria.  But  if 
the  epistle  was  addressed  to  churches  in 
these  parts,  it  appears  strange  that  James, 
to  whom  the  Aramaic  must  have  been  much 
more  familiar  than  the  Greek,  (although  it 
was  not  impossible  that  he  had  so  far 
learnt  the  Greek  as  to  be  able  to  write  an 
epistle  in  it,)  should  have  made  use  of  the 
latter  language.  We  must  therefore  con- 
clude, that  this  point  was  determined  by  a 
regard  to  the  wants  of  his  readers,  and  that 
part  of  them  at  least  belonged  to  the  Hel- 
lenists. This  being  assumed,  we  must  fix 
the  date  of  the  epistle  at  a  time  preceding 
the  separate  formation  of  Gentile  Christian 
churches,  before  the  relation  of  Gentiles  and 
Jews  to  one  another  in  the  Christian  church 
had  been  brought  under  discussion, f  the 
period  of  the  first  spread  of  Christianity  in 
Syria,  Cilicia,  and  the  adjacent  regions. ij: 


*  Our  knowledge  of  the  spread  of  Christianity 
at  this  period,  is  indeed  far  too  defective  to  give  a 
decisive  opinion  with  Kern  on  this  point. 

t  The  view  which  Dr.  Schneckenburger  has 
acutely  developed,  and  defended  in  iiis  valuable 
^' Beitrage  zur  Einleitung  in's  Neue  Testament" 
Stuttgart  1832,  and  in  his  Annotalioad  Epistolam 
Jacolii.  He  has  expressed  his  agreement  respect- 
ing the  oliject  of  the  argumentative  portion  of  this 
epistle,  with  the  views  I  have  developed  in  this 
work,  and  in  my  earlier  occasional  writings.  See 
his  essays  on  this  .'subject  in  SteudeL^s  Tuhinger 
ZeUschrift  fur  Theoh'gie,  1829,  and  in  the  Tu- 
binger  Zeilschrift  fur  T/ieologie,  1830,  part  iii. 

t  An  allusion  to  the  use  of  the  name  ^^la-noivoi 
has  been  erroneously  supposed  in  James  li.  7,  and 
hence  an  attempt  to  fix  the  date  of  the  epistle.  By 
>ccthov  ovofxa  we  may  most  properly  understand  the 
name  of  Jesus,  and  this  is  the  simplest  explana- 
tion, since  the  words  will  be  most  naturally  ap- 


Chap.  I.] 


THE  EPISTLE  OF  JAMES. 


207 


These  churches  consisted  for  the  most 
part  of  the  poor,*  (though  some  individuals 
amongjhem  were  rich),t  and  they  were  in 
various  ways  oppressed  by  the  wealthy  and 
influential  Jews.f  Certainly  these  churches 
were  so  constituted,  that,  in  many  cases, 
their  Christianity  consisted  only  in  the  ac- 
knowledgment of  Jesus  as  the  Messiah, 
and  of  his  peculiar  moral  precepts,  which 
they  considered  as  the  perfecting  of  the 
law.  Since  they  were  far  from  recognising 
and  appropriating  the  real  essence  of  Chris- 
tianity, they  resembled  the, great  mass  of 
the  Jewish  nation,  in  the  predominance  of 
a  carnal  mind,  and  the  prevalence  of 
worldly  lusts,  contention  and  slander.  Ac- 
cordingly, we  must  either  assume  that 
Christianity  among  them  was  still  novel, 
and  had  not  yet  penetrated  the  life,  as  from 


plied  to  the  invocation  of  the  name  of  Jesus  as  the 
Messiah,  to  whom  believers  were  consecrated  at 
baptism,  the  baptism  ik  to  ovo/um.  tou  JhctoS.  Sec 
Schneckenburger's  Commentary  on  the  passage. 

*  According-  to  the  views  brought  forward  by 
Kern,  the  author  of  this  epistle,  in  an  Ebionitish 
manner,  marked  the  genuine  Christians,  that  is  in 
his  opinion  the  Jewish  Christians,  as  the  poor, 
and  the  Gentile  Christians  as  the  rich,  whom  he 
would  not  acknowledge  to  be  genuine  Christians. 
But  the  condition  of  the  Christian  churches  among 
the  Gentiles  generally  in  tliis  first  age,  certainly 
will  not  allow  us  to  suppose,  that  it  would  occur 
to  any  one  to  impose  this  name  upon  them,  and 
in  every  point  of  view  this  supposition  appears  to 
be  entirely  unsound. 

t  James  i.  10. 

t  The  passage  in  James  ii.  7,  is  referred  most 
naturally  to  tlie  blaspheming  of  Jesus  by  the  ene- 
mies of  Christianity,  although  the  preceding  con- 
text relates  not  to  religious  persecutions  but  to  op- 
pressions  and  extortions  of  a  different  kind.  Com- 
pare V.  4.  It  is  by  no  means  evident,  that  by  the 
rich  in  this  epistle,  we  are  always  to  understand 
members  of  the  Christian  community.  The  author 
may  refer  partly  to  the  rich  among  the  Jews,  who 
were  averse  from  Christianity,  partly  to  the  rich 
among  the  Christians,  who  Ibrmed  a  very  small 
minority.  From  the  contrast  in  i.  9,  10,  it  by  no 
means  follows  that  by  the  rich  in  the  latter  verse 
only  Christians  are  intended.  By  those  of  low 
degree  who  were  to  rejoice  in  being  exalted,  he 
could  indeed  mean  only  Christians;  but  among 
the  rich,  he  might  include  those  wealthy  Jews, 
who  by  their  entire  devotedness  to  earthly  objects 
were  prevented  from  becoming  Chrisiians.  It  was 
the  duty  of  these  persons  to  learn  the  nothingness 
of  earthly  possessions,  which  they  had  hitherto 
made  their  highest  good,  to  humble  themselves, 
and  in  this  self-humiliation  to  find  their  true  glory  ; 
for  with  the  nothingness  of  earthly  things  they 
would  learn  the  truly  highest  gond, — the  true 
dignity  or  elevation  which  was  imparted  by  the 
Messiah.  In  this  manner  they  were  required  to 
become  Christians. 


the  beginning,  (see  p.  28,)  there  were 
many  among  the  Jews,  who,  carried  away 
by  the  impression  which  the  extraordinary 
operations  of  the  apostles  had  made  upon 
them,  and  attracted  by  the  hope  that  Jesus 
would  soon  return,  and  establish  his  king- 
dom  on  earth,  the  happiness  of  which  they 
depicted  agreeably  to  their  own  inclina- 
tions, in  such  a  state  of  mind  and  with  such 
expectations,  made  a  profession  of  Chris- 
tianity, without  having  experienced  any' 
essential  cKange  of  character — or  we  must 
suppose,  that  these  churches  had  sunk  into 
a  state  of  degeneracy  from  a  higher  stand- 
ing-point of  the  Christian  life.  In  the  con- 
stitution  of  these  churches  there  was  this 
peculiarity,  that  as  the  direction  of  the 
office  of  teaching  had  not  been  committed 
to  the  presbyters,  but  only  the  outward 
management  of  the  church  affairs,  many 
members  of  the  community  came  forward 
as  teachers,  while  no  one  acted  officially 
in  that  capacity ;  (see  p.  35-90.)  Hence 
James  deemed  it  needful  to  admonish 
them,  that  too  many  ought  not  to  obtrude 
themselves  as  teachers ;  that  none  ought 
inconsiderately  to  speak  in  their  public 
meetings,  but  that  each  should  recollect  the 
responsibility  he  incurred  by  such  a  pro- 
cedure;  James  i.  19;  iii.  1-2. 

As  to  the  doctrine  of  James  and  the 
mode  of  its  exhibition  in  this  epistle,  we 
find  nothing  whatever  which  stands  in  con- 
tradiction to  the  more  fully  developed  doc- 
trine of  the  New  Testament,  as  we  shall 
show  when  we  come  to  treat  of  Doctrine ; 
and  the  Christian  ideas  actually  presented 
in  this  epistle  are  evidently  in  unison  with 
the  whole  extent  of  Christian  truth.  But 
the  contents  of  the  Christian  system  are 
not  exhibited  separately  in  all  their  details  ; 
what  is  purely  Christian  is  more  insulated  ; 
the  references  to  Christ  are  not  so  predomi- 
nant and  all-penetrating  as  in  the  other 
epistles.  References  to  the  Old  Testament, 
though  placed  in  connexion  with  the  Chris- 
tian standing-point,  are  most  frequent.  For 
the  explanation  of  this  phenomenon,  to 
allege  the  peculiar  standing-point  of  the 
persons  addressed  is  not  sufficient,  for  a 
Paul,  a  John,  or  a  Peter  would  certainly 
have  written  to  them  in  a  very  different 
strain  ;  we  must  rather  seek  the  explana- 
tion in  the  peculiar  character  of  the  writer 
himself.  We  might  hence  infer  (with 
Schneckenburger)   that  James  wrote   this 


208 


THE  EPISTLE  OF  JAMES. 


[Book  IV. 


epistle  at  a  time  when  Christianity  had  not 
thoroughly  penetrated  his  spiritual  life,  du- 
ring the  earliest  period  of  his  Christian  de- 
velopernent ;  but  it  may  be  questioned 
whether  we  are  justified  in  drawing  such  a 
conclusion,  for  no  proof  can  be  given  that 
he  enlarged  his  doctrinal  views  at  a  later 
period.  It  is  possible  that  he  remained  con- 
fined in  this  form  of  imperfect  doctrinal  de- 
velopement,  although  his  heart  was  pene- 
trated by  love  to  God  and  Jesus.  He  still 
maintained  the  character  which  belonged 
to  him  on  his  original  standing-point  as  a 
teacher  of  the  Jews,  as  the  guide  of  his 
countrymen  in  passing  over  from  the  Old 
to  the  New  Testament.  True  it  is,  that 
much  would  have  been  wanting  to  the 
church  for  the  completeness  of  Christian 
knowledge,  if  the  statement  of  Christian 
doctrine  by  James  had  not  found  its  com- 
plement in  the  representacions  of  the  other 
apostles  ;  but  in  this  connexion  it  forms  an 
important  contribution  to  the  entire  concep- 
tion and  developement  of  Christian  truth, 
and  furnishes  all  that  can  be  expected  from 
such  a  standing-point. 

It  was  exactly  this  form  of  doctrine  that 
secured  for  James  a  long  and  undisturbed 
ministration  among  the  Jews,  and  many 
were  led  by  his  influence  to  faith  in  Christ  ; 
but  this  excited  so  much  the  more  the  ha- 
tred of  the  basest  among  the  party-leaders 
of  the  Jewish  people,  who  sought  for  an 
opportuuity  to  sacrifice  him  to  their  rage. 
One  of  the  most  impetuous  among  them, 
the  high  priest  Ananus,  who  was  disposed 
to  all  the  violent  acts  of  party  hatred, 
availed  himself  for  this  purpose  of  the  in- 
terval between  the  departure  of  the  Roman 
Procurator  Felix,  and  the  arrival  of  his 
successor  Albinus,  about  the  year  62.  He 
caused  James  with  some  other  Christians 
to  be  condemned  to  death  by  the  Sanhe- 
drim as  a  violator  of  the  law;  and  in  con- 
formity with  that  sentence  he  was  stoned.* 


But  the  better  disposed  among  the  Jews 
were  greatly  dissatisfied  with  this  proceed- 
ing, and  Ananus,  on  account  of  it,  was 
accused  to  the  new  governor,  for  which 
there  was  sufficient  reason,  as  he  had  mani- 


*  We  here  follow  the  account  of  Josephus,  An- 
tiq.  XX.  9,  which  certainly  is  more  credible  than 
the  leg'cndary  narrative  of  Hegesippus  in  Euse- 
bius,  ii.  23.  How  can  it  be  supposed  that  the 
heads  of  the  Pharisaic  party  would  have  been 
foolish  enough  to  demand  of  James,  and  to  sup- 
pose it  possible  that  he  would  bear  a  public  testi- 
mony against  Christianity  ?  Nor  can  I  be  induced 
by  whatCrcdncr  has  said  in  his  EinleUurig,  &c.  p. 
581,  in  whicii  Rothe  and  Kern  (see  his  Commen- 
tary  on  the  Epistle  of  James,  published  in  J  838, 
p.  341)  agree  with  him,  to  give  up  the  opinion  I 


have  here  expressed.  It  would  place  the  question 
on  a  different  footing,  if  the  interpretation  of  the 
passage  in  Josephus  could  be  really  proved.  In 
that  case,  we  must  admit,  that  although  the  his- 
tory  of  the  martyrdom  of  James  was  garnished 
after  an  Ebionitish  legend,  yet  the  historical  truth 
is  to  be  discerned  lying  at  its  basis.  But  this  in- 
terpretation does  not  appear  to  me  proved.  The 
words  of  Josephus,  xx.  c.  9,  §  1,  in  which  we  in- 
clude in  brackets  what  is  considered  suspicious  by 
Credner  and  others,  are  as  follows  ;  (he  is  here 
speaking  of  the  high  priest  Ananus): — "  »*3-/^eJ 

'Utou  tov  hiyofxivov  Xgio-ToS,  'JctKoolio;  ovo^et  avTW 
KAl]  T/vac  [«T£poyf]  lie  Tru^a-VCifAyicruvrcev  TTor^o-A/AiVo; 
TTUg^iS'cDKi  XivtrbwoiMvov;'  o<rot  h  iS'okovv  \7riiUiTTa.T6i 

KctTdL  T«V  TTOXtV  iiv^l,    X-At  T£t  TTSg/  TOUC  VO/XOVC  UK^l/iilC, 

/gigsac  imynuv  iTTi  TovTo,."  Credner  considers  the 
clauses  I  have  marked'  as  the  interpretation  of  a 
Christian,  because  Josephus  as  a  Jew  would  not 
have  so  emphatically  prefixed  the  epithet  ahAfov, 
&c.,  but  rather  have  placed  first  the  proper  name, 
and  because  he  must  rather  have  called  Jesus  tov 
SiKdtiov,  and  not  left  his  readers  in  almost  total 
darkness  as  to  the  meaning  of  that  very  general 
epithet.  But  since  James  was  best  known  by 
that  appellation,  which  gave  him  the  greatest 
importance  whether  in  a  good  or  bad  sense,  ac- 
cording to  the  standing-points  of  those  who  em- 
ployed  it,  since  Jesus  who  was  considered  to  be 
the  Christ  might  be  presumed  to  be  known  under 
that  title,  both  among  Gentile  and  Jewish  readers, 
we  have  reason  for  thinking,  that  the  person  of  the 
brother  of  James  first  presented  itself  to  Josephus, 
and  he  mentioned  this  before  adding  the  designa- 
tion of  the  proper  name.  When  those  persons  are 
mentioned  who  had  been  accused  as  violators  of 
the  law,  and  whose  condemnation  had  been  blamed 
by  the  most  devout  of  the  Jewish  nation,  this  would 
certainly  lead  us  to  think  of  the  Christians  who 
strictly  observed  the  Mosaic  law.  and  above  all, 
we  should  refer  this  to  James.  When  Christians 
were  persecuted  as  Christians,  or  as  opponents  of 
the  prevalent  corruptions,  the  persecution  would 
especially  affect  James,  who  had  the  greatest  in- 
fluence  among  the  Jews,  and  was  the  firmest  pillar 
of  the  Christian  community.  It  is  therefore  in  it- 
self  probable,  that  the  persecution  excited  by  the 
high  priest  would  fall  particularly  on  James.  And 
if  a  Christian  had  interpolated  this  passage,  he 
would  hardly  have  satisfied  himself  with  only 
foisting  in  these  words,  as  a  comparison  with  the 
interpolation  of  other  passages,  which  relate  to 
Jesus  himself,  will  convince  us  still  more._  _  In 
reference  to  the  incredibility  of  such  traditions 
as  those  of  Hegesippus  respecting  the  martyrdom 
of  James,  a  comparison  with  the  talcs  reported  by 
Papias  about  the  death  of  Judas  Iscariot  will 
serve  for  a  proof  Perhaps  the  image  of  the  mar- 
tyrdom  of  Stephen  suggested  to  the  Ebionites 
their  method  of  forming  the  account  of  the  mar- 
tyrdom of  James. 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  APOSTLE  PETER. 


209 


festly  exceeded  the  limits  of  the  power 
guaranteed  to  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim  by  the 
Roman  law.    See  p.  45. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    APOSTLE    PETER. 

From  James  we  now  proceed  to  the 
apostle  Peter,  who,  as  appears  from  the 
course  of  historical  developement  already 
traced,  forms  a  connecting  link  between 
the  two  m.ost  widely-differing  spheres  of 
action  and  tendencies  of  Paul  and  James. 
We  must  here  take  a  brief  survey  of  his 
situation  and  character  in  early  life. 

Simon  was  the  son  of  Jonas,  a  fisher- 
man in  the  town  of  Bethsaida,  on  the 
western  shore  of  the  sea  of  Gennesareth  in 
Galilee.  The  interest  universally  excited 
in  this  region  respecting  the  appearance  of 
the  Messiah,  which  seized  with  peculiar 
force  the  ardent  minds  of  the  young,  led 
him,  among  others,  to  that  divinely  en- 
lightened man  John  the  Baptist,  who  was 
called  to  prepare  the  way  for  that  event. 
His  brother  Andrew,  who  had  first  recog- 
nised the  Messiah  in  Jesus,  imparted  to 
him  the  glorious  discovery.  When  the 
Lord  saw  him,  he  perceived,  with  his  di- 
vinely-human look,  what  was  in  him,  and 
gave  him  the  surname  of  Cephas,  Peter, 
the  Rock.  These  surnames,  like  others 
which  Christ  gave  his  disciples,  may  be 
taken  in  a  twofold  point  of  view.  The 
principal  point  of  which  view,  without 
doubt,  the  Redeemer  hadin  the  imposition 
of  this  name,  related  to  what  Simon  would 
become  in  and  for  the  service  of  the  gos- 
pel. But  as  the  influences  of  transforming 
grace,  always  attaching  themselves  to  the 
constitutional  character  of  an  individual, 
purify  and  ennoble  it,  so  in  this  instance, 
what  Peter  became  by  the  power  of  the 
divine  life,  was  in  a  measure  determined  by 
his  natural  peculiarities.  A  capacity  for 
action,  rapid  in  its  movements,  seizing  with 
a  firm  grasp  on  its  object,  and  carrying  on 
his  designs  with  ardour,  was  his  leading 
characteristic,  by  which  he  effected  so  much 
in  the  service  of  the  gospel.  But  the  fire 
of  his  powerful  nature  needed  first  to  be 
transformed  by  the  flame  of  divine  love, 
and    to   be    refined   from  the  impurity  of 

27 


selfishness,  to  render  him  undaunted  in  the 
publication  of  the  gospel.  By  the  natural 
constitution  of  his  mind,  he  was  indeed 
disposed  to  surrender  himself  at  the  mo- 
ment entirely  to  the  impression  which  seized 
him,  without  being  turned  aside  by  those 
considerations  which  would  hold  back  more 
timorous  spirits,  and  to  express  with  en- 
ergy what  would  move  many  minds  ;  but 
he  was  easily  misled  by  a  rash  self-confi- 
dence to  say  more,  and  to  venture  more, 
than  he  coyld  accomplish  ;  and  though  he 
quickly  and  ardently  seized  on  an  object,  he 
allowed  himself  too  easily  to  relinquish  it, 
by  yielding  to  the  force  of  another  im- 
pression. 

It  was  desirable  that  the  first  impression 
made  on  Peter's  mind  should  continue  to 
act  upon  him  in  quiet, — on  which  account 
Christ  at  first  left  him  to  himself;  and  when, 
by  repeated  operations,  every  thing  in  his 
disposition  was  sufficiently  prepared,  he  re- 
ceived him  into  the  number  of  his  disciples, 
who  afterwards  accompanied  him  every 
where.  Peter  must  often  have  heard  him 
teach  in  the  Synagogue,  and  seen  him  heal 
the  sick.  But  all  this  would  be  only  a 
preparation  for  the  last  decisive  impression, 
which  was  exactly  adapted  to  Peter's  for- 
mer mode  of  life,  and  his  peculiar  charac- 
ter. After  Christ  had  finished  one  of  his 
discourses  in  Peter's  vessel,  he  desired  him 
to  let  dowti  his  net  for  a  draught.  Although 
he  had  toiled  in  vain  during  the  whole  of 
the  preceding  night,  yet  he  was  quite 
ready  to  obey  the  command  of  the  Re- 
deemer, a  proof  of  the  confidence  he  al- 
ready placed  in  him  ;  and  since,  after  the 
various  preceding  impressions  which  he 
received  of  the  Divine  in  Christ,  he  was 
so  astonished  by  the  successful  result, — the 
sense  of  the  dignity  and  holiness  of  the 
personage  who  stood  before  him,  as  well 
as  of  his  own  unworthiness,  so  overpowered 
him,  that  he  deemed  himself  not  fit  to  be 
so  near  the  Holy  One, — Christ  took  ad- 
vantage of  the  state  of  mind  thus  produced 
to  draw  him  altogether  to  himself,  and 
made  this  instance  of  success  in  his 
worldly  occupation,  by  which  Peter  had 
been  so  wonder-struck,  a  symbol  of  the 
spiritual  success  which  would  attend  his 
future  labours  in  his  service. 

We  find  many  indications  of  Peter's  con- 
stitutional disposition  in  the  intercourse  of 
Christ  with  himself  and  the  other  disciples. 


210 


THE  APOSTLE  PETER. 


[Book  IV. 


When  many  of  those  persons  who  had 
been  induced  to  join  themselves  to  Christ 
for  a  length  of  time  by  the  impression  of 
his  miracles,  at  last,  from  the  want  of  a 
deeper  susceptibility  for  divine  truth,  for- 
sook bim,  Christ  said  to  the  twelve  disci- 
ples who  still  faithfully  followed  him, 
*'  Will  ye  also  go  away?"  Peter  testified 
of  what  they  all  felt,  and  how  deeply  he 
felt  the  divine  impression  which  the  words 
of  Christ  had  made  on  his  inmost  soul, 
more  than  he  could  yet  distinctly  appre- 
hend,— that  a  divine  life  proceeded  from 
his  words,  and  that  those  who  received 
his  sayings  were  made  partakers  of  a  di- 
vine and  blessed  life  enduring  for  ever. 
"  To  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast  the 
words  of  eternal  life.  We  believe,  we 
know  that  thou  art  the  Messiah  of  God." 
The  conviction  that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah, 
which  Peter  here  expresses,  was  without 
doubt  of  a  different  kind  than  that  which 
only  was  produced  by  beholding  the  mira- 
cles he  wrought.  It  was  a  conviction 
deeply  seated  in  his  religious  and  moral 
nature,  which  originated  in  his  inward  ex- 
perience of  the  divine  intercourse  with  the 
Redeemer.  Thus  Christ  declared,  when 
Peter  said  to  him,  "  Thou  art  the  Messiah, 
the  son  of  the  living  God,"  Matt.  xvi.  16, 
that  this  conviction  was  produced  on  his 
heart  by  the  spirit  of  God, — that  he  spoke 
not  according  to  human  opinion,  but  from 
the  confidence  of  divine  excitement, — that 
not  flesh  and  blood,  but  his  Father  in  hea- 
ven had  revealed  this  to  him.  And  since 
the  conviction,  thus  grounded  in  the  depths 
of  his  disposition,  that  Jesus  was  the  Mes- 
siah, was  the  foundation  on  which  the 
kingdom  of  God  rested,  in  allusion  to  this 
fact  Christ  called  him  the  Rock,  the  Rock 
on  which  he  would  build  his  church,  which 
was  to  exist  for  ever.  There  is  indeed  a 
personal  reference  to  Peter,  but  only  on 
account  of  the  faith  he  had  confessed,  which 
forms  the  foundation  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  On  another  occasion,  when  Christ 
announced  to  his  disciples  his  approaching 
sufferings,  Peter  felt  impelled  instantane- 
ously as  it  arose  in  his  heart,  to  express 
the  sentiment  which  all  felt,  but  hesitated 
to  express,  "  That  be  far  from  thee,  Lord  !" 
But  here  the  feeling  of  love  to  Him  who 
was  most  fitted  to  kindle  the  fire  of  love 
in  the  heart,  expressed  itself  in  a  natural 
human  form  so  strongly,  that  Peter,  with 


this  state  of  disposition  towards  the  cause 
of  God,  which  requires  the  sacrifice  of 
self,  and  of  whatever  is  dearest  to  the  heart, 
could  not  be  an  instrument  in  its  service, 
and  hence  the  Lord  addressed  him  with 
words  of  severe  rebuke,  and  assured  him 
that,  with  such  a  disposition,  valuing  the 
person  of  man  higher  than  the  cause  of 
God,  he  could  not  remain  in  his  fellowship  ; 
that  by  this  disposition  he  became  a  tempt- 
er ;  Matt.  xvi.  We  recognise  the  same  ten- 
dency to  be  carried  away  by  the  sudden 
impulse  of  feeling,  and  to  surrender  him- 
self to  the  vivid  impression  of  the  moment, 
when  the  Lord  assured  him  that,  on  the 
night  of  his  Passion,  all  would  forsake  him  ; 
the  too  confident  Peter  at  once  exclaimed, 
"  Though  all  men  should  forsake  thee,  yet 
will  not  I ;  I  will  lay  down  my  life  for  thy 
sake."  This  over-hasty  self-confidence 
soon  turned,  as  the  Lord  foretold,  to  his 
disgrace,  and  gave  occasion  for  bitter  re- 
pentance. Yet  this  false  step,  no  doubt, 
served  to  advance  him  in  that  self-know- 
ledge which  is  the  indispensable  condition 
of  true  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  and  true 
knowledge  of  him,  and  thus  to  the  whole 
developement  of  Christian  life.  And  the 
Lord  forgave  him  his  sin  ;  he  reminded 
him  of  it  in  a  manner  the  most  tender,  and 
yet  piercing  the  very  depths  of  his  soul,  by 
the  question  thrice  repeated,  "  Lovest  thou 
me  ?"*  and  required  from  him,  as  the  proof 
of  his  love,  the  faithful  discharge  of  his 
apostolic  calling,  the  care  of  his  sheep. f 


*  We  proceed  here  on  the  conviction,  that  the 
21st  chapter  of  John's  gospel,  although  not  com- 
posed by  him,  contains  a  credible  tradition. 

t  It  is  indeed  possible  that  these  words  referred 
personally  to  Peter,  in  the  sense  that  he  was  to 
take  the  lead  in  the  guidance  of  the  church,  as  he 
it  certainly  was  who  spoke  in  the  name  of  all,  and 
who  guided  the  deliberations  on  their  common 
afRiirs  ; — and  if  the  words  are  so  interpreted,  a 
peculiar  apostolic  primacy  is  by  no  means  com- 
mitted to  Peter,  but  the  position  entrusted  to  him 
was  only  in  relation  to  existing  circumstances, 
which  he  was  peculiarly  fitted  to  occupy  by  the 
yta^iTfxm  >iu/iigv»Tia^c,  which  harmonized  with  his 
natural  talents.  But  these  words  may  very  pro- 
bably be  considered  as  a  general  description  of  the 
vocation  of  preaching  the  gospel — which,  from  a 
comparison  with  the  parable  in  the  10th  chapter 
of  John,  is  very  probable — and  in  this  case,  they 
contain  nothing  personal  in  relation  to  Peter  as 
distinguished  from  the  other  apostles.  Peter  al- 
ways appears  as  peculiarly  fitted  by  his  natural 
character  to  be  the  representative  of  the  fellowship 
of  the  disciples,  and  hence  he  expressed  what  all 
deeply  felt,  and  Christ  particularly  addressed  to 


Chap.  IL] 


THE  FIRST  EPISTLE  OF  PETER. 


211 


But  it  is  this  peculiar  character  of  Peter, 
when  transformed  by  the  divine  life,  with 
which -we  see  him  afterwards  operating  as 
an  organ  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  service 
of  the  kingdom  of  God.  We  have  already 
pointed  out,  (Books  I.  and  II.,)  what  an 
important  position  he  occupied  in  this  re- 
spect at  the  commencement  of  the  Chris- 
tian dispensation,  until  the  appearance  of 
the  apostle  Paul,  and  subsequently  as  an 
intermediate  point  between  his  sphere  of 
action  among  the  Gentiles  and  that  of  the 
older  apostles  among  the  Jews.  Though 
his  nature,  not  yet  thoroughly  penetrated 
by  the  Divine,  might  still  at  times  distui'b 
and  mar  his  exertions  by  its  peculiar  fail- 
ings, yet  the  power  of  the  divine  principle 
of  life  within  him,  his  love  and  fidelity  to 
the  Lord,  were  too  great  to  be  repressed 
by  those  corrupt  tendencies,  when  the  es- 
sential interests  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
were  at  stake.  The  effect  of  sudden  im- 
pressions is  shown  in  his  conduct  at 
Antioch  (page  126),  but  the  subsequent 
history  proves  that,  although  Peter  might 
be  hurried  by  the  power  of  a  sudden  im- 
pression to  act  in  a  way  which  involved  a 
practical  denial  of  principles  which  he  had 
formerly  avowed,  yet  he  could  not  be  se- 
duced to  be  permanently  unfaithful  to  these 
principles  in  his  capacity  of  Christian 
teacher,  and  so  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a 
lasting  opposition  to  Paul.  On  the  con- 
trary, he  willingly  allowed  himself  to  be 
set  right  by  Paul,  and,  for  the  future,  con- 
tinued firmly  united  to  him  in  the  bond  of 
apostolic  fellowship.* 


him  those  sayings  which  in  their  full  extent  related 
generally  to  all  genuine  disciples. 

*  We  can  by  no  means  agree  in  the  opinion 
expressed  by  a  distinguished  young  theologian, 
Professor  Elevert  of  Zurich,  in  his  Essay  on  In- 
spiration in  the  Studien  der  evangelischen  Geist- 
lichkeit  Wiirtemherger,  vol.  iii.  p.  72,  that  tlie  old 
distinction  for  securing  the  idea  of  inspiration  be- 
tween viliitm  conversationis  and  error  docirince  is 
wholly  untenable,  and  therefore,  the  possibility  of 
a  mixture  of  error  in  the  teaching  of  the  apostles 
must  be  allowed.  When  Peter,  in  consequence  of 
a  sudden  overhastiness  or  weakness,  suffered  him- 
self to  be  misled  in  reference  to  his  Jewish  fellow- 
believers,  and  to  act  in  a  manner  which  corre- 
sponded  rather  to  the  prejudices  of  others,  than  to 
his  own  better  views,  such  a  sudden  practical 
error  by  no  means  justifies  us  in  the  conclusion, 
that  his  own  knowledge  of  Christian  truth  had 
been  eclipsed,  and  that  his  soimder  views  had  en- 
tirely vanished.  The  most  we  could  infer  would 
be,  that  at  this  instant,  when  overpowered  by  im- 


From^  Peter's  ardent  zeal,  and  from  what 

we  know  of  his  successful  eflR)rts  for  spread- 
ing the  kingdom  of  God  till  the  conversion 
of  Cornelius,  we  may  infer  that,  during 
that  period  of  his  life,  respecting  which  we 
have  no  information,  he  extended  still  fur- 
ther the  circle  of  his  operation  for  the  pro^ 
pagation  of  the  gospel.  As  he  is  not  men- 
tioned in  the  Acts  later  than  the  account  of 
the  deliberations  at  Jerusalem*  recorded  in 
the  15th  chapter,  it  seems  probable  that  the 
scene  of  His  subsequent  labours  lay  at  a 
distance  from  that  city.  According  to  an 
ancient  tradition,!  Peter  published  the  gos- 
pel to  the  Jews  scattered  through  Pontus, 
Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia,  and  Bythinia. 
But  this  account  has  most  probably  been 
derived  only  from  a  misunderstanding  of 
the  superscription  of  his  first  epistle.lj:  This 
epistle  of  Peter  leads  us  rather  to  suppose, 
that  the  scene  of  his  labours  was  in  the 
Parthian  Empire,  for  as  he  sends  saluta- 
tions from  his  wife  in  Babylon,§  this  natu- 
rally supports  the  conclusion,  that  he  him- 
self was  in  that  neighbourhood.  And  in 
itself,  it  is  by  no  means  improbable  that 
Peter,  whose  ministrations  related  particu- 
larly to  the  descendants  of  the  Jews,  be- 
took  himself  to  a  region  where  so  many 


pressions  from  witiiout,  he  had  no  clear  perception 
of  the  principles  on  which  he  was  acting.  Had 
he  indeed  not  repented  of  this  sudden  false  step 
arising  from  the  fear  of  man,: — had  he  hardened 
himself  in  this  moral  delinquency,  a  permanent 
obscuration  of  Christian  consciousness  must  have 
been  the  consequence,  and,  as  the  iiistory  of  many 
similar  instarices  of  backsliding  exemplifies,  a 
practical  denial  of  the  truth  would  have  been  fol- 
lowed by  a  theoretical  one ;  but  this  could  never 
come  to  pass  in  an  individual  in  whom  the  spirit 
of  Clirist  had  attained  such  a  preponderance  over 
the  selfish  principle.  And  thus  we  are  not  at 
liberty  to  suppose,  that  Peter  allowed  the  act  into 
which  he  had  been  hurried  by  the  power  of  a 
sudden  temptation,  to  establish  itself  in  his  teach- 
ing, and  so  far  to  prevent  or  obscure  iiis  percep, 
tion  of  Christian  truth. 

*  What  Paul  says  in  1  Cor.  ix.  5,  of  the  travels 
of  tlie  apostles,  and  of  Peter's  taking  his  wife  with 
him,  agrees  with  1  Peter  v.  13. 

+  Sec  Origen,  t.  iii.  in  Genes.     Eusebius,  iii. 

t  Origen's  expression  is  very  doubtful;  jtatxgu- 

Xif'-tl  iOlKiV. 

§  By  a  most  unnatural  interpretation,  this  has 
been  supposed  to  mean  an  inconsiderable  town  in 
Egypt,  a  ip^ivgiov  igt/^vcv  at  that  time,  Strabo  xvii. 
1,  although  tliis  small  town  existed  as  late  as  the 
fifth  century ;  see.  Hist.  Lausiac.  c.  25.  The 
opinion  of  tlie  ancients  is  perfectly  arbitrary,  that, 
under  this  name,  Rome  was  meant ;  and  there  is 
nothing  against  our  supposing  that  an  inhabited 
portion  of  the  immense  Babylon  was  still  left. 


212 


THE  FIRST  EPISTLE  OF  PETER. 


[Book  IV. 


Jews  were  scattered ;  and  what  we  know 
of  the  early  spread  of  Christianity  in  those 
parts,  serves  to  confirm  the  opinion.  Yet 
the  fact  that  Peter  exercised  his  ministry 
at  a  late  period  in  the  countries  composing 
the  Parthian  empire,  by  no  means  renders 
it  impossible  that  he  laboured  earlier  in 
Lesser  Asia.  Still  it  contradicts  this  sup' 
position  that,  in  the  Pauline  epistles,  in 
which  a  fair  opportunity  was  given  to 
touch  «pon  such  a  relation,  we  find  no 
trace  of  Peter's  residing  in  the  circle  of 
Paul's  labours ;  this,  however,  we  do  not 
adduce  as  a  perfectly  decisive  evidence. 
But  We  must  attach  greater  weight  to  the 
fact,  that,  in  this  epistle  of  Peter,  there  is 
no  reference  to  his  own  earlier  presence 
among  the  churches  to  whom  it  is  ad- 
dressed, though  the  object  of  this  epistle 
must  have  especially  required  him  to  re- 
mind them  of  what  they  had  heard  from 
his  own  lips. 

It  appears  then,  that,  after  Peter  had 
found  a  suitable  field  of  exertion  in  the 
Parthian  empire,  he  wrote  to  the  chui'ches 
founded  by  Paul  and  his  assistants  in 
Asia,  an  epistle,  which  is  the  only  memo- 
I'ial  preserved  to  us  of  his  later  labours. 
All  the  marks  of  its  date  unite  in  placing 
it  in  the  lost  part  of  the  apostolic  age,  in 
the  period  subsequent  to  Paul's  first  confine- 
ment. We  find  Silvanus,  one  of  Paul's 
early  fellow-labourers,  in  direct  communi- 
cation with  Peter,  which  agrees  very  well 
with  our  never  meeting  with  the  former  as 
Paul's  companion  after  his  last  journey  to 
Jerusalem.  The  Christian  churches  to 
whom  the  epistle  is  directed,  appear  to  us 
exposed  to  such  persecutions  as  first  arose 
about  this  period.  The  Christians  were 
now  persecuted  as  Chri&timis^  and  accord- 
ing to  those  popular  opinions  of  which 
Nero  took  advantage,  were  looked  upon 
and  treated  as  "  evil-doers,"  (xaxo':roioi,9?zff- 
lefci.)  By  the  seriousness  and  strictness 
of  their  daily  conduct,  and  their  withdrawal 
from  the  public  shows  and  other  licentious 
amusements,  they  rendered  themselves  ob- 
noxious to  the  hatred  of  the  heathen  popu- 
lace ;  1  Peter  iv.  4-5  ;  and  if  we  reflect  on 
the  circumstances  in  which  these  churches 
were  placed  during  Paul's  first  confine- 
ment, the  design  of  the  epistle  will  at  once 
be  apparent.  As  these  churches  had  to 
combat  with  persecutions  from  without,  so 
they   were  internally  disturbed   by  those 


heretical  tendencies  of  which  we  have 
spoken  in  Book  III.  Since  the  pro- 
pagators of  these  errors  accused  Paul  of 
falsifying  the  original  Christian  doctrine, 
and  had  appealed  to  the  authority  of  the 
elder  apostles  in  behalf  of  the  continued 
obligation  of  the  Mosaic  law,  Peter  availed 
himself  of  the  opportunity  for  addressing 
these  churches,  in  order  to  establish  them 
in  the  conviction,  that  the  doctrine  an- 
nounced to  them  by  Paul  and  his  disciples 
and  companions,  of  whom  Silvanus  was 
one,  was  genuine  Christianity.  These 
churches  consisted  for  the  most  part  of 
those  who  had  been  previously  heathens, 
for  such,  in  several  passages,  he  supposes 
his  readers  to  be;  ii.  10;  iv.  3.  The  su- 
perscription of  the  epistle  is  not  inconsis- 
tent with  this  fact,  for  as  Peter,  by  his 
training  and  peculiar  sphere  of  labour,  was 
apt  to  develope  Christian  truths  in  Old 
Testament  images,  and  comparisons,  he 
transferred  the  name  of  Siadiro^a  to  the 
true  church  of  God  scattered  among  the 
heathen. 

In  reference  to  the  internal  and  exter- 
nal circumstances  of  the  churches,  the  ob- 
ject of  this  hortatory  composition  is  two- 
fold ;  partly  to  ground  them  more  firmly 
in  the  consciousness,  that  the  source  of 
happiness  and  the  foundation  of  the  ever- 
lasting kingdom  of  God,  was  contained  in 
that  faith  in  the  Redeemer  which  had  been 
announced  to  them  and  received  by  them 
into  their  hearts ;  that  the  doctrine  an- 
nounced to  them  was  indeed  the  everlasting, 
unchangeable  word  of  God,  and  hence  they 
were  to  aim  at  appropriating,  with  childlike 
simplicity,  the  pure  simple  doctrine  of  the 
gospel  delivered  to  them  from  the  beginning, 
and  thus  continually  advance  to  Christian 
maturity  ;  and  partly  it  was  the  apostle's  de- 
sign to  exhort  them  to  maintain  their  stead- 
fastness in  the  faith  under  all  persecutions, 
and  a  corresponding  course  of  conduct  by 
which  they  would  shine  forth  in  the  midst 
of  the  corrupt  heathen  world,  and  refute 
the  false  accusations  against  Christianity 
and  its  professors. 

Both  these  objects  are  pointed  out  by  the 
apostle  at  the  close  of  the  epistle,  when  he 
says,  "  The  faithful  brother  Silvanus  is  the 
bearer  to  you  of  this  a  short  epistle  con- 
sidering what  I  would  gladly  say  to  you, 
and  which  I  have  written  for  your  en- 
couragement, and  to  testify  that  it  is  the 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  SECOND  EPISTLE  OP  PETER. 


213 


true  grace*  of  God,  in  the  firm  possession 
of  which  you  stand  by  faith. "t  The  un- 
assumifig  manner  in  which  the  writer  of 
this  epistle  calls  himself  simply  an  eye-wit- 
ness of  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  repre- 
sents himself  to  the  presbyters  of  the 
churches  to  whom  it  is  addressed,  as  one 
of  their  number,  one  of  the  number  ofj 
Christian  overseers,  bears  with  it  the  im- 
press of  the  apostolic  spirit. 

But  such  marks  of  genuine  apostolic 
origin  and  character  are  by  no  means 
visible  in  the  second  epistle  extant  under 
Peter's  name  ;  many  traces  of  a  contrary 
kind  are  to  be  found  in  it,  many  marks  of 
its  apocryphal  origin,  and  as  it  is  slightly 
supported  by  external  evidence  we  have 
made  no  use  of  it  as  a  source  of  informa- 
tion for  the  biography  of  the  apostle.:}: 


*  Grace,  the  grace  of  redemption,  a  description 
of  the  whole  contents  of  the  gospel. 

t  The  words  may  be  certainly  taken  to  mean, 
that  Silvanus  was  the  writer  of  the  epistle,  dic- 
tated by  Peter,  either  in  Aramaic  or  Greek  ;  but  in 
this  case,  a  salutation  from  Silvanus  would  proba- 
bly have  been  added,  especially  since  he  must  have 
heen  well  known  to  these  churches.  The  possibi- 
lity of  the  interpretation  which  I  have  adopted,  is 
evident  from  the  phraseology  which  is  adopted  in 
the  subscriptions  of  the  Pauline  epistles ;  and  the 
use  of  the  aorist,  iy^-x^y.,  allowing  for  the  episto- 
lary style  of  the  ancients,  can  prove  nothing 
against  it.  It  also  shows  at  once  the  design  of 
the  commendatory  epithet,  "  a  faithful  brother." 
The  words  JLc  \c,yi^o/uui,  may  indeed  relate  to  what 
goes  before,  for  this  verb  is  used  by  Paul  in  Rom. 
viii.  1 8 ;  Rom.  iii.  28;  2  Cor.  xi.  5,  to  denote  a  subjec- 
tive conviction,  without  the  accessory  idea  of  any 
uncertainty  in  holding  it.  Peter  might  also  wish 
to  mark  the  subjective  of  his  own  judgment,  for 
it  was  precisely  the  peculiar  authority  of  Peter,  to 
which  many  opposers  of  the  Pauline  school  ap- 
pealed. But  if  Koyi^ci/uui  is  referred  to  what  fol- 
lows, it  is  equally  a  mark  of  subjective  judgment 
or  feeling.  That  which  he  wrote  was  to  Peter,  in 
relation  to  what  he  had  in  his  heart  to  say  to  the 
churches  only  a  little.  Yet  had  he  intended  to 
express  that  sentiment,  he  would  rather  have  said 

t  The  principal  marks  of  the  spuriousness  of 
this  epistle,  are  the  difference  of  the  whole  cha- 
racter and  style  compared  with  the  first,  and  the 
use  here  made  of  the  Epistle  of  Jude,  which  is 
partly  copied  and  partly  imitated.  The  author 
assumes,  that  he  is  writing  to  the  same  churches 
as  tliose  to  whom  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter  is  ad- 
dressed, and  yet  what  he  says  of  his  relation  to 
his  readers,  is  at  variance  with  that  assumption, 
for,  according  to  the  Second  Epistle,  they  must 
have  been  persons  who  had  been  personally  in- 
structed by  the  apostle  Peter,  gnd  with  whom  he 
stood  in  a  close  personal  connexion,  yet  this  was 
a  relation  in  which  the  churches  to  whom  the  First 
Epistle  was  addressed  could  not  stand.     The  so- 


Since  the  second  half  of  the  second  cen- 
tury, a  report  was  generally  circulated  that 
Peter  died  a  martyr  under  the  Emperor  Nero 
at  Rome.*  According  to  a  later  tradition, 
when  Peter  was  condemned  to  crucifixion, 
he  scrupled,  from  a  feeling  of  humility,  to 
be  put  to  death  exactly  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  the  Saviour,  and  therefore  requested 
that  he  might  be  crucified  with  his  head 
downwards,  and  his  feet  upwards.  Such, 
a  story  bears  on  its  front  the  impress  of  a 
later  morbid  piety  rather  than  simple  apos- 


licitude  with  which  he  endeavours  to  make  him- 
self known  as  the  apostle  Peter  betrays  an  apo- 
cryphal writer.  The  allusion  to  the  words  of 
Christ,  John  xxi.  18,  in  i.  14,  is  brought  forward 
in  an  unsuitable  manner.  In  order  to  distinguish 
himself  as  a  credible  witness  of  the  life  of  Christ, 
he  appeals  to  the  phenomena  at  the  transfiguration. 
But  it  certainly  is  not  natural  to  suppose  that  one 
of  the  apostles  should  select  and  ijring  forward 
from  the  whole  life  of  Christ,  of  which  they  had 
been  eye-witnesses,  this  insulated  fact,  which  was 
less  essentially  connected  with  that  which  was  the 
central  point  and  object  of  his  appearance ;  the 
apostles  were  rather  accustomed  to  claim  credit 
as  witnesses  of  the  sufferings  and  resurrection  of 
Christ.  Also  the  designation  of  the  mountain  on 
which  the  transfiguration  occurred  as  "the  holy 
mount,"  betrays  a  later  origin,  since  we  cannot 
suppose  that  the  mountain  usually  so  denominated, 
Mount  Zion,  was  intended.  Among  the  circum- 
stances  that  excite  suspicion,  is  the  manner  in 
which  the  same  false  teachers,  who,  in  the  Epistle 
of  Jude,  are  described  as  actULilly  existing,  are 
here  represented  with  prophetic  warning,  as  about 
to  appear.  The  doubts  respecting  the  second 
coming  of  Christ,  occasioned  by  the  expectation 
of  the  occurrence  of  that  event,  in  the  first  age  of 
the  church,  and  the  disappointment  of  tiiat  expec- 
tation, leads  us  to  recognise  a  later  period.  What 
is  said  of  the  origin  of  the  world  from  water,  and 
its  destruction  by  fire,  does  not  correspond  to  the 
simplicity  and  practical  spirit  of  the  apostolic  doc- 
trine, but  rather  indicates  the  spirit  of  a  later  age, 
mingling  much  that  was  foreign  with  the  religious 
interest.  Tlie  mode  of  citing  the  Pauline  epistles, 
confirms  also  the  suspicion  against  the  genuine- 
ness of  tliis  epistle.  A  passage  from  Rom.  ii.  4,  is 
cited  in  iii.  15,  as  if  this  epistle  were  addressed  to 
the  same  church.  A  collection  of  all  the  Pauline 
epistles  is  referred  to,  and  it  is  assumed,  that  Paul 
in  all  of  them  referred  to  one  subject  wliich  yet  by 
no  means  appears  in  all.  Paul's  epistles  are  quoted 
as  y^a^Ai,  as  one  apostle  would  certainly  not  have 
expressed  himself  respecting  the  epistles  of  another 
apostle,  for  this  term  in  the  apostolic  epistles  is 
always  used  only  to  designate  the  writings  of  the 
Old  Testament.  This  epistle  was  probably  forged 
by  those  who  wished  to  combat  the  gnostic  errors, 
and  the  opinion  broached  by  the  Gnostics  of  a 
contrariety  between  the  apostles  Peter  and  Paul, 
by  the  borrowed  authority  of  (he  former. 

*  The  first  trace  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  Origcn, 
Euseb.  iii.  1.  The  complete  narrative  in  Jerome 
de  viris  illustrib.  I. 


214 


TRADITION  OF 


[Book  IV. 


tolic  humility.  The  apostles  exulted  and 
rejoiced  in  all  things  to  imitate  their  Lord, 
and  the  tradition  thus  formed  does  not  ap- 
pear to  have  been  known  to  Tertullian,  for 
though  his  peculiar  turn  of  mind  would 
have'disposed  him  to  receive  such  an  ac- 
count, he  says  expressly  that  Peter  suffered 
in  the  same  manner  as  Christ.* 

With  respect  to  the  tradition  according 
to  which   Peter   at  last  visited   Rome  and 
there    suffered   martyrdom, — it    does    not 
well  agree  with  what  we  have  mentioned 
above  respecting  his  residence  in  the  Par- 
thian Empire,  lor  since  this  is  supposed  to 
havQ  been  after  the  Neronian  persecution, 
and  since  the  martyrdom  of  Peter,  accord- 
ing to   ancient  accounts,  must  have  hap- 
pened at  the  same    time  as   Paul's,  Peter 
must  within  a  short  period  have  changed 
the  scene  of  his  labours  from  one  very  dis- 
tant region  of  the  globe  to  another.     And 
it  appears  strange  that  he  should  have  re- 
linquished his  labour  in  a  region  where  so 
much  was  to  be  done  for  the  spread  of  the 
gospel,  and   betake   himself  to  one   at  so 
great  a  distance,  where  Paul  and  his  asso- 
ciates had  already  laid  a  good  foundation, 
and  were  continuing  to  build  on  the  foun- 
dation already  laid.     But  so  many  circum- 
stances unknown  to  us  might  conspire  to 
bring  about  such  an  event,  that  with  our 
defective  knowledge  of  the  church  history 
of  these  times,  what  we  have  stated  cannot 
be  considered  a  decisive  evidence  against 
the  truth  of  the  tradition,  if  it  can  be  suffi- 
ciently supported  on  other  grounds.     We 
can  also  easily  imagine   a   particular  in- 
terest which  would  induce  Peter  to  change 
his  scene  of  labour  to  Rome,  the  same  in- 
terest which  was  the  occasion  of  his  writ- 
ing his   first  epistle,  that  of   healing   the 
division  which  in  many  parts  existed  be- 
tween his  own  adherents  and  those  of  Paul. 
This  division  would  find  a  rallying  point 
in  the  opposition  between  the  Gentile  Chris- 
tians and  Judaizing  elements  in  the  church 
at  Rome,  and  the  movements  in  the  metro- 
politan church  would  exert   an   influence 
over  the  whole  church  ;  and  this  might  be 
a  consideration  of  sufficient   weight   with 
Peter  to  induce  him  to  undertake  a  journey 
to  Rome.     We  are  called  upon  therefore 
to  investigate  whether  this  tradition  is  ade- 
quately supported  by  credible  witnesses. 


The  Roman  Bishop  Clemens  appears  as 
the  first  witness  of  the  martyrdom  of  Peter. 
If  he  expressly  stated  that  Peter  was  mar- 
tyred at  Rome,  we  should  have  incontro- 
vertible evidence  and  require  no  further  ex- 
amination.    But  such  an  exact  determina- 
tion of  the  place  is  wanting.     Yet  it  cannot 
be  concluded  that  Clemens  did  not  know 
the  name  of  the  place  where  Peter  suffered 
martyrdom,  for  there  was  no  need  of  such 
particularity  for  his  readers  when  he  was 
writing  of  an  event  which  he  might  assume 
to  be  generally  known.    It  cannot  be  main- 
tained, that  when  he  was  writing  at  the  place 
where  Peter  shed  his  blood  as  a  witness  of 
the  faith,  and  simply  enumerating  exam- 
ples of  steadfastness  in  persecuted  cham- 
pions of  the  faith,  he  should  feel  himself 
bound  expressly  to  mention  the   scene  of 
his  last  sufferings.     Even  in  commemorat- 
ing  Paul's   martyrdom,  we  find  no   such 
phrase  as  "  here  before  our  eyes,"  "  in  the 
city  from  which  I  am  now  writing  to  you." 
It  may  appear  strange  that  Clemens  speaks 
in  such  general  terms  of  Peter  as  a  person 
of  whom  he  possessed  no  precise  informa- 
tion,* and  on  the  other  hand  speaks  in  such 
definite  terms  of  Paul.     This  might  justify 
the  conclusion  that  he  had  really  no  exact 
information   respecting    Peter's    end,    and 
hence  we  might  be  allowed  to  infer  that  the 
scene  of  Peter's  labours  was  to  the  very 
time  of  his  martyrdom  at  a  distance  from 
Rome.f     Yet  on  the  other  hand  it  may  be 
said,  that  Clemens,  as  one  of  Paul's  disci- 
ples, was  induced  to  speak  of  him  in  more 
definite  terms,  and  though  Peter  met  with 
the    close   of  his    labours    at   Rome,  that 
Clemens  could  not  say  much  of  his  earlier 
conflicts.:}:     The  first  person  who  distinctly 
states  the  martyrdom  of  Peter  at  Rome  is 
Dionysius,  Bishop  of  Corinth,  who  wrote 
in  the  latter  half  of  the  second  century.    In 
his  epistle  to  the  church  at  Rome,§  he  calls 
that  and  the  Corinthian  the  common  plant- 
ing of  Peter  and  Paul.     Both  had  planted 


*  De  pra3script.  36. 
nicse  adequatur. 


Ubi  Petrus  passioni  domi- 


*  oh'X,  htt,  ouJ'i  Juo,  aKXU.  TTMtovit;  uTTmi-yKl  TTOyoug 

t  I  cannot  consider  as  historically  accredited 
what  is  narrated  of  the  connexion  between  Clem- 
ens and  Peter,  in  legends  such  as  the  Clementines, 
which  bear  the  impress  of  being  framed  to  answer 
a  certain  purpose. 

X  Frederick  Spanheim,  and  lately  Baur,  have 
endeavoured  to  prove  too  much  from  the  »iianner 
in  which  Clemens  hero  expresses  himself. 

§  Eusebius  ii.  25. 


Chap.  If.] 


PETER'S  VISIT  TO  ROME. 


215 


the  church   at   Corinth,  and  had  equally 
taught  there.     In   the  same  manner  they 
had  both  taught  in  Italy  and  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom at  the  same  time.     Here  we  find  a 
definite   statement   of  the   martyrdom    of 
Peter  at  Rome,  though  blended  indeed  with 
many   inaccuracies.     Dionysius  does    not 
absolutely  say  that  Peter  and  Paul  taught 
at   Corinth    at  the  same   time,  which,°in 
reference  to  the  time  before  the  first  con- 
finement of  Paul  at  Rome,  certainly  can- 
not be  admitted,  and,  in  reference  to  the 
time  after  that  event,  can  hardly  be  credited. 
But  at  all  events,  he  is  not  correct  in  term- 
ing  the    Corinthian   church    the   common 
planting  of  the  two  apostles.     For,  suppos- 
mg  that  the  tradition  of  Peter's  journey  to 
Rome   is  credible,  it   might   happen   that, 
after   the    first   confinement   of   Paul,    he 
visited  Corinth,  but  he  could  do  nothing  to- 
wards  founding  a  church  which   already 
had  been  established  there.     Perhaps  this 
whole  account  proceeded  from  misunder- 
standing the  references  to  the  apostle  Peter 
in   the  First   Epistle  to    the    Corinthians, 
partly  from  tracing  the  origin  of  this  Ec- 
clesia  Apostolica  from  the  two  most  distin- 
guished apostles.     The  same  remark  will 
apply  to  the  Church  at  Rome.     And  ac- 
cording to  what  we  have  stated  above,  Paul 
came  from  Spain  as  a  prisoner  to  Rome, 
and  could  not  have  appeared  there  as  a 
teacher  in  conjunction  with  Peter.*     But 
this    inaccuracy  in   the    representation    of 
events    long    past,    in    which    Dionysius 
allowed  himself  to  be  guided  more  by  un- 
certain inferences,  than  by  historical  tradi- 
tions, cannot  be  employed  to  weaken  the 
weight  of  his  deposition  respecting  a  fact 
not  strictly  connected  with  the  other  points, 
and  on  which  he  could  easily  obtain  certain 
information  from  his  contemporaries.     We 
have    no    sufficient   ground  to   deny   that 
Dionysius,  in  what  he  says  of  Peter's  mar- 
tyrdom at  Rome,  followed  an  ancient  cre- 


*  The  passage  in  Dionysius  has  been  explained 
by  Dr.  Schott  in  his  "Examination  of  some  chro- 
nological points  in  the  history  of  Paul,"  Jena  1832, 
p.  131,  so  as  to  remove  this  difficulty.  In  the  sen- 
tence "  o/xotaiQ  Si  X.XI  sic  rxv  'iTaiAixv  ojuo^i  J'/J'«|avTsc, 
SjuagTt/gjio-av  n^Td  Tov  auTov  KM^ov,"  o/wiire  may  be 
so  understood,  that  only  the  equal  extension  of 
their  labours  in  Italy  may  be  intended  by  it ;  but 
does  not  the  repetition  of  Oiuotaic,  the  distinguishing- 
of  this  word  from  of^oa-i,  and  the  comparison  with 
the  niTct  Toy  auTov  xm^ov,  of  the  martyrdom  of 
both,  favour  another  interpretation  ? 


dible  tradition,  although  he  falsified  his  re- 
port  to  a  certain  extent  by  the  circum- 
stances with  which  he  arbitrarily  connected 
It.  From  his  times,  this  account  appears 
the  unanimous  tradition  of  ecclesiastical 
antiquity.  The  graves  of  the  two  apostles 
were  pointed  out  at  Rome,  as  the  Roman 
presbyter  Caius,  at  the  end  of  the  second 
century,  appeals  to  them;  but  yet  these 
graves  do  not  furnish  incontestable  evidence. 
When  the  report  was  once  set  afloat,  the 
designation  of  the  locality  where  the  apos- 
tles were  buried  would  easily  be  added. 
Even  by  Caius  the  misstatement  is  made, 
that  both  the  apostles  were  the  founders  of 
that  church. 

This  tradition  would  be  more  deserving 
of  credit,  notwithstanding  a  defect  of  posi- 
tive historical  evidence,  if  its  origin  could 
not  in  any  way  be  easily  accounted  for. 
We  cannot  account  for  it  from  the  attempt 
to  place  on  a  sure  basis,  the  authority  of 
the  Cathedra  Petri  in  Rome,  for  this  tra- 
dition is  more  ancient  than  the  attempt  to 
secure  to  the  Cathedra  Petri  at  Rome  a 
decisive  authority  in  matters  of  doctrine  ; 
such  an  attempt,  which  it  is  difficult  to  de- 
duce only  from  the  transference  of  the 
homage  paid  to  the  ^irhs  to  the  ecclesia 
vrbis,  would  rather  presuppose  the  exist- 
ence of  the  tradition.  Since  the  pretensions 
of  the  Roman  church  were  not  universally 
acknowledged,  but  in  many  quarters  met 
with  opposition,  they  will  not  serve  to  ex- 
plain how  it  came  to  pass,  that  such  a  tra- 
dition designedly  propagated  by  Rome, 
was  every  where  so  favourably  received. 
But  in  truth,  many  other  circumstances 
combined  to  give  rise  to  this  report  and 
to  promote  its  circulation.  As  Peter  con- 
cluded his  labours  in  a  region  so  separated 
from  connexion  with  the  Roman  empire, 
there  would  be  the  greater  temptation  to 
fill  up  the  gaps  of  authentic  history  by 
hearsays  and  legends.  The  practice  of 
represt;nting  Peter  as  the  victor  over  Simon 
Magus,  in  the  contest  for  the  simple  faith 
of  Revelation,  gave  rise  to  manifold  legen- 
dary tales  about  his  travels,  such  as  the 
story  of  his  earlier  residence  in  Rome 
under  the  Emperor  Claudius,  and  the  dis- 
putation he  there  held  with  Simon.  And 
besides,  it  seemed  suitable  that  the  church 
of  the  metropolis  of  the  world  should  be 
founded  by  the  two  most  distinguished  apos- 
tles, who  had  also  founded  the  Corinthian 


216 


TRADITION  OF  PETER'S  VISIT  TO  ROME. 


[Book  IV. 


church,  and  be  signalized  by  their  death  ; 
it  was  also  thoughit  desirable  to  be  able  to 
present  the  co-operation  of  these  two  apos- 
tles in  the  church  to  which,  as  the  church 
of  the  metropolis,  all  eyes  were  turned,  in 
contra'st  with  the  attempts  of  the  Judaizers, 
as  well  as  of  the  abettors  of  Gnosticism, 
to  establish  the  existence  of  a  decided  op- 
position between  the  two  apostles.  When 
after  the  Apocalypse  came  into  circulation, 
it  was  usual  to  designate  the  imperial  city 
by  the  name  of  Babylon,  as  the  strong- 
hold of  the  heathenism  which  opposed  the 
kingdom  of  God,  this  name  as  it  occurred 
in  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter,  was  naturally 
applied  to  Rome,  and  thus,  too,  an  argu- 
ment was  found  for  the  belief  of  that  apos- 
tle's visit  to  Rome.  The  confounding  of 
Marcus,  who  is  mentioned  in  that  epistle  as 
a  son  of  Peter,*  with  the  other  Marcus 
known  as  the  companion  of  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas, and  the  author  of  one  of  the  gos- 
pels, was  the  occasion  of  placing  him  in 
the  same  relation  to  the  apostle  Peter  as 
that  in  which  Luke  stood  to  Paul. 

Although  the  origin  of  the  story  of  the 
journey  of  the  apostle  Peter  to  Rome,  and 
of  his 'martyrdom  there,  may  in  this  way 
be  in  some  measure  explained,  yet  the  high 
antiquity  of  the  tradition,  which  can  be 
traced  back  to  the  very  boundaries  of  the 
apostolic  age,  presents  an  objection  of  great 
weight  to  this  hypothesis.  Papias,  the 
bishop  of  Hieropolis,t  who  appeals  to  an 
oral  tradition  of  an  individual  belonging  to 
the  apostolic  age,  the  presbyter  John,  re- 
ports, that  the  Gospel  of  Markij:  was  com- 
posed by  the  same  person  who  accompa- 
nied Peter  as  an  interpreter,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  preserving  in  writing  what  he  liad 


*  As  we  can  find  no  reason  for  taking  the  word 
vlo;  in  a  spiritual  sense,  and  as  we  more  naturally 
understand  the  word  cruvix.>.i>cT>i  of  Peter's  wife, 
than  of  a  personified  church,  especially  as  we 
know  that  lie  was  married  and  was  accompanied 
by  his  wife  on  his  travels,  wc  may  refer  this  to  an 
actual  son  of  Peter.  Tradition  says  expressly 
that  Peter  liad  children.  TliTgo;  ««*  <l>iA<7r3-oc  iTrai. 
ioTrotyiTttvTo.     Clemens  Stromat.  iii.  448. 

t  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccl.  iii.  39. 

\  Although  the  marks  attributed  by  Papias  to 
the  Gospel  of  Mark,  do  not  agree  with  the  form 
in  which  it  has  come  down  to  us,  it  does  not  fol- 
low that  Papias  referred  to  another  document;  for 
in  such  a  description  of  the  qualities  of  a  book 
lying  before  him,  much  depends  on  the  subjective 
judgment,  and  we  certainly  cannot  give  Papias 
credit  for  the  talent  of  acute  and  accurate  obser- 
vation. 


heard  Peter  narrate  in  his  public  addresses,* 
and  what  had  been  impressed  on  his  own 
memory.     Now,  it  is  evident  that  this  ac- 
count (whether  it  relates  to  that  Gospel  of 
Mark  which  is  still  extant,  or  to  a  lost  ori- 
ginal document  of  the  evangelical  history, 
which  served  for  its  basis)  cannot  be  true 
in  its  full  extent ;  for  how  can  we  suppose 
that   Mark  the   nephew  of  Barnabas,  who 
at  all  events  must  have  come  when  young 
to  Jerusalem,  and  lived  there  in  company 
with  the  apostles,  could  have  first  planned 
his  evangelical  narrative  according  to  what 
he  heard  at  a  much  later  period,  incidental- 
ly with  the  preaching  of  Peter  ?     This  ac- 
count therefore  is  suspicious  ;  but  may  it 
not  be  so  far  true,  that  Mark  accompanied 
the  apostle  Peter  to  Rome,  and  acted  there 
as  his  interpreter,   for  those  persons  who 
were    familiar    only  with    the    Latin   lan^ 
guage?     Yet  after  all,  it  is  difficult  to  ex- 
plain how  such  could  have  existed  so  early, 
unless  there  had  been  a  tradition  that  Peter 
had  left   the    scene  of  his    labours    in    the 
Parthian  empire  at  a  later  period,  and  visit- 
ed   Rome, — especially  since  what    Papias 
says  rests  on  the  report  of  a  man  in  the 
apostolic  age.    As  Silvanus,  the  early  com- 
panion of  Paul,  joined  Peter  in  the  Parthian 
empire,   so   Mark  might   likewise   remove 
thither  from  Lesser  Asia,  Coloss.  iv.  10, 
and  travel  with  him  to  Rome,  although  he 
was  not  the  Mark  whom  Peter  mentions  in 
his  first  epistle.     There  is  an  ancient  tra- 
dition   preserved    for    us   by    Clemens    of 
Alexandria,  that  when  Peter  saw  his  wife 
led  to  martyrdom,  he   called    out  to  her, 
mentioning  her  name,t  "  O  remember  the 
Lord  !"     We  have  no  reason  for  casting  a 
doubt  on  the  truth  of  such  a  simple  tradi- 
tion.    But  that  characteristic  traits  of  this 
kind  were  in  circulation,  agrees  best  with 
the  supposition  that  his  last  years  were  not 
spent  in  the  Parthian  empire,  between  which 
and  the  Roman  there  was  little  intercourse. 
In  the  existing  circumstances  of  the  Par- 
thian empire  in  reference  to  the  mixture  of 
native    and    foreign  religions,  it  would  be 
difficult  to  accoun't  for  the  martyrdom  of  a 
Christian  woman.     Hence,  we  are  led  to 
refer  it  most  naturally  to  the  effects  of  the 
Neronian  persecution  at  Rome. 


»  See  p.  66. 
ttt/Tcu  yvva.'lx.i  ayo/utivnv  tuv  (7ri^a.vetT0]/,  na-^tivji.t  y.iy 


Book  V.] 


THIJ  APOSTLE  JOHN. 


217 


BOOK    Y, 


THE  APOSTLE  JOHN  AND  HIS  MINISTRY  AS  THE  CLOSING-POINT  OF 
THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE. 


The  ministry  of  the  apostle  John  reaches  I 
to  the  limits  of  the  apostolic  age.  He  was 
the  son  of  Zebedee,  a  fisherman  (probably  I 
wealthy),*  in  the  small  town  of  Bethsaida ; 
or  Capernaum,  on  the  western  side  of  the 
Sea  of  Gennesareth  in  Galilee.  Many  I 
eminent  men  in  all  ages  who  have  been 
great  blessings  to  the  Church,  have  been 
indebted  to  their  pious  mothers  for  the  first 
excitement  of  their  disposition  to  piety  and 
the  first  scattering  of  the  seeds  of  religion 
in  their  hearts,  and  this  appears  to  have 
been  the  case  with  John.f    The  manner  in 

Kwf  i^  ovo(jtu.TOc  7r^o<rii7rovT!f  /uijtAViKrB^ai  cturvt  tov 
Kv^iov."  Clem.  Alex.  Strom,  vii.  [Vol.  iii.  p.  253, 
ed.  Klotz.  Lipsiac.  1832.]  The  words  I  have  en- 
closed in  brackets  are  difficult,  whether  we  under- 
stand by  them  that  his  wile,  before  she  was  led  to 
death,  came  home  once  more,  and  then  was  thus 
addressed  by  Peter,  or,  more  naturally,  that  she 
would  be  restored  to  him  again,  being  redeemed 
from  death.  Yet  in  the  connexion  there  are  great 
difficulties  in  either  interpretation,  and  wo  must 
rather  understand  the  words  of  a  return  to  her 
heavenly  home,  if  the  reading  be  correct,  and  we 
ought  not  (which  yet  I  do  not  venture  to  maintain) 
to  read  omov  ovgnvicv. 

*  As  we  may  conclude  from  Mark  i.  20. 
t  Compare  Mark  xv.  40,  xvi.  ],  and  Matt,  xxvii. 
56.  If  an  opinion,  advocated  with  great  acuteness 
and  learning  by  VVieseler  in  the  Sludien  und  Krit- 
iken,  1840,  iii.  p.  648,  could  be  established,  it  would 
show  that  Salome  and  John  were  closely  connected 
with  Christ  by  the  bonds  of  relationship.  Accord- 
ing to  this  view,  not  three  women  (as  has  hitherto 
been  supposed),  but  four,  are  named  in  John  xix. 
25 ;  the  Mary  the  wife  of  Cleopas  must  be  identi- 
fied with  the  sister  of  tlie  mother  of  Jesus,  but  is 
quite  a  ditfcrent  person.  Hence  it  follows,  that 
we  have  to  search  for  the  name  of  the  remaining 
sister  of  the  mother  of  Jesus.  Now,  since  in 
Matt,  xxvii.  56,  Mark  xv.  40,  besides  Mary  of 
Magdala  and  Mary  the  mother  of  James  and 
Joses  =  the  wife  of  Cleopas,  Salome  also,  or  the 
motiier  of  the  sons  of  Zcbcdee,  is  named  as  present 
at  the  crucifixion,  it  would  appear  that  the  sister 
of  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus,  whose  name  is  not 
given  by  John,  can  be  no  other  than  Salome  his 

28 


which  his  mother  Salome  united  herself  ta 
the  company  which  was  formed  round  the 
Saviour  leads  us  to  attribute  to  her  the  pre- 
dominance of  a  pious  disposition,  and  from, 
the  petition  which  she  made  to  the  Redeem- 
er, we  may  conclude,  that  her  mind  was. 
filled  with  the  expectation  of  the  approach- 
ing manifestation  of  the  Messiah's  king- 
dom, an  expectation  which  had  been  so. 
]  vividly  excited  in  the  devout  part  of  the 
'  Jewish  nation,  by  the  predictions  of  the 
prophets  and  the  exigencies  of  the  age  ; 
we  may  therefore  imagine  how  strenuously 
she  endeavoured  to  inflame  her  son's  heart 

'  own   mother.     Thus   the    difficulty  of  the    saraa 
name  belonging  to  both  sisters  is  entirely  obviated. 
It  would  also  follow  that,  in  fact,  James  the  son  of 
Alpheus  or   Cleopas,  was  not  the  sistiT^s  son  of 
Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus  (consequently  not  Jus 
cousin)  and  this  would  furnish  fresh  proof  for  our 
supposition,  that  James  the  brother  of  the  Lord 
was  not  identical  with  the  apostle.     But  the  man- 
ner in  which   (John    xix.    25)   Mary  the  wife  of 
Cleopas  is  mentioned  without  any  connective  par- 
ticle, appears  to  me  to  imply  that  these  words  are 
only  in  apposition  to  distinguish  (tlie  otherwise) 
unnamed   sister  of  the  mother  of  Jesus.     If  the 
I  sister  of  the  mother  of  Jesus,  according  to  one  of 
j  her  names,  was  then  a  universally  known  person 
in  the  circle  in  which  John  wrote  his  gospel,  I 
could    then  more  easily   conceive,   that,    by    that 
collocation  of  the  words,  such  an  ambiguity  might 
be  occasioned  ;  but  I  do  not  believe  that  such  a 
supposition  is  justifiable  ;  and  was  it  not  to  be  ex- 
■  pected  from  John,  that  though  he  had  not  men- 
tioncd  the  sister  of  the  mother  of  Jesus  by  name, 
^  he  yet  would  have  pointed  her  out  more  definitely 
j  as  the  mother  of  the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved. 
j  Also,  it  docs   not  seem  probable  to  me,  since  the 
relationship  of  John  to  Jesus  would   be   so    im. 
portant  for  explaining  the  early  and  peculiar  con- 
nexion in  which  he  entered  with  Christ,  that  no 
trace  of  it  should  make  its  appearance  in  the  nar- 
rative of  our  gospels,  where  there  was  so  often  an 
;  opportimity  of  mentioning  it.     The  origin  of  later 
'  accounts  of  such  a  relationship  between  the  apos- 
tle   John   and    Christ,    may    be   easily   explained 
without  the  supposition  of  an  historical  founda- 
tion. 


218 


THE  APOSTLE  JOHN. 


[Book  V. 


with  the  same  earnest  desire.  The  direc- 
tion thus  given  to  the  mind  of  the  youth 
impelled  him  to  join  John  the  Baptist,  by 
whose  guidance  he  was  first  led  to  the  Sa- 
viour ;  John  i.  37. 

In  his  company  he  spent  several  hours,* 
but  Christ  wished  not  to  bind  him  to  him- 
self at  once.  He  allowed  him  to  re- 
turn for  the  present  to  his  usual  occupa- 
tion. He  drew  him,  like  Peter,  gradually 
into  closer  communion  with  himself,  and 
his  operations  on  his  mind  were  intended 
to  call  forth  an  anxiety  for  a  more  intimate 
connexion.  And  when  he  had  for  some 
time  been  wishful  after  an  abiding  nearness 
to  Hirti  who  had  wrought  with  such  power 
on  his  inmost  soul,  when  the  call  at  last 
was  issued,  Matt.  iv.  22,  he  was  ready  at 
once  to  forsake  all  and  follow  Him.  What 
distinguished  John  was  the  union  of  the 
most  opposite  qualities,  as  we  have  often 
observed  in  great  instruments  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  kingdom  of  God, — the 
union  of  a  disposition  inclined  to  silent  and 
deep  meditation,  with  an  ardent  zeal,  though 
not  impelling  to  great  and  diversified  acti- 
vity in  the  outward  world ;  not  a  passion- 
ate zeal,  such  as  we  may  suppose  filled 
the  breast  of  Paul  before  his  conversion. 
But  there  was  also  a  love,  not  soft  and 
yielding,  but  one  seizing  with  all  its  might 
and  firmly  retaining  the  object  to  which  it 
was  directed,  vigorously  repelling  whatever 
would  disgrace  this  object  or  attempt  to 
wrest  it  from  its  possession,  and  this  was 
his  leading  characteristic.  Yet  this  love 
had  a  selfish  and  intemperate  tincture,  of 


*  In  order  to  know  the  length  of  time  spent  by 
John  in  this  first  interview  with  the  Redeemer,  we 
must  determine  the  mode  of  computing  the  hours 
adopted  in  John's  gospel.  According  to  the  com- 
monly received  mode  of  reckoning,  it  could  not 
have  been  more  than  three  hours,  and  then  it  is 
remarkable  that  John  should  say  "  they  abode  with 
him  that  day,"  of  which  only  so  few  hours  were 
left.  On  the  contrary,  if,  like  some  of  the  older 
writers,  (see  Woljii  Cura;  on  John  xix.  14),  and 
more  recently  Relteg  (in  the  Studien  und  Kritiken, 
1830,  part  i,  p.  106),  we  suppose  that  John  adopt, 
ed  the  Roman  mode  of  counting  the  hours  from 
midnight,  the  length  of  time  would  be  from  ten  in 
the  morning  to  sunset.  Yet  the  words  of  John,  as 
a  more  negligent  mode  of  expression,  may  be  un- 
derstood according  to  the  common  interpretation; 
and  the  passage  in  John  iv.  6,  favours  our  think- 
ing that  he  reckoned  time  in  the  usual  manner. 
And  in  itself  it  is  more  probable,  that  the  first  im- 
pression which  the  Redeemer  made  on  John's 
mmd,  resulted  only  from  a  short  interview. 


which  we  have  several  instances,  as  when 
he  wished  to  call  down  divine  judgments 
on  the  Samaritans,  who  had  not  shown 
due  honour  to  the  Saviour;  and  when  he 
expressed  his  displeasure  that  some  persons 
who  had  not  united  themselves  to  the  dis- 
ciples of  the  Lord,  had  performed  similar 
miracles  to  their  own  by  calling  on  his 
name ;  and  when  his  mother,  in  concert 
with  her  two  sons,  presented  a  petition  to 
Christ  for  stations  of  eminence  in  his  king- 
dom. Probably  the  title  "  Son  of  Thun- 
der," which  the  Redeemer  bestowed  upon 
him,  related  not  less  to  his  natural  temper- 
ament than  to  what  he  became  by  its  puri- 
fication and  transformation  in  the  service 
of  the  gospel.  But  this  ardent  love  with 
which  he  devoted  himself  wholly  to  the 
service  of  the  Redeemer,  became  now  the 
purifying  principle  of  his  whole  being, 
while  he  sought  to  form  himself  on  the 
model  of  that  holy  personality.  And  hence 
he  could  receive  the  image  of  it  on  the  side 
which  corresponded  with  his  peculiarly 
contemplative  mental  tendency,  and  repro- 
duce it  in  a  living  form. 

John  was  certainly  distinguished  from 
James  the  brother  of  the  Lord,  in  this  re- 
spect, that  from  the  first  his  communion 
with  Christ  was  independently  developed 
on  the  peculiar  basis  of  Christian  conscious- 
ness ;  the  fountain  of  divine  life  which 
had  appeared  among  mankind,  became  at 
once  the  central  point  of  his  spiritual  exist- 
ence; yet  he  did  not  wholly  agree  with  Paul, 
for  his  Christian  consciousness  was  not 
formed  in  direct  opposition  to  an  earlier 
and  tenaciously  held  Judaism.  His  whole 
character  and  mental  formation  disposed 
him  to  a  different  developement.  The  mys- 
tical contemplative  element  which  finds  its 
archetype  in  John,  is  more  prone  to  adopt 
outward  forms  (attributing  to  them  a  spiri- 
tualized, elevated  meaning)  than  to  disown 
them,  and  John,  whom  Judaism  had  led  to 
the  Saviour  as  its  ultimate  object,  found  no 
difficulty  in  employing  the  forms  of  the 
Jewish  cullus  as  the  prefiguring  symbols 
of  his  Christian  views.  It  was  not  ex- 
pected, therefore,  from  him  that  he  should, 
like  a  Paul,  abolish  those  forms  with  which 
the   Christian  spirit    was  yet  enveloped.* 

*  Irengeus,  afler  taking  a  sound  survey  of  the 
process  of  developement  of  the  Christian  church, 
says :  "  Hi  autem  qui  circa  Jacobum  Aposloli 
(among  whom  he  also  ranks  John)  gentibus  qui- 


Book  V.] 


THE  APOSTLE  JOHN. 


219 


Though  John  (Gal,  ti.  9)  appears  as  one 
of  the  three  pillars  of  the  church  among 
the  Jewish  Christians,  yet  it  never  hap- 
pened that  they  appealed  to  hiin  as  to 
Peter  and  James  ;  but  it  may  be  explained 
from  the  peculiar  standing-point  and  cha- 
racter of  this  apostle,  and  serves  to  set  in 
a  clear  light  his  relation  to  the  contending 
parties.  Hence  also  we  gather,  that  though 
John  had  formed  a  scheme  of  doctrine  so 
decidedly  marked,  and  though  in  relation 
to  the  other  great  publishers  of  the  gospel, 
he  might  have  formed  a  party  who  would 
have  attached  themselves  particularly  to 
him,  and  principally  or  exclusively  have 
valued  his  idea  of  Christianity,  yet,  in  the 
Pauline  age,  we  see  no  Johannean  party 
come  forward  by  the  side  of  the  Jacobean, 
the  Petrine,  and  the  Pauline.  The  pecu- 
liar doctrinal  type  of  John  was  also  of  a 
kind  little  suited  to  find  acceptance  with 
the.  peculiar  tendencies  of  the  Jewish  Chris- 
tians in  Palestine,  and  its  influence  would 
be  more  powerfully  felt,  vvhere  a  Christian 
element  had  already  combined  itself  with 
the  form  of  the  Grecian  mind. 


dem  libere  agere  permittebant,  concedentes  nos 
Spirilui  Dei.  Ipsi  vero  perseverabant,  in  pristinis 
observationibus."  And  a  little  afterwards — "  Re- 
ligiose agebant  circa  dispositionem  legis,"  iii.  12. 
But  what  Polycr^ites,  Bishop  of  Ephesus,  says  of 
John,  in  his  letter  to  Victor,  Bishop  of  Rome,  in 
Euseb.  V.  24,  oc  iyivit^>]  li^iu;  to  TrsraAOv  ^84)og6xa)C, 
is  untrue  if  taken  literally,  as  it  insinuates  some- 
thing far  beyond  the  presumption  that  John  was 
a  faithful  observer  of  the  Jewish  law  so  long  as  he 
remained  at  Jerusalem.  It  would  follow  that  he 
had  held  the  office  of  High  Priest  among  the  Jews, 
for  this  TrircLhov  =  ^nm  T*'P  ^^^  golden  front- 
plate,  which  was  one  of  the  distinctive  insignia  of 
this  office.  Such  a  presumption  would,  however, 
be  in  contradiction  to  history  and  all  historical 
analogy.  Nor  can  Polycrates  himself,  however 
credulous  we  may  think  him  to  have  been,  have 
meant  it.  It  is  moreover  clear  from  the  context, 
that  he  affirms  of  John  only  such  things  as  would 
be  consistent  with  his  Christian  standing-point. 
Or,  are  we  to  assume  that  John,  as  the  President 
of  all  the  Christian  communities  in  Lesser  Asia, 
adopted,  as  a  symbolical  token  of  his  position  in 
the  guidance  of  the  church,  the  insignia  of  the 
Jewish  High  Priest?  This  would  be  in  direct 
contradiction  to  the  apostolic,  and  especially  the 
Johannean  views,  for  these  included  the  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  sole  high-priesthood  of  Clirist, 
and  the  universal  priesthood  founded  upon  it  of 
all  believers.  Polycrates,  therefore,  could  have 
said  this  of  John  only  with  a  symbolical  reference, 
whether  he  intended  to  denote  by  it  what  he  had 
suffered  for  the  confession  of  the  Christian  faith, 
or  the  place  which  he  occupied  at  the  head  of  the 
guidance  of  the  church. 


Thus  John  disappears  from  public  his- 
tory, till  he  was  led  by  the  divine  call  to 
other  regions,  where  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple were  already  prepared  for  his  peculiar 
influence,  and  where  the  deep  traces  of  his 
operations,  undeniable  to  every  one  capa-  • 
bie  of  historical  investigations,  were  still 
visible  far  in  the  second  century.  After 
the  martyrdom  of  Paul,  the  bereaved  scene 
of  his  labours,  so  important  for  the  deve- 
lopement  and  spread  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  exposed  to  so  many  polluting  and 
destructive  influences,  required  above  all 
things  the  guiding,  protecting,  and  healing 
hand  of  apostolic  wisdom.  The  epistle  of 
Peter  to  the  churches  in  that  region,  and 
the  journey  of  Silvanus  thither,  show  how 
much  this  necessity  was  felt.  It  is  pro- 
bable, that  John  was  callexl  upon  by  the 
better  part  of  the  churches,  to  transfer  the 
seat  of  his  activity  to  this  quarter.  All  the 
ancient  traditions,  which  may  be  traced 
back  to  his  immediate  disciples,  agree  in 
stating  that  Lesser  Asia  was  the  scene  of 
his  labours  to  the  end  of  the  first  century, 
and  Ephesus  its  central  point. 

The  constitution  of  the  churches  of  Les- 
ser Asia,  as  it  appeared  soon  after  the  age 
of  John  in  the  time  of  Polycarp,  Bishop  of 
Smyrna,  was  altogether  different  from  that 
which  originated  in  the  Pauline  age,  in 
which  these  churches  were  founded,  and 
we  are  obliged  to  presuppose  some  inter- 
vening influences  by  which  this  alteration 
was  produced.  Originally  these  churches 
formed,  as  we  have  seen  above,  a  pure  op- 
position against  the  Jewish-Christian  form 
of  cultus.  They  had  no  day  excepting 
Sunday  devoted  to  religious  celebration,  no 
kind  of  yearly  feast;  but  afterwards  we 
find  among  them  a  pascal  feast  transferred 
from  the  Jews,  and  receiving  a  Christian 
meaning,  though  imitating  the  Jewish  reck- 
oning as  to  the  time  of  its  celebration,  to 
which  probably  a  feast  of  Pentecost  was 
annej^ed,  and  in  their  disputes  with  the  Ro- 
man church  they  vTppealed  particularly  to 
a  tradition  originating  with  this  apostle. 
Now  we  can  readily  imagine  that  the  four- 
teenth day  of  the  month  Nisan,*  on  which 
he  was  an  eye-witness  of  the  sufferings  of 
Christ,  would  e.xcite  a  deep  interest  in  his 


*  The  gospel  to  which  Polycrates  appeals  in 
Eusebius  v.  24,  may  certainly  be  that  of  John ; 
see  my  Leben  Jesu,  p.  712. 


220 


THE  JUDAIZING  GNOSTICS. 


[Book  V. 


Christian  feelings.  It  is  self-evident  how 
those  Jewish  feasts,  which  had  gained  a 
new  importance  for  him  by  their  associa- 
tion with  those  great  facts  of  the  Christian 
faith  of  which  he  had  been  an  eye-witness, 
and  which  he  had  been  wont  to  celebrate 
with  Christian  devotion,  might  be  intro- 
duced by  him  into  these  churches  founded 
on  Pauline  principles. 

From  the  state  of  the  church  at  that  time 
in  these  parts,  it  may  be  concluded  that 
John  must  have  had  to  endure  many  con- 
flicts, both  from  within  and  without,  in  his 
new  field  of  labour.  After  license  had 
once  been  granted  under  Nero  to  public 
attaclis  on  the  Christians,  persecutions 
were  carried  on  in  various  parts.  In  Les- 
ser Asia  many  circumstances  combined, 
then  as  in  later  times,  to  excite  a  more  ve- 
hement persecution — fanatical  zeal  for  the 
ancient  idolatry — the  danger  which  threat- 
ened the  pecuniary  interests  of  those  who 
were  gainers  by  the  popular  worship,  from 
the  rapid  progress  of  Christianity  —  the 
hatred  of  the  Jews  widely  scattered  through 
Lesser  Asia,  who  blasphemed  Christianity 
and  stirred  up  the  heathen  populace  against 
it.  Hence  in  the  Apocalypse  the  rebukes 
uttered  ; against  the  synagogues  of  Satan, 
against  those  who  "  say  they  are  Jews,  but 
are  not  and  do  lie  ;"  Rev.  iii.  9.  The  civil 
wars  and  the  universal  misery  that  fol- 
lowed, contributed  still  more  to  excite  the 
popular  fury  against  the  enemies  of  the 
gods,  to  whom  they  readily  ascribed  the 
origin  of  all  their  misfortunes.  Thus,  in- 
deed, the  Apocalypse  testifies  (which  pro- 
bably was  written  in  the  first  period  after 
John's  arrival  in  Lesser  Asia)  throughout 
of  the  flowing  blood  of  the  martyrs,  and  of 
the  tribulation  which  threatened  Christians 
in  prison,  as  well  as  of  the  fresh  recollec- 
tions of  Nero's  cruelties.  In  the  churches 
themselves,  those  conflicts  continued  which 
we  noticed  at  the  close  of  the  Pauline  age, 
and  the  seeds  of  discord  and  heresy  then  ger- 
minating had  now  sprung  up  and  advanced 
towards  maturity.  Falsifiers  of  the  origi- 
nal truth,  who  gave  themselves  out  for 
apostles,  had  come  forth  ;  Rev,  ii.  2.  Vari- 
ous kinds  of  enthusiasm  had  mingled  with 
the  genuine  Christian  inspiration,  against 
which  Paul  had  already  raised  a  warning 
voice.  Pretended  prophets  and  prophet- 
esses, who,  under  the  appearance  of  divine 
illumination,    threatened    to    plunge    the 


churches  into  errors  both  theoretical  and 
practical ;  1  John  iv,  1  ;  Rev,  ii,  20. 

In  Lesser  Asia,  the  most  opposite  devia- 
tions from  the  genuine  evangelical  spirit 
sprang  up  together.  On  the  one  side,  the 
Judaizing  tendency,  as  we  have  noticed  it 
in  the  Pauline  age ;  on  another  side,  in  op- 
position to  it,  the  tendency  of  an  arrogant 
licentiousness  of  opinion,  such  as  we  have 
noticed  in  the  freethinkers  of  the  Corin- 
thian church,  only  carried  to  greater 
lengths,  and  mingled  probably  with  many 
theoretical  errors  ;  persons  who  taught  that 
whoever  penetrated  into  the  depths  of  know- 
ledge,* need  no  longer  submit  to  the  apos- 
tolic ordinances,  as  he  would  be  free  from 
all  the  slavery  of  the  law,  which  freedom 
they  understood  in  a  carnal  sense,  and  mis- 
interpreted to  an  immoral  purpose.  Such 
a  one  need  no  longer  fear  the  contact  with 
heathenism  or  with  the  kingdom  of  Satan  ; 
in  the  consciousness  of  his  own  mental 
strength  he  could  despise  all  temptations, 
partake  of  the  meat  oflered  to  idols,  and  in- 
dulge in  sensual  pleasures  without  being 
injured  thereby.  In  the  Apocalypse  these 
people  are  called  Nicolaitans,  whether  be- 
cause they  were  really  the  adherents  of  a 
certain  Nicolaus,f  and  that  this  name  as  a 

translation  of  the  Hebrew  QvS^j  oc- 
casioned an  allusion  to  the  meaning  of  the 
name,  and  a  comparison  with  Balaam,  or 
that  the  name  was  altogether  invented  by 


*  Revel,  ii.  24,  they  are  described  as  such,  oinvt; 
iyvoea-^v  Tct/3aSs4  tov  c-a/rseva,  ac  hiyovtrn.  But  a 
doubt  here  arises,  whether  these  persons  made  it 
their  peculiar  boast  that  they  linew  the  depths  of 
the  Deity  ;  but  the  author  of  the  Apocalypse,  as  if 
in  mockery  of  their  pretensions,  substitutes  for  the 
depths  of  the  Deity  the  depths  of  Satan  (as  Ewald 
thinks), — (for  which  interpretation  the  analogy 
may  be  adduced  where  the  synagogue  of  God  is 
converted  into  the  synagogue  of  Satan) ; — or 
whether  they  really  boasted  that  they  knew  the 
deptiis  of  Satan,  and  hence  could  tell  how  to  com- 
bat Satan  aright — that  they  could  conquer  Jiim  by 
pride  and  contempt, — tliat  they  could  indulge  in 
sensual  pleasures,  and  maintain  the  composure  of 
their  spirit  unaltered, — that  the  inner  man  might 
attain  such  strength  that  it  was  no  longer  moved 
by  what  weaker  souls,  who  were  still  under  the 
servitude  of  the  law.,  ajjxiously  shunned, — and 
thus  could  put  Satan  to  scorn  even  in  his  own 
domains. 

t  We  are  by  no  means  justified  in  confounding 
this  Nicolaus  with  the  well-known  deacon  of 
this  name.  But  in  this  case,  it  is  more  probable 
that  the  Nicolaitans  of  the  second  century  origi- 
nated from  this  sect. 


Book  V.] 


THE  JUDAIZING  GNOSTICS. 


221 


the  author  with  a  symbolical  design,  a  se- 
ducer of  the  people  like  Balaam, 

With  these  practical  errors  were  con- 
nected' various  theoretic  tendencies  of  a 
false  gnosis,  which  since  the  close  of  the 
Pauline  age  had  extended  more  widely  in 
opposition  to  one  another.  We  have  no- 
ticed in  the  church  at  Colossa?  the  adherents 
of  a  Judaizing  gnosis,  who  probably  con- 
sidered Judaism  to  be  a  revelation  from 
God  communicated  by  angels,  attached  a 
perpetual  value  to  it  as  well  as  to  Chris- 
tianity, and  pretended  that  they  possessed 
peculiar  information  respecting  the  various 
classes  of  angels.  To  this  Jewish  angel- wor- 
ship, Paul  opposes  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  as 
the  Son  of  God,  the  one  head  of  the  church  of 
God,  on  whom  angels  also  are  dependent, 
the  common  head  of  that  universal  church 
to  which  men  and  angels  belong.  He  ex- 
tols him  as  the  being  who  has  triumphed 
over  all  the  powers  which  would  make 
men  dependent  on  themselves,  over  all  the 
powers  that  set  themselves  in  opposition  to 
the  kingdom  of  God,  so  that  men  need  no 
longer  fear  them.  He  then  infers  the  doc- 
trine grounded  on  this,  of  the  high  degree 
and  freedom  of  the  redeemed  through 
Christ,  the  children  of  God,  who  are  be- 
come companions  of  angels  in  the  kingdom 
of  God.  But  this  elevated  doctrine  of  the 
dignity  and  freedom  of  Christians  was  per- 
verted by  those  who  confronted  the  limited 
Jewish  standing-point  by  a  boldantinomian 
gnosis,  and  affirmed  that  Judaism  was  to 
be  despised  as  the  work  of  limited  spirits ; 
that  the  sons  of  God  were  more  than  these 
spirits  and  exalted  above  their  maxims. 
They  thought  themselves  sufficiently  ex- 
alted to  insult  these  higher  powers,  and  to 
ridicule  all  law  as  a  work  of  these  limited 
and  limiting  powers.  With  this  was  con- 
nected that  reckless  immoral  tendency 
which  we  have  before  noticed,  and  which 
presented  itself  in  opposition  to  the  legal 
asceticism,  which  we  find  connected  with 
the  Judaizing  gnosis  in  the  church  at  Co- 
lossse.  This  is  the  tendency  which  is  com- 
bated on  the  side  of  its  blended  theoretical 
and  practical  errors,  in  the  warning  Epis- 
tle of  Jude  addressed  probably  to  the  Chris- 
tians in  these  parts.*     We  see  here  how, 


*  This  is,  for  the  most  part,  tlie  view  developed 
by  Schneekenburger  in  his  woi  k  l)cfore  mentioned. 
As  to  the  author  of  this  epistle,  he  evidently  dis- 
tinguishes   himself  from   the   apostles,  when   he 


from  the  Pauline  ideas  carried  out  with  one- 
sided extravagance  and  thus  distorted  into 
error,  the  gnostic  doctrine  was  educed 
of  the  opposition  between  Christianity  as 
the  revelation  of  the  Son,  and  Judaism  as 
the  revelation  of  the  Demiurges  and  his 
angels.  These  two  opposite  tendencies  of 
gnosis  developed  themselves  in  this  age  in 
various  combinations. 

The  Judaizing  gnosis  found  its  represent- 
ative in  Cerinthus,  who  forms  the  transi- 
tion both  from  the  common  stifi' carnal  Ju- 
daism to  Gnosticism,  and  from  the  com- 
mon limited  Jewish  mode  of  thinking,  which 
retained  only  the  human  in  Christ,  to  the 
gnostic  which  acknowledged  only  the  di- 
vine in  him,  only  the  ideal  Christ.*  He 
agreed  also  with  the  common  Jewish 
view  of  the  Messiah  in  this  respect,  that  he 
considered  Jesus  as  a  mere  man,  that  he 


speaks  of  the  prophetic  warnings  of  the  apostles 
(v.  17),  such  as  we  certainly  find  in  Paul's  writ- 
ings ;  we  cannot  explain  the  passage  otherwise 
without  doing  violence  to  it.  The  desciiplion  of 
the  state  of  the  church  is  also  such  as  suits  only 
the  end  of  the  apostolic  age.  It  is  therefore  evi- 
dent, that,  if  the  epistle  be  genuine,  it  cannot  have 
been  written  by  an  apostle  Jude,  who  was  a  bro- 
ther of  James.  It  would  likewise  have  been  more 
natural  in  this  case,  to  have  designated  himself  an 
apostle  instead  of  calling  himself  a  brother  of 
James.  Hence  we  should  rather  suppose  him  to 
have  been  Jude,  one  of  the  brethren  of  the  Lord. 
But  why  should  he  not  call  himself  a  brother  of 
the  Lord,  instead  of  "  brother  of  James,"  since 
thus  his  personal  authority  would  have  added 
weight  to  his  warnings  ?  It  may  be  said  that  he 
omitted  this  title  through  humility.  But  is  this 
answer  satisfactory  ?  By  the  addition  of  various 
epithets,  as  diih<f<j;  kutu,  araeK^t.  and  S'Sjko;  'lua-ou 
Xg/j-Tou  KctTsi  Tveu^a,  he  might  have  prevented  all 
misunderstanding,  and  removed  all  appearance  of 
arrogance.  A  similar  objection  may  indeed  be 
made  in  reference  to  James,  who,  in  his  epistle, 
does  not  designate  himself  a  brother  of  the  Lord. 
But  here  the  case  is  altogether  different.  He  does 
not  distinguish  himself  by  any  epithet  expressive 
of  consanguiiiity, — notout  of  humility,  but  because 
he  deemed  it  to  be  the  highest  honour  to  be  a  ser- 
vant of  God  and  Christ.  We  may  suppose  another 
Jude  as  well  as  another  James,  since  tlie  name 
Jude  was  so  frequent  among  the  Jews,  and  since, 
according  to  Hegesippus,  there  were  many  distin- 
guished  men  of  this  name  in  the  church.  But  as 
the  epithet  "  brother  of  James"  is  used  here  as  a 
distinction,  it  is  most  natural  to  refer  it  to  that 
James  who  was  held  in  such  high  esteem.  It 
might  be  said  tiiat  he  described  himself  only  as 
the  brother  of  James,  because  he  was  so  prc-cmi- 
nent,  and  was  accustomed  to  be  described  by  the 
name — a  brother  of  the  Lord.  But  the  manner  in 
which  elsewhere  in  the  New  Testament  the  bre- 
thren of  Christ  arc  named  togetiier,  does  not 
favour  this  view  of  the  matter. 

*  Sec  my  Church  History,  vol.  i.  part  2,  p.  675. 


222 


CERINTHUS. 


[Book  V. 


denied  the  original  indwelling  of  the  divine 
Being  in  him,  and  treated  the  entrance  of  the 
Divine  into  his  life  as  something  sudden,  by 
which,  at  his  solemn  inauguration,  he  was 
made  capable  of  discharging  his  calling  as 
the  Messiah.  But  Cerinthus  differed  from 
the  common  Jewish  notions,  that,  in  place 
of  a  peculiar  inworking  of  the  divine  power, 
by  which  the  man  Jesus  was  fitted  for  his 
Messianic  office,  he  supposed  a  new  anima- 
tion by  the  highest  spirit  emanating  from 
God,  and  forming  the  connexion  between 
God  and  the  Creation,  the  divine  Logos. 
This  Spirit,  representing  itself  to  sensible 
appearance  under  the  form  of  a  Dove,  as  a 
usual  symbol  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  had  set- 
tled upon  him  at  his  baptism;  he  had  re- 
vealed through  him  the  hidden  Supreme 
God,  the  knowledge  of  whom  among  the 
Jews  had  been  the  privilege  of  only  a  small 
number  of  enlightened  persons,*  through 
him  he  had  performed  miracles,  but  before 
the  last  sufferings  of  Jesus  had  withdrawn 
from  him,  and  left  him  to  himself.  As 
Cerinthus  in  this  manner  held  no  original 
and  indissoluble  unity  between  the  Logos 
(the  Messiah  and  Redeemer  in  a  special 
sense)  and  the  Humanity  of  Jesus,  but  only 
a  transient  relation,  a  connexion  suddenly 
formed  and  as  suddenly  dissolved,  and  thus 
he  granted  only  a  very  subordinate  place 
to  the  purely  human  in  Christ.  According 
to  this  view,  the  man  Jesus  was  only  an 
accidental  vehicle,  of  which  the  redeeming 
Spirit  the  Logos  made  use,  in  order  to  be 
able  to  reveal  himself  in  humanity;  could 
the  Logos  without  this  medium  have  made 
him  cognizable  and  perceptible  to  men,  he 
would  not  have  made  use  of  such  an  organ 
as  the  man  .Jesus,  From  the  same  ten- 
dency, but  more  coarsely  conceived,  pro- 
ceeded another  view,  according  to  which  it 
was  believed,  that  a  revelation  of  the  Logos 
might  be  made  in  humanity  without  any 
such  mediation  through  a  human  being, 
which  it  was  wished  to  supersede.  In 
place  of  the  real  human  appearance  of 
Christ,  only  a  semblance,  a  phantom  was 
substituted  in  which  the  Logos  was  en- 
shrined. Every  thing  that  came  under  the 
notice  of  the  senses  was  explained  as  onlv 
a  phantom,  an  optical  illusion,  of  which  the 
higher  ethereal  Being,  who  from  his  nature 
could  not  be  perceptible  to  the  senses,  made 


The  genuine  S-£g*w«y 


use,  that  he  might  manifest  himself  to  sen- 
suous mortals.  A  theory  which  already 
had  been  used  for  the  explanation  ofTheo- 
phanies  and  Angelophanies  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament,* was  applied  by  those  who  held 
these  views  to  the  appearance  and  life  of 
Christ.  At  his  transfiguration,  said  they, 
Christ  manifested  himself  without  that  sen- 
sible appearance  to  his  disciples,  who  were 
rendered  from  the  time  capable  of  beholding 
him  in  his  true  ethereal  form.f 

Against  such  persons  John  was  now 
called  to  defend  the  announcement  of 
'iTjtfoug  X^irfToj  £v  rfagxi.  We  have  no  rea- 
son for  calling  in  question  the  traditions 
respecting  his  conflicts  with  Cerinthus. 
Irenteus,  amongst  others,  mentions  as  an 
account  given  by  the  aged  Polycarp,  that 
on  one  occasion  when  John  was  about  to 
bathe,  and  heard  that  Cerinthus  was  in  the 
bathing  house;  he  retired  with  abhorrence, 
and  exclaimed,  "  Surely  the  house  will  fall 
in  ruins  since  the  enemy  of  the  truth  is 
thei'e  !"  We  can  perfectly  reconcile  it  with 
his  character,  and  find  in  it  nothing  unapos- 
tolic,  if,  in  a  momentary  ebullition  of  feel- 
ings naturally  lively  and  ardent,  proceed- 
ing from  holy  zeal,:};  he  expressed  in  such 
strong  terms  (in  which,  nevertheless,  every 
thing  is  not  to  be  taken  quite  literally)  his 
displeasure  against  a  man  who  threatened 
to  rob  the  churches,  over  whose  salvation 
he  watched    with  fatherly  care,    of  what 


*  As,  for  example,  Philo  on  Exod.  xxiv.,  wliere 
the  subject  is  the  appearance  of  the  divine  J'o^a, 
which  may  be  understood  partly  of  the  appearance 
of  the  angels  by  whom  God  revealed  himself,  partly 
of  the  symbolical  appearances  under  which  God 
represented  himself  to  the  perceptions  of  men  ;  tm 
JciiiiT-ti  avroxi  /uovau  kai  v7roK»'\.ii  ^o^m  S-s;ac  u>;  hup. 
ya7^at  TdLiQ  Tail'  wagjvTffiv  Ji-xvoisii;  pivTA(riu.v  t^t- 
^ice;  5'iov,  oc;  hkovto;  w  ^ifiiloT-J.'Div  Tria-Ttv  Tm  /U(\. 
Mvicev  vouo^iTii^^oti  (in  order  (hat  men  might 
have  the  firm  conviction  that  what  was  revealed 
to  them  proceeded  from  God,  he  therefore  thus 
operated  on  their  consciousness,  that  they  believed 
that   they  sawjiimself).     to3  Q-iou  Siuvuvtoi;  otti^ 

i^CVXiTO  SoX.ftV  ilv^l,   TT^Oi  TUV  tZv  B-lOl/UiVWV  X.a.r'J.7rKtt. 

^iv,  juH  dv  TouTo,  o/Tf^  itprtiviTo.  PfiUoTiis  Opera,  ed. 
Lips.  1829,  vol.  vi,  p.  245. 

t  A  pure  spiritual  intuition  was  something 
wholly  foreign  to  such  persons.  Light  and  spirit 
were  one  and  the  same  thing  to  them  I 

X  We  must  not  allow  ourselves  to  imagine,  that 
the  apostle,  by  the  sanctifying  influence  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  was  at  once  dissevered  from  all  con- 
nexion  with  his  former  native  character,  as  well 
as  from  the  peculiar  phraseology  of  his  country- 
men; we  must,  with  Jerome,  recognise  in  the 
apostle  homo  adhuc  vasculo  clausus  injirmo. 


Book  V.] 


AUTHORSHIP  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 


223 


was  dearest  and  holiest  to  him,  the  founda- 
tion on  which  his  whole  Christianity  rested, 
and  to  destroy  the  root  of  the  Christian  life  ; 
still  the  pledge  for  the  credibility  of  this 
anecdote  is  very  slight,  and  it  may  easily 
be  attributed  to  an  extravagant  hatred  of 
heretics.* 

According  to  a  widely  spread,  ancient 
tradition,  the  apostle  John  was  banished  to 
the  Island  of  Patmos,  in  the  Mgean  Sea, 
by  one  of  the  emperors  who  was  hostile  to 
the  Christians,  but  by  which  of  them  is  not 
ascertained.!  Only  Irenfeus  leads  us  to 
suppose  that  Domitian  was  the  emperor, 
for  he  says!  that  John,  at  the  end  of  Do- 
mitian's  reign,  received  Revelations,  which 
he  committed  to  writing  ;  and  since,  ac- 
cording to  the  Apocalypse,  this  must  have 
happened  in  the  Isle  of  Patmos  whither  he 
was  banished,  it  follows  that  he  was  sen- 


*  Irenaeus  did  not  receive  this  account  in  his 
youth  from  the  lips  of  Polycarp,  but  could  only 
appeal  for  the  truth  of  it  to  what  others  had  heard 
from  Polyearp,  iii.  3,  "  iiTtv  a  cuoiKoo'ti;  duTou." 
The  question  then  is,  whether  the  persons  who  re- 
ported it  to  Irenosus  are  credible.  We  know  in- 
deed, that  much  of  what  Irenoeus  reports  as  tradi- 
tion, leaves  on  it  the  impress  of  falsehood.  Thus 
he  himself,  ii.  24,  appeals  to  the  testimony  of  all 
the  presbyters  in  Lesser  Asia,  who  had  been  in 
the  society  of  the  apostle  John,  that  Jesus  was 
about  fifty  years  old.  The  difficulty  involved  in 
this  does  not  appear  to  me  so  easily  removed  as 
Credner  maintains  in  his  Einleitung,  p.  225,  The 
tradition  of  the  presbyters,  according  to  the  report 
of  Irenaeus,  certainly  appears  not  to  have  been 
that  Jesus  first  entered  on  his  office  as  teacher  at 
the  commencement  of  that  riper  mature  age,  which 
was  required  by  the  Jewish  customs  for  at^suming 
such  an  office,  but  lie  received  from  their  own  lips 
the  deposition  that  Christ  had  taught  in  an  age 
which  was  beyond  the  atas  juvenilis,  and  ap- 
proached to  the  senilis.  If  the  passage  is  genuine 
in  all  its  extent,  he  expressly  distinguished  this 
age  from  the  atas  perfecta  magislri,  which  was 
well  known  to  him,  in  which  Christ  first  appeared 
in  Jerusalem  as  a  teacher.  From  his  words, 
therefore,  we  must  deduce  such  a  tradition  as  he 
supposed  v/as  understood  by  the  presbyters.  But 
we  can  hardly  suppress  the  suspicion  of  interpo- 
lation  ;  for  however  little  we  are  justified  in  de- 
pending on  the  critical  judgment  of  Irenasus,  we 
cannot  reconcile  it  to  a  man  of  his  powerful  mind, 
that  he  who  had  shortly  before  said  that  Christ 
had  spent  three  years,  from  the  beginning  of  his 
thirtieth  year  to  his  death,  in  his  office  of  teach- 
ing, could  afterwards  attribute  twenty  years  more 
to  him. 

t  See  Tertull.  praescript.  c.  36.  Clemens,  Qui 
dives  salv.  c.  42,  speaks  of  the  return  of  John  from 


exile,  ToS  tu^wvsu  TeAsvTJij-avTOf,  without  specify- 
ing any  name.     Origen,  t.  xvi.  in  Matt.  §  6,  also 
uses  the  indefinite  expression,  o  Pce/xctiarv  /^aLo-tKiuc. 
t  V.  30. 


tenced  by  that  emperor.  But  owing  to  the 
uncertainty  of  the  traditions  of  that  age,  we 
cannot  acknowledge  this  account  as  suf- 
ficiently accredited;  it  is  indeed  possible, 
that  it  proceeded  only  frofta  a  peculiar  in- 
terpretation of  this  obscure  book,  and  not 
from  any  historical  testimony.  And  if  the 
Apocalypse  contains  certain  marks  of  hav- 
ing been  written  before  this  time,  this  opi- 
nion would  at  once  cease  to  be  tenable. 
As  this  is  really  the  case,  for  certainly  the 
Apocalypse*  which  we  cannot  acknow- 
ledge as  a  work  of  the  apostle,*  must  have 


*  We  refer  on  this  subject  to  the  celebrated 
work  of  Dr.  Lucke,  Versucli  einer  vollslandigen 
Einleitung  in  die  offenbarung  Johannes.  Bonn, 
tS32.  (An  attempt  at  a  complete  introduction  to 
the  Revelation  of  John.)  Much  may  be  said  in 
favour  of  the  opinion  of  Dionysius  of  Alexandria, 
that  not  the  apostle  John,  but  another  Ephesian 
presbyter  of  the  same  name,  was  the  author  of 
this  book.  I  cannot  deem  pertinent  what  Gue- 
ricke  has  said  against  the  existence  of  an  Ephe- 
sian presbyter  named  John,  contemporaneous  with 
the  apostle,  and  must  agree  with  Dr.  Lucke,  that 
in  the  passage  of  Papias  of  Hierapolis,  in  Euse- 
bius  iii.  3.9,  such  a  presbyter  John  is  undeniably 
to  be  found;  for  since  he  classes  the  presbyter 
John  with  Aristion,  who  was  not  an  apostle,  and 
distinguishes  him  from  the  apostles  before  named, 
among  whom  John  is  also  mentioned,  no  other 
person  can  be  reasonably  supposed  to  be  referred 
to  than  a  presbyter  who  was  not  an  apostle.  If 
we  assume  that  such  a  presbyter  named  John  pro- 
ceeded from  .the  apostle's  school,  or,  with  a  pecu- 
liar cliaracfer  already  formed,  had  become  his  ad- 
herent and  laid  himself  open  to  his  influence,  it 
will  be  easily  understood,  how  such  a  person  might 
compose  a  work,  which,  with  much  that  bore  the 
impress  of  John's  mind,  would  combine  much  that 
was  dissimilar,  and  would  stand  in  the  same  rela- 
tion to  tiie  genuine  productions  of  that  apostle  as 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  written  by  an  edu- 
cated Alexandrian  of  the  Pauline  theological 
school,  stood  to  the  epistles  of  Paul.  Thus  it  may 
be  explained,  how  the  book  at  so  early  a  period 
was  held  to  be  the  apostle's  composition,  since  a 
presbyter  liltlc  known  was  confounded  with  the 
apostlt! ;  especially  at  a  period  when  certain  widely 
spread  religious  views,  those  of  the  Millcnnarians, 
gave  a  bias  for  such  a  change  of  authorship.  Yet 
we  cannot  admit  this  supposition,  if  we  find  in  the 
work  several  indications  that  the  author  professed 
to  be  no  other  than  tiic  apostle  John.  Such  an 
allusion  appears  to  be  made  in  i.  2.  Yet  it  is 
possible  either  so  to  explain  the  words  that  they 
may  refer  to  tiie  testimony  contained  in  the  book 
itself  concerning  tlie  revelations  and  visions  im- 
parted to  the  autiior  in  the  Isle  of  Patmcs,  or 
the  words  may  be  applied  universally  to  the 
whole  publication  of  the  gosjjcl ;  so  the  presby- 
ter John,  if,  according  to  Papias,  he  was  an  im- 
mediate  disciple  of  Jesus,  could  also,  in  reference 
to  this,  say  that  he  testified  of  what  he  had  seen. 
And  if  it  should  appear  strange,  that  any  other 


224 


AUTHORSHIP  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 


[Book  V. 


been  written  soon  aftei'  the  death  of  Nero. 
The  whole  account  of  the  banishment  of 
the  apostle  John  to  the  Isle  of  Patmos  may- 
have  been  taken  chiefly  from  the  Apoca- 
lypse,* and  if  this  book  can  be  shown  not 
to  beiong  to  John,  the  credibility  of  this  ac- 
count at  once  falls  to  the  ground.  Yet 
here  two  cases  are  possible.  If  the  Apo- 
calypse proceeded  from  another  John  than 


the  apostle,  if  it  was  the  composition  of  the 
presbyter  John  who  was  his  contemporary 


person  than  the  apostle  John  should  designate 
himself  simply  a  servant  of  Christ,  and  write 
with  such  confidence  and  earnestness  to  the 
churches,  we  may  account  for  it,  by  his  believing 
that  in  the  visions  imparted  to  him  he  had  re- 
ceived a  commission  to  write  in  such  a  tone,  al- 
thoug^i  his  personal  standing-point  did  not  give 
him  ttiis  importance  in  tlie  Christian  church.  But 
if  another  person  had  written  tliis  work  under 
John's  name,  it  does  not  appear  that  such  a  one, 
in  order  to  deceive,  has  borrowed  a  reputation  not 
his  own,  for  in  this  case  he  would  have  designated 
himself  more  pointedly  and  decidedly  as  the  per- 
son for  whom  he  wished  to  be  taken.  It  is,  then, 
more  probable  that  the  author,  a  disciple  of  John, 
by  some  circumstance  unknown  to  us,  having  de- 
voted himself  to  write  on  a  subject  which  he  had 
received  mediately  or  immediately  from  the  apostle 
(as  Scholt  and  Lucke  suppose),  thought  himself 
justified  in  introducing  John  as  the  speaker.  But 
in  reference  to  the  origination  and  circulation  of 
the  work,  if  we  place  it  in  so  early  a  period  many 
difficulties  will  remain.  The  most  probable  sup- 
position is,  that  the  author,  since  he  did  not  see 
his  prophecies  fulfilled  in  individual  instances,  al- 
though the  ideas  lying  at  the  basis  of  his  prophetic 
visions  contained  truth,  put  a  stop  to  the  circula- 
tion of  the  book, — that  after  his  death,  and  the 
death  of  the  apostle  John,  it  was  again  made  pub- 
lic, and  passed  more  easily  as  the  work  of  the 
latter.  This  book  appears  to  assume  the  existence 
of  such  a  scheme  of  doctrine  as  we  find  in  Jolm's 
gospel,  and  this  seems  to  be  at  variance  with  the 
opinion  of  the  earlier  origin  of  the  Apocalypse. 
Yet  the  main  outlines  of  John's  peculiar  doctrinal 
scheme  might  have  been  formed  very  early,  from 
the  mode  in  which  he  had  received  the  life  of 
Christ,  according  to  his  own  mental  conformation, 
before  he  appeared  in  Lesser  Asia  as  a  teacher  in 
the  Greek  language;  he  also  might  liave  already 
adopted  the  use  of  such  an  expression  as  the  term 
MycK;,  to  designate  the  indwelling  divine  life  of  the 
Redeemer,  according  to  the  Aramaic  word  from 
which  it  was  taken,  (as  this  term  in  the  Alexan- 
drian theosopliic  phraseology,  certainly  arose  ori- 
ginally from  a  translation.) 

*  We  remark  in  this  book,  the  vivid  impression 
which  Nero's  persecution  of  the  Cliristians,  his 
setting  on  fire  part  9f  the  city  of  Rome,  and  espe- 
cially his  cruelties,  had  made  on  the  minds  of 
men.  The  story  that  Nero  was  not  really  dead, 
but  had  retired  to  the  Euphrates,  and  would  re- 
turn again  from  thence  (see  my  Church  History, 
i.  137)  appears  here  more  fully  delineated  by  a 
Christian  imagination.  He  is  the  monster  to  whom 
Satan  gave  all  his  power,  who  returns  as  anti- 
christ and  the  destroyer  of  Rome,  who  will  force 
all  to  worship  his  image.    The  Roman  empire  at 


that  time  is  set  forth  as  the  representative  of 
heathenism,  and  of  ungodly  power  personified, 
and  in  this  connexion,  under  the  image  of  the 
beast  with  seven  heads  (the  seven  Roman  empe- 
rors which  would  succeed  one  another  till  the  ap- 
pearance of  anti-christ),  Nero  is  signified  as  one 
of  these  heads  (xiii.  3,)  which  appeared  dead,  but 
whose  deadly  wound  was  healed,  so  that  to  uni- 
versal astonishment  he  appeared  alive  again.  Nero 
reappearing  after  it  had  been  believed  that  he  was 
dead,  is  the  beast  "  which  was,  and  is  not,  and 
shall  ascend  out  of  the  bottomless  pit — and  yet 
is,"  Rev.  xvii.  8.  Of  the  seven  emperors  who 
were  to  reign  until  all  appearance  of  anti-christ, 
it  is  said  that  five  have  fallen — one  (Nero's  suc- 
cessor) is  now  reigning,  and  the  other  is  not  yet 
come;  and  when  he  comes,  he  must  remain  only 
a  short  time,  and  the  beast  which  was  and  is  not, 
is  itself  the  eighth  and  one  of  the  seven  ;  (Nero  as 
one  of  the  seven  Emperors  is  the  fifth,  but  inas- 
much as  he  comes  again  as  anti-christ,  and  founds 
the  last  universal  monarchy  following  the  succes- 
sion of  the  seven  emperors,  he  is  the  eighlh.)  Nero 
comes  from  the  East,  supported  by  his  tributaries 
— the  ten  kings  (his  Satraps,  the  ten  horns  of  the 
beast)  leagued  with  him  to  destroy  Rome,  and  to 
make  war  on  Christianity.  The  waters  of  the 
Euphrates  are  dried  up,  to  make  a  way  for  Nero 
with  his  ten  Satraps  xvi.  12,  who,  in  his  service, 
would  burn  and  destroy  Rome,  xvii.  16.  All  this 
marks  the  time  in  which  the  Apocalypse  must 
have  been  written,  the  change  of  the  emperor  after 
Nero,  while  the  image  of  this  monster  was  yet  in 
vivid  recollection,  and  men  were  disposed  to  depict 
the  future  in  magnified  images  of  the  past;  it  also 
agrees  with  this  date,  that  the  temple  at  Jerusalem 
is  described  as  still  in  existence,  i.  1,  therefore  it 
must  be  before  the  year  70.  But  in  this  book,  I 
am  struck  with  one  contradiction,  of  which  I  have 
never  met  with  a  satisfactory  solution.  I  shall  re- 
joice  to  find  that  it  has  been  explained  by  Dr, 
Luckc  in  his  Commentary,  which  I  am  anxiously 
looking  for.  In  vii.  4,  the  whole  number  of  be- 
lieving Jews,  is  given  as  one  hundred  and  forty- 
four  thousand  ;  and  tliough  this  number  may  seem 
to  be  merely  an  assumed  round  number,  yet  the 
number  of  Christians  then  existing  among  the 
Jews  might  not  differ  very  greatly  from  it.  See 
Acts  xxi.  20.  Besides  these,  an  innumerable  com- 
pany of  believers  from  all  nations  and  tongues  ap- 
pear before  the  throne  of  God,  from  which  the 
former  as  Jews  are  expressly  distinguished.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  xiv.  4,  the  hundred  forty  and 
four  thousand  appear  as  the  company  of  the  elect 
from  the  great  body  of  Christians  in  the  whole 
world,  who  present  the  model  of  a  holy  life,  as 
belonging  to  which  a  life  of  celibacy  seems  to  be 
reckoned,  a  view  which  would  not  accord  with 
John's  sentiments.  Origen  has  indeed  noticed 
this  contradiction,  T.  I.  Joh.  §1,2;  but  he  avails 
himself  of  the  allegorical  interpretation;  he  thinks 
that  in  the  first  passage,  the  Jews  in  a  spiritual 
sense,  the  flower  of  Christians  out  of  all  nations 
are  to  be  understood ;  this  opinion,  which  otiiers 
also  have  adopted,  cannot  be  correct,  for  it  is  evi- 
dent from  the  other  passage,  that  here  only  be- 
lievers of  Jewish  descent  are  intended.     As  in  the 


Book  V.] 


JOHN'S  GOSPEL. 


225 


at  Ephesus,  the  banishment  to  the  Isle  of 
Patmos  would  relate  to  him,  and  not  to  the 
apostle  of  this  name.  And  this  change, 
by  which  the  Apocalypse  was  attributed  to 
the  apostle,  would  have  occasioned  also  the 
report  of  his  banishment  to  this  island,  al- 
though it  is  possible  that  the  same  outward 
causes  might  have  led  to  the  banishment  of 
both  these  distinguished  teachers  of  the  re- 
ligio  illicita.  But  if  we  admit  that  another 
person  wished  to  represent  these  revelations 
as  those  which  the  apostle  John  had  re- 
ceived, and  if  we  hence  infer,  that  in  order 
to  personate  John,  he  made  use  of  certain 
passages  in  his  life,  then  the  words  in  i,  9, 
in  case  they  are  to  be  understood  of  a  ba- 
nishment to  the  Isle  of  Patmos,*  yet  always 
pi-esuppose  the  fact  of  such  an  exile  of  the 
apostle,  and  we  must  in  this  case  place  his 
banishment  in  the  first  period  after  his  ar- 
rival in  Lesser  Asia.  But  it  is  possible 
that,  independently  of  the  Apocalypse,  such 
a  tradition  might  be  spread  that  the  apostle 
John  was  banished  by  the  Emperor  Domi- 
tian  (in  whose  reign  such  banishments  to 
the  islands  on  account  of  passing  over  to 
Judaism  or  Christianity  were  not  uncom- 
mon) to  the  Isle  of  Patmos  or  some  other 
island;  and  it  is  possible  that,  from  this 
tradition,  the  supposition  was  formed  that 
the  Apocalypse  ascribed  to  the  apostle  was 
written  during  this  period.  Certainly  we 
cannot  refuse  to  believe  the  unanimous  tra- 
dition of  the  Asiatic  churches  in  the  second 
century,  that  the  apostle  John,  as  a  teacher 
of  those  churches,  had  to  suffer  on  account 
of  tlie  faith,  for  which  reason  he  is  distin- 
guished as  a  martyr  in  the  epistle  quoted 
above  of  Polycrates,  Bishop  of  Ephesus. t 

last  quoted  passage  I  can  find  nothing  predicab'e 
of  Jewish  Christians,  I  cannot  satisfy  myself  with 
the  solution  proposed  by  Credner  in  his  Einlei- 
iung,  p.  711. 

*  Here  every  thing  depends  on  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  words  in  Rev.  i.  9.  There  is  no  ne- 
cessary reference  to  sufferings  on  account  of  the 
gospel.  The  words  may  be  understood  thus  ;  "  I 
was  in  the  Isle  of  Patmos  for  the  purpose  of  pub- 
lishing the  word  of  God,  and  testifying  of  Christ;" 
which  would  be  only  saying  that  John  had  visited 
that  island  for  the  sake  of  publishing  the  gospel. 
But  a  comparison  with  vi.  9 — tZi  iT^:tyfAi^ai]i  hn. 
Tov  xo^/ov  To5  fleoii,  nai  J'l-Jt  rxv  fxA^Tugi^v  m  li^'^v — 
xii.  11,  M-yog  T>ic  ^agTugiac  XX.  4,  7riTiAiitt(r/uiV!ii 
Sia,  Tuv  fjtAgTv^ia.v — would  rather  lead  us  to  under- 
stand the  words  of  sufferings,  for  the  profession  of 
the  faith,  and  the  phrase  a-vynwoDio;  ev  t»  3-x/4« 
favours  this  reference. 

t  The  words  of  the  Epistle   in  Euseb.  v.  24, 

29 


As  in  those  regions  where  the  general 
superintendence  of  the  church  devolved  on 
John,  manifold  attempts  were  made  to 
adulterate  the  Christian  faith,  as  well  as  to 
disturb  and  suppress  the  spirit  of  Christian 
love,  it  was  the  main  object  of  his  pro- 
tracted labours  to  maintain  and  propagate 
the  essence  of  the  Christian  faith  and  of 
Christian  love,  in  opposition  to  these  inju- 
rious influences.  Of  this  fact  his  writings 
bear  witness,  which  as  they  were  produced- 
under  such  -circumstances,  give  indications 
of  their  tendency  even  where  they  are  not 
professedly  and  intentionally  polemical. 
But  as  his  natural  character  was  rather 
contemplative  than  argumentative,  the  con- 
troversial element  in  his  writings  is  not  so 
decidedly  indicated,  nor  developed  with  so 
definite  and  complete  an  outline,  as  in  the 
dialectic  Paul,  His  controversial  style  is 
more  that  of  simple  affirmation  :  from  the 
fulness  of  his  heart,  he  testifies  his  inmost 
conviction  of  the  basis  of  salvation,  and  he 
only  marks  occasionally,  and  points  out 
with  abhorrence,  the  opposite  of  these  con- 
victions, instead  of  entering  into  a  full  con- 
futation. This  especially  applies  to  his 
gospel.  Since  he  wrote  it  among  such 
churches  and  for  such,  among  whom  a 
multitude  of  traditions  respecting  the  his- 
tory of  Christ,  oral  and  written,  must  long 
have  been  jn  circulation,  as  Paul  had  as- 
sumed the  existence  of  the  memorials  in, 
the  exercise  of  his  ministry,  it  might  be  ex- 
pected that  in  his  historical  representations 
he  would  take  these  circumstances  into  ac^ 
count,  and  hence  designed  to  give  only  a 
selection  from  the  evangelical  history,  such 
a  one  appeared  to  him  best  fitted  to  repre- 
sent Jesus  as  the  Son  o{  God,  from  whom 
alone  men  could  receive  eternal  life, — to 
transfer  to  others  the  impression  which  the 
exhibition  of  his  life  had  made  upon  him- 
self, as  he  declares  at  the  close  of  his  gos- 
pel, where  he  says,  "and  many  other  signs 
truly. did  Jesus  in  the  presence  of  his  disci- 
ples, which  are  not  written  in  this  book. 
But  these  are  written  that  ye  might  believe 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God, 
and  that  believing  (by  the  virtue  of  this 
faith)  ye  might  have  life  (true,  divine,  eter- 
nal life)  through  his  name  (through  him  as 
the  Son  of  God) ;  xx.  30,  31.    '  John  ac. 


quoted  above,  KUt  /jtctgru;  x.<tt  JtS^AjKUM;  outoc  tf 
'Easa-o)  icu.Koi/j.iiTd.1. 


JOHN'S  GOSPEL. 


[Book  V. 


cordingly  made  exactly  this  selection  from 
the  evangelical  history,  in  order  to  lead 
men  to  this  faith,  to  aid,  strengthen,  and 
uphold  them  in  maintaining  it.  As,  in  the 
application  of  the  idea  of  faith  in  John  there 
were  various  shades  of  meaning,  all  these 
varieties  may  be  included  in  the  words 
"  that  ye  may  believe ;"  and  as  they  are 
all  embraced  in  the  apostle's  design,  those 
polemic  references  must  be  understood 
which  belong  to  the  maintenance  and  con- 
firmation of  that  faith.  And  the  delinea- 
tion of  the  life  of  Christ  in  its  unity,  as  it 
proceeded  from  the  heart  and  mind  of  John, 
must  of  itself  have  been  adapted  to  form  a 
barrier  against  all  those  tendencies  which 
disturbed  the  purity  of  Christianity.  But 
as  this  adaptation  did  not  assume  a  direct 
polemical  form,  owing  to  the  peculiarity 
of  John's  mind,  and  the  nature  of  the  work 
(that  of  simple  narrative),  it  cannot  be 
proved  that  he  had  in  his  eye  any  special 
controversies.  Even  those  which,  from 
his  peculiar  scene  of  labour,  we  might  con- 
sider as  most  probably  aimed  at,  cannot 
be  ascertained  from  the  gospel  itself  by 
any  fair  deduction  ;  as,  for  example,  the 
declaration  "  o  X070J  tfa^l  s^svsto,"  which 
occurs  in  the  introduction,  and  marks  the 
spirit  of  the  whole  historical  developement, 
as  describing  the  revelation  of  the  divine 
life  in  human  form,  is  peculiarly  suited  to 
form  a  refutation  of  the  Cerinthian  gnosis. 
But  there  is  no  indication  that  John  made 
this  refutation  a  leading  object  of  his  gos- 
pel. In  his  narrative  of  Christ's  baptism, 
he  might  have  had  a  strong  inducement  to 
bring  forward  this  controversy,  as  Cerin- 
thus  had  affixed  a  peculiar  interpretation 
on  this  event,  in  accordance  with  his  gene- 
ral scheme.  But  in  order  to  combat  Cerin- 
thus,  he  must  have  commenced  the  history 
of  Christ  at  an  earlier  period,  and  have 
adduced  those  marks  of  the  Divine,  which 
accompanied  the  birth  of  Christ.  So  also, 
though  the  manner  in  which  the  purely 
human  in  Christ  is  developed  throughout 
the  gospel  is  most  decidedly  opposed  to 
Docetism,  yet  we  can  find  in  it  no  trace  of 
a  designed  and  continuous  refutation  of 
that  heresy.  The  "  6  Xoyog  da^^  sysvsTo^' 
is  not  in  the  least  suited  for  this  purpose, 
for,  taken  by  itself,  it  may  be  fairly  under- 
stood in  the  docetic  sense,  that  the  Xoyoj 
itself  became  tfag^,  since  Docetism  consi- 
dered tfapg  only  as  the  apparent  sensuous 


guise  in  which  the  "Koyog  presented  itself  to 
eyes  of  flesh.  From  this  standing-point  it 
might  with  propriety  be  affirmed  that  the 
Xoyos  became  ffcgl,  or  presented  itself  in 
the  form  of  tfa^^.  And  in  what  John  says  of 
the  flowing  of  water  and  blood  from  Christ's 
side,  it  has  been  very  erroneously  attempted 
to  find  a  refutation  of  Docetism.  This  ar- 
gumentation cannot  affect  the  Docetse,  for 
they  would  be  as  ready  to  allow  that  the 
Roman  soldier  and  John  saw  the  blood  and 
water  flowing,  as  to  grant  that  Jesus  pre- 
sented himself  to  the  senses  of  men  in  his 
life  and  passion,  as  is  narrated  in  the  evan- 
gelical history.  They  only  denied  the  ob- 
jective reality  of  the  sensuous  perceptions, 
and  this  denial  would  apply  to  one  fact  as 
well  as  to  another.  But  John  mentions  it 
in  that  connexion  simply  as  a  sign  of  the 
reality  of  Christ's  death,  in  order  thereby 
to  establish  faith  in  the  reality  of  his  resur- 
rection from  the  dead. 

It  is  only  in  the  introduction  to  his  gos- 
pel that  John  appears  to  design  a  special 
reference  to  men  of  any  peculiar  mental 
tendency  ;  a  reference  to  those  who  busied 
themselves  with  speculations  respecting  the 
Logos  as  the  Mediator  between  the  hidden 
God  and  the  creation, — and  to  this  class 
those  now  belonged,  who,  after  they  had 
professed  Christianity,  threatened  to  adul- 
terate it  by  mingling  with  it  their  former 
speculations.  It  cannot  indeed  be  denied 
that  John,  independently  of  any  outward 
reference,  might  have  been  induced,  by  his 
Christian  consciousness  and  by  what  Christ 
had  declared  respecting  himself,  to  name 
him  simply  as  the  Logos.  As  Christ  re- 
presents his  word  or  words  (his  'Koyog,  his 
frijxaTa,  his  cpuvri)  as  the  word  of  God  him- 
self, that  whereby  alone  God  reveals  him- 
self to  men,  the  fountain  of  life,  the  word 
of  life ;  so  John  might  thereby  be  induced 
to  distinguish  him  as  the  word  which  is 
God,  (the  self  revealing  Divine  Being  sim- 
ply,) the  Word,  the  Source  of  life,  and  also 
the  reference  to  a  Word  of  God,  by  which 
God  already  in  the  Old  Testament*  had  re- 
vealed himself,  might  here  be  added,  to 
point  to  its  preparation  in  the  Old  Testa- 


*  See  the  remarks  of  Dr.  Lange  of  Jena  in  the 
"  Stvdieii  nnd  Kritiken,"  1830,  part  iii.  And  this 
interpretation  does  not  necessarily  depend  on  the 
forced  explanations  of  John's  introduction,  occa- 
sioned by  the  pecuhar  dogmatic  system  of  the 
inestimable  and  highly  esteemed  author. 


Book  V.] 


JOHN'S  FIRST  EPISTLE. 


237 


ment,  for  the  revelation  of  the  Divine  Be- 
ing in  Christ.  Meanwhile,  the  manner  in 
which  John  places  this  word  without  fur- 
ther definition  at  the  head  of  his  whole  re- 
presentation, makes  it  probable  that,  al- 
though he  was  perhaps  led  to  the  choice  of 
this  expression  from  within,  since  he  sought 
for  a  new  designation  for  a  new  idea,  yet 
he  connected  with  it  an  idea  already  exist- 
ing, and  the  train  of  thought  with  which  he 
opens  his  gospel  serves  to  establish  this 
opinion.  John  wished  to  lead  those  who 
busied  themselves  with  speculations  re- 
specting the  Logos  as  the  medium  of  all 
communicated  life  from  God  and  of  every 
relation  of  God,  the  central  point  of  all  the 
Theophanies — from  their  religious  idealism, 
to  a  religious  realism,  to  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  God  revealed  in  Christ — to  the 
consciousness  that  the  Logos,  as  the  divine 
fountain  of  life,  had  appropriated  human 
nature,  and  through  it  communicated  him- 
self as  the  fountain  of  all  true  life  and  light 
to  every  one  who  only  believed  in  this  his 
human  appearance.  Instead  of  wishing  to 
investigate  the  hidden  which  no  human 
mind  can  penetrate,  he  called  on  every  one 
to  contemplate  Him  who  had  revealed  him- 
self in  human  nature — to  believe  and  expe- 
rience, as  he  testified  that  he  had  seen  and 
experienced. 

In  the  circular  pastoral  letter,  which  is 
distinguished  as  the  first  of  his  catholic 
epistles,  the  apostle  presents  himself  to  us 
under  a  fatherly  relation  to  the  churches  of 
Lesser  Asia,  whose  concerns,  during  his 
residence  at  Ephesus,  he  regulated  with 
wakeful  anxiety.  Liicke*  has  justly  re- 
marked, that  the  hortatory  or  paracletical 
element  is  by  far  the  most  conspicuous  in 
it,  and  the  polemical  holds  a  very  subordi- 
nate place,  which  agrees  with  John's  pecu- 
liar style. 

This  epistle  contains  an  admonition  to 
the  churches,  to  preserve  the  original  faith 
steadfastly  and  truly  under  the  manifold 
temptations  which  threatened  them  both 
from  Jews  and  Gentiles,  as  well  as  from 
various  classes  of  false  teachers — and  an 
exhortation  to  a  course  of  life  correspond- 
ing to  their  faith, — with  a  warning  against 
a  formal  Christianity,  destitute  of  the  true 
Christian  spirit,  and  a  false  confidence 
grounded  upon  it.     When  we  think  of  the 


*  This  epistle  is  in  the  apostolic  sense  a  Koyot 


churches  in  Lesser  Asia,  in  the  transition 
from  the  Pauline  age  to  that  of  John,  as 
we  have  described  their  state  in  the  pre- 
ceding pages,  we  probably  shall  not  be 
able  (since  they  were  exposed  to  manifold 
diversified  conflicts  from  within  and  with- 
out, and  to  dangers  of  various  kinds)  to 
find  a  unity  in  the  hortatory  and  contro- 
versial  references  of  the  beginning,  nor  can 
we  point  out  such  a  unity  in  the  contents 
of  the  epistle  itself  without  a  forced  or  too 
subtle  an  ijiterpretation.  Many  passages 
may  appear  to  be  exhortations  to  steadfast- 
ness in  the  faith,  amidst  the  allurements  to 
unfaithfulness  or  apostacy  presented  by  the 
outward  enemies  of  the  church,  both  Jews 
and  Gentiles.  As  to  the  latter,  there  were 
reasons  for  such  exhortations,  as  the  Chris- 
tians were  still  closel}^  connected  by  so 
many  ties  to  the  Gentile  world  ;  new  mem- 
bers were  added  continually  to  the  Chris- 
tian communities  from  the  Gentiles,  whose 
faith  required  confirmation  ;  arid  since  the 
first  Neronian  persecution,*  individual  per- 
secutions were  constantly  repeated,  which 
were  dangei-ous  to  the  weak  in  faith.  Un- 
der the  same  head  may  be  classed  the 
exhortation  at  the  close  of  the  epistle, 
faithfully  to  preserve  the  knowledge  of  the 
true  God  revealed  through  Christ  as  the 
source  of  eternal  life,  and  to  keep  them- 
selves at  a  distance  from  idolatry.  As  it 
concerned  the  Jews,  the  churches  in  Lesser 
Asia  for  the  most  part  consisted  of  persons 
of  Gentile  descent,  but  those  who  were  for- 
merly proselytes  and  individual  Jews,  who 
were  mixed  with  them,  formed  a  point  of 
connexion,  by  which  the  Jews  could  exert 
an  influence  on  the  churches,  as  we  have 
remarked  in  the  Christian  communities  of 
the  Pauline  and  even  of  the  Ignatian  pe- 
riod. It  might  also  seem,  that  when  John 
combated  persons  who  refused  to  acknow- 
ledge Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  he  intended 
Jewish  adversaries  ;  but  a  closer  examina- 
tion will  suggest  several  objections  to  this 
view.  As  in  accordance  with  the  prophetic 
expressions  in  the  discourses  of  Christ  him- 
self, it  was  expected  that  a  special  revela- 
tion of  the  anti-christian  spirit  would  pre- 
cede the  triumph  of  the  kingdom  of  God, 
which  was  to  be  efl^ected  by  the  second 
coming  of  Christ,  so  John  recognised  as  a 


*  If  we  do  not  directly  admit  that  this  epistle 
was  written  in  the  last  part  of  the  Johanncan  pe- 
riod,  under  the  Emperor  Nerva. 


228 


JOHN'S  FIRST  EPISTLE. 


[Book  V. 


mark  of  this  approaching  crisis,  that  many 
organs  of  this  anti-christian  spirit  had 
already  made  their  appearance.  Now  this 
could  not  refer  to  Jewish  adversaries,  for 
these  from  the  very  first  were  never  want- 
ing. The  apostle  moreover  says  of  them, 
"  They  have  gone  out  from  our  midst,  but 
they  belonged  not  in  disposition  to  us ;  for 
had  they  belonged  in  disposition  to  us,  they 
would  have  remained  with  us  ;  but  by  their 
outward  separation  from  us,  it  became 
manifest  that  not  all  who  belonged  out- 
wardly to  us  belong  to  us  also  inwardly." 
This  may  indeed  be  understood  of  those 
who,  while  they  still  made  a  profession  of 
Christianity,  were  always  in  their  disposi- 
tion more  inclined  to  Judaism,  so  that  at 
last  they  openly  passed  over  to  it  and  be- 
came the  opponents  of  Christianity.  But 
such  frequent  conversions  or  apostacies  to 
Judaism  in  the  Asiatic  churches  of  this  pe- 
riod were  by  no  means  probable.  It  is 
more  natural  to  think  of  those  members  of 
Christian  communities,  who  had  fostered  in 
their  bosoms  heretical  tendencies  foreign  to 
Christianity,  which  must  have  at  last  re- 
sulted in  their  open  separation  from  them. 
With  justice,  John  says  of  a  time  like  this, 
in  which  churches  were  formed  out  of  va- 
rious mental  elements  not  all  in  an  equal 
measure  attracted  and  penetrated  by  Chris- 
tianity, that  whatever  portion  was  truly 
animated  by  the  Christian  spirit,  must  be 
separated  by  a  refining  process  jiroceeding 
from  the  life  of  the  Chuixh  itself,  from 
what  was  only  superficially  affected  by 
Christianity,  and  wore  the  mere  semblance 
of  it.  Besides  the  manner  in  which  the 
apostle  exhorts  believers  to  hold  fast  the 
doctrine  announced  to  them  from  the  be- 
ginning— his  saying  to  them  that  they  re- 
quired no  farther  instruction  to  put  them  on 
their  guard  against  the  spread  of  those 
errors — that  they  need  only  to  be  referred 
to  the  anointing  of  the  Holy  Spirit  already 
received,  to  their  indwelling  Christian  con- 
sciousness (ii.  22),  all  this  rather  imports 
an  opposition  to  false  teachers,  rather  than 
to  decided  adversaries  of  the  gospel,  who 
could  not  be  so  dangerous  to  believers. 

Although  John  describes  his  opponents 
as  those  who  did  not  acknowledge  Jesus  as 
the  Messiah,  yet,  according  to  the  remarks 
that  we  just  made,  this  cannot  be  under- 
stood of  decided  unbelieving  opponents  of 
the  Messianic  dignity  of  Jesus.     And  we 


must  explain  this  shorter  description  of  his 
opponents  by  the  longer,  according  to 
which  they  are  represented  as  those  who 
would  not  acknowledge  Jesus  Christ  as 
having  appeared  hi  the  flesh,  or  Jesus  as 
the  Messiah  appearing  in  the  flesh.  There- 
fore, from  their  Docetic  standing-point  they 
would  not  receive  the  annunciation  of  a 
Messiah  appearing  in  the  flesh  ;  the  reality 
of  the  life,  actions  and  sufferings  of  Christ 
in  the  form  of  earthly  human  nature.* 
And  since  John  could  not  separate  the  di- 
vine and  the  human  in  the  person  and  life 
of  the  Redeemer  from  one  another,  for 
both  had  revealed  themselves  to  him  as  in- 
separable in  the  unity  of  the  appearance  of 
the  Son  of  God, — it  appeared  to  him,  that 
whoever  did  not  acknowledge  Jesus  as  the 
Son  of  God  in  the  whole  unity  and  com- 
pleteness of  his  divine  and  human  life,  did 
not  truly  believe  in  Jesus  as  the  Son  of 
God,  the  Messiah  ;  and  since  only  thus  the 
eternal  divine  source  of  life  revealed  itself 
to  men,  and  a  way  to  communion  with 
God  was  opened  for  all, — it  appeared  to 
him  that  whoever  denied  the  reality  of  the 
revelation  of  the  divine  Logos  in  the  flesh, 
denied  the  Son  of  God  himself  and  the 
Father  also.  This  was  the  real  anti- 
christian  spirit  of  falsehood,  which,  though 
connecting  itself  in  appearance  with  the 
Christian  profession,  in  fact  threatened  to 
destroy  faith  in  the  Son,  and  in  the  Father 
as  revealed  in  the  Son.  In  a  passage  which 
is  rather  practical  than  controversial,  where 
John,  for  the  purpose  of  exhortation,  lays 
down  the  position  that  faith  in  Jesus  as  the 
Son  of  God  arms  with  power  for  all  con- 
flicts with  the  world,  he  adds,  "Jesus  is  he 
who  has  revealed  himself  as  the  Messiah 
by  waterj"  and  by  blood, — by  means  of  the 


*  If  it  be  objected,  as  by  Lange  in  his  "  Beitrage 
zur  altesic  Kirchengescfiichte,"  Leipzig  1828,  vol. 
i.  p.  121,  that  if  John  designed  the  confutation  of 
Docetism,  he  would  have  expressed  himself  in 
some  precise  terms,  such  as  we  find  in  the  Epis- 
ties  of  Ignatius ;  the  answer  is,  that  it  is  John's 
favourite  method  not  to  mark  the  object  of  con- 
troversy more  distinctly  and  fully. 

t  As  the  "  i^x^!Td-a.i  Ji  ctlfjLcLTOi"  relates  to  Jesus 
subjectively,  as  the  person  who  had  revealed  him- 
self by  his  own  sufferings,  so  also  the  second 
clause,  "6g;^85-S-ii  S^l  v^atoc:"  is  most  naturally  re- 
ferred to  something  affecting  Jesus  personally, 
and,  therefore,  not  to  the  baptism  instituted  by 
him.  This  reason  is  not  perfectly  decisive,  for,  if 
the  sufferings  of  Christ  are  not  contemplated  in 
their  subjective  aspect,  (that  is  simply  in  relation 


Book  V.] 


JOHN'S  FIRST  EPISTLE. 


baptism  received  by  him,*  and  by  means  i 
of  his  redeeming  sufferings  and  that  which  | 
the  Spirit  of  God,  whose  witness  is  infalli-  ! 
ble,  has  effected  and  still  effects,  by  him,  i 
testifies  the  same.  The  threefold  vvitness 
of  the  water,  the  blood,  and  the  spirit,  thus 
unite  to  verify  the  same." 

It  is  possible  that  John  in  this  passage 
collected  such  marks  as  appeared  to  him 
most  striking,  which  distinguished  Jesus  as 
the  Son  of  God,  without  any  special  con- 
troversial reference.  But  it  is  also  possible 
that  he  connected  a  polemical  with  a  pa- 
rsenetical  design,  and  therefoi-e  was  induced 
to  select  exactly  these  marks ;  and  in  this 
case  it  would  be  certainly  natural  to  sup- 
pose an  intended  contradiction  of  the  Co- 
rinthian view  which  separated  the  Christ 
who  appeared  at  the  Baptism  from  the  cru- 
cified Jesus. 

This  epistle  then  contains  an  impressive 


to  Jesus  as  the  sufferer,)  but  rather  on  their  ob- 
jective aspect,  as  redeeming-  suffering;;!,  as  that  by 
which  Christ  effected  the  salvation  of  mankind, 
then  the  coming  by  water  miglit  be  taken  to  de- 
note the  institution  of  baptism,  which  is  necessa- 
rily required  for  completing  the  redeeming  work 
of  Christ.  But  what  Lucke  in  his  Commentary, 
2d  ed.  p.  288,  has  urged  against  the  view  I  Iiave 
taken,  does  not  appear  pertinent.  The  Messiah 
(he  thinks)  was  to  be  inducted  to  his  office  by  a 
solemn  inauguration.  This  was  performed  through 
John  as  the  appointed  prophet  by  means  of  the 
Messianic  baptism.  Hence  the  coming  by  water 
is  placed  first,  by  which  Jesus  at  first  revealed 
himself  as  the  Messiah,  and  from  which  his  whole 
public  Messianic  ministry  dates  its  commence- 
ment. This  must  have  been  peculiarly  important 
in  John's  estimation,  who  was  first  led  to  Christ 
by  the  testimony  of  the  baptist.  On  the  contrary, 
I  believe  that  if  he  had  meant  the  baptism  insti- 
tuted by  Christ,  he  would  place  first  the  coming 
by  blood,  for  I  cannot  agree  with  what  Liicke 
says  in  p.  291.  "  But  because  though  CJ'ag  from 
the  beginning  denotes  purification,  yet  tlie  full 
purification  lies  in  the  uifxa.,  John  emphatically 
adds,  "  cux.  iv  rm  vSctTt  fxcvov  (with  which  alone 
John  the  Baptist  appeared,  and  therefore  was  not 
the  Messiah,  Matt.  iii.  14)  axx'  h  tZ  iiSn.'xt  jca/  t« 
a.l/x'XTi."  The  Baptism  of  Christ  was  in  the  apos- 
tle's view  altogether  different  from  that  of  John. 
With  it  was  connected  perfect  purification.  Water- 
baptism  and  Spirit-baptism  cannot  here  be  sepa- 
rated from  one  another,  and  this  Christian  baptism 
necessarily  presupposes  the  redeeming  sufferings 
of  Christ.  See  Ephes.  v.  25,  26.  As  far  as  Cerin- 
thus  acknowledged  the  Messiah  only  as  ix^m  iv 
TO  vS'n.Ti,  not  as  ixS^cv  Iv  tu  difji^Ti,  this  would 
agree  with  a  designed  opposition  to  his  doctrine. 

*  On  account  of  the  importance  which  is  attri. 
buted  to  it  in  the  Gospel  of  John,  in  reference  to 
the  unveiling  of  the  Messiah's  dignity  and  the 
hidden  glory  of  Jesus. 


appeal  against  the  practical  adulterations  of 
Christianity.  The  apostle  declares  that 
only  he  who  practised  righteousness  was 
born  of  God, — that  a  life  in  communion 
with  Christ  and  a  life  of  sin  are  irrecon- 
cilable,— that  whoever  lived  in  sin  was  far 
from  knowing  him;  whoever  committed  sin 
transgressed  also  the  law,  and  sin  was  pe- 
culiarly a  transgression  of  the  law.  From 
this  contrast,  it  might  be  inferred  that  the 
false  Gnosis  here  combated  had  produced 
and  confirmed  practical  errors;  and  we" 
may  believe  that  we  here  find  traces  of  the 
false  liberalism  and  antinomianism  of  the 
later  Gnosis,  such  as  we  have  pointed  out 
above,  p.  220,  in  many  appearances  of  this 
age.  In  this  case  his  opponents  would  be 
only  those  who  opposed  the  ethical  under 
the  form  of  law,  and  said,  What  you  call 
sin  appears  so  only  to  those  who  are  still 
enthralled  in  legal  bondage  ;  we  must  give 
proof  of  our  being  free  from  the  law  by  not 
regarding  such  commands.  But  if  John 
had  been  called  to  oppose  such  a  gross  an- 
tinomianism, he  would  have  had  to  main- 
tain against  it  the  dignity  and  holiness  of 
the  law,  and  his  line  of  argument  would 
have  been  in  a  very  different  direction,  in- 
deed quite  the  reverse.  He  must  have  said, 
Whoever  transgresses  the  law,  commits  sin, 
and  the  transgression  of  the  law  is  sin. 
Also  from  his  saying  "  whoever  sinneth, 
knoweth  not  Christ,"  it  by  no  means  fol- 
lows that  those  against  whom  he  is  writing, 
taught  a  Gnosis  of  immoral  tendency.  Nor 
is  it  evident  that  the  practical  errors  which 
he  combated  proceeded  in  general  from  er- 
roneous speculation ;  nothing  more  was 
needed  for  their  production  than  that  un- 
christian tendency  which  would  naturally 
spring  up  in  Christian  communities,  after 
they  had  been  for  some  time  established,  in 
which  Christianity  had  passed  from  parents 
to  children,  and  become  a  matter  of  cus- 
tom, and  thus  easily  gave  birth  to  reliance 
on  the  opifs  operation  of  faith  and  of  out- 
ward profession,  instead  of  viewing  faith 
as  an  animafing  pri?icip/c  of  the  i?ncard 
life.  In  opposition  to  such  a  tendency, 
which  disowned  the  claims  of  Christianity 
on  the  whole  of  life,  and  palliated  immo- 
rality, the  apostle  says,  "  Whoever  lives  in 
sin,  whatever  bo  his  |)retensions,  is  fiir  from 
knowing  Jesus  Christ ;  all  sin  is  a  trans- 
gression of  the  divine  law,  which  in  its 
whole  extent  is  sacred  to  the  Christian." 


230 


JOHN'S  THIRD  EPISTLE. 


[Book  V. 


The  view  of  the  false  teachers  to  which 
we  have  been  led  by  the  First  Epistle  of 
John,*  is  confirmed  by  the  second,  ad- 
dressed to  a  Christian  female  in  those  parts, 
named  Cyria,  and  her  children  ;  for  in  this 
we  find  similar  warnings  against  false 
teachers  who  would  not  acknowledge  the 
appearance  of  Jesus  Christ  in  human  na- 
ture.f  He  speaks  of  their  efforts  as  forming 
a  new  feature  of  the  times,  and  describes 
them  not  as  the  adversaries  of  Christianity 
in  general,  but  as  persons  who  had  aposta- 


*  It  is  remarkable  that  the  author  of  the  two 
last  epistles  of  John  styles  himself  a  presbyter,  a 
term  which  is  not  suited  to  designate  an  apostle,  and 
particularly  since  at  that  time,  and  in  that  region, 
a  person  was  living  who  was  usually  distinguish- 
ed by  the  name  of  the  presbyter  John.  Such  was 
the  presbyter  John  to  whom  Papias  appeals,  Euseb. 
iii.  29,  and  we  might  be  tempted  to  attribute  this 
epistle  to  him.  He  appears  to  have  been  com- 
monly  distinguished  by  the  name  of  the  presbyter 
(which  is  here  a  title  of  office)  John  from  the 
apostle  John,  and  hence  the  word  n-gsr/Sursgac  was 
wont  to  be  placed  before  the  name  John.  It  is 
indeed  improbable  that,  during  the  lifetime  of  the 
apostle,  another  could  have  attained  such  high  re- 
pute  among  the  churches,  as  the  epistle  leads  us 
to  suppose  of  its  author ;  but  it  might  have  been 
written  after  the  apostle's  deatli,  for  that  the  pres- 
byter survived  him  may  be  inferred,  as  Credner 
justly  remarks,  from  the  circumstance  that  Papias, 
in  speaking  of  what  John  and  the  other  apostles 
had  said,  uses  the  word  un-iv,  but  when  speaking 
of  the  two  individuals  who  had  not  heard  Christ 
himself,  Aristion  and  the  presbyter  John,  he  says 
>.iycv7iv.  On  the  other  hand,  we  are  obliged  to 
acknowledge,  that  the  great  harmony  of  colour- 
ing, tone,  and  style,  between  the  first  epistle  and 
the  two  others,  favours  the  opinion  of  their  being 
written  by  the  same  person  ;  nor  can  this  be  coun- 
terbalanced by  the  instances  of  single  expressions 
that  do  not  occur  elsewhere  in  John's  writings. 
It  is  difficult  to  imagine  how  that  presbytei',  espe- 
cially if  we  are  to  consider  tlie  Apocalypse  as  his 
work,  could  adopt  a  style  so  foreign  to  himself,  in 
so  slavish  a  manner,  during  the  latter  years  of  his 
life.  As  to  the  name  of  presbyter  which  John  here 
assumes,  we  can  hardly  think  it  of  consequence 
that  Papias  distinguishes  the  apostles  by  the  term 
wg«cry2uTsgo;,  for  it  is  evident  that  he  so  calls  them 
only  in  relation  to  their  contemporaries  as  belong, 
ing  to  a  still  earlier  period,  and  it  cannot  hence  be 
inferred  that  John  gave  himself  that  title.  But 
since  there  is  no  original  document  extant,  in 
which  John  marks  his  relation  to  the  church,  we 
cannot  pronounce  an  opinion  that  he  was  never 
known  by  such  an  epithet. 

+  It  appears  to  me  most  natural  to  explain  the 
present  in  2  .John  7,  fg;^i^svoii  instead  of  f/,«>.t;3-oTct, 
by  supposing  that  John  used  this  form  owing  to 
the  impression  on  his  mind  that  these  false  teach- 
ers not  only  refused  to  acknowledge  the  historical 
manifestation  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  also  denied  the 
possibility,  in  general,  of  a  Messiah's  appearing  in 
the  flesh. 


tized  from  the  original  doctrine  of  Christ. 
He  solemnly  protests  against  all  falsifiers 
of  that  doctrine,  enjoins  on  the  faithful  not 
to  receive  them  into  their  houses,  nor  to 
salute  them  as  Christian  brethren.* 

The  Third  Epistle  of  John,  which  is  ad- 
dressed to  an  influential  person,  probably 
an  overseer  in  one  of  the  churches,  named 
Gaius,  also  contains  several  important  hints 
respecting  the  existing  state  of  the  church. 
This  Gaius  had  distinguished  himself  by 
the  active  love  with  which  he  had  received 
the  messengers  of  the  faith,  who  had  come 
from  foreign  parts  and  visited  his  church. 
But  in  the  same  Christian  community  there 
was  a  domineering  individual,  Diotrephes, 
who  had  shown  a  very  dififerent  disposition 
towards  these  missionaries.  He  not  only 
was  not  ready  to  give  them  a  hospitable 
reception,  but  wished  to  prevent  others 
from  doing  so,  and  even  threatened  to  ex- 
clude them  from  church-communion.  He 
refused  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of 
the  apostle,  and  even  indulged  in  malicious 
invectives  against  him.  It  is  evident,  that 
if  a  member  of  a  Christian  community 
ventured  to  conduct  himself  in  such  a  man- 
ner towards  an  apostle,  he  must  have  had 
personal  reasons  for  not  treating  him  with 
that  reverence  which  was  shown  to  an 
apostle  by  all  believers ;  just  as  those  who 
were  hostile  to  Paul  had  special  grounds 
for  disputing  his  apostolic  authority.f     It 


*  Although  we  may  recognise  in  the  form  of 
this  expression  a  natural  characteristic  of  John,  a 
vehemence  of  affection  as  strong  in  its  antipathies 
as  in  its  attachments,  yet  its  harshness  is  much 
softened  by  a  reference  to  the  circumstances  under 
which  he  was  writing.  He  certainly  wished  only 
to  express,  in  the  strongest  terms,  that  every  ap- 
pearance  should  be  avoided  of  acknowledging 
these  persons  as  Christian  brethren.  Only  on 
this  account  he  says,  that  they  are  not  to  be  sa- 
luted, which,  in  the  literal  sense,  he  would  not 
have  said  even  in  reference  to  heathens.  We 
must  restrict  it  to  the  peculiar  sense  of  Christian 
salutation,  which  was  not  a  mere  formality,  but 
a  token  of  Christian  brotherhood.  But  to  pre- 
serve  the  purity  of  Christianity  and  the  welfare 
of  the  Christian  church,  it  was  very  important  to 
exclude  from  the  very  beginning  the  reception  of 
these  persons  (who,  by  their  arbitrary  speculations 
and  fabrications,  threatened  to  destroy  the  grounds 
of  the  Christian  faith)  into  the  churches,  wjiich 
were  not  sufficiently  armed  against  tlieir  arts,  and 
into  which  they  had  various  methods  of  insinu- 
ating themselves. 

tit  may  appear  strange  that  Paul,  the  most  in- 
fluential of  the  apostles,  is  not  mentioned  in  the 
Apocalypse,  and  that  in  xxi.  14,  only  twelve  apos- 
tles are  named  as  forming  the  foundation  of  the 


Book  V.] 


TRADITIONS  RESPECTING  JOHN. 


281 


is  also  very  improbable,  that  this  unfriendly 
behaviour  towards  the  missionaries,  could 
have  arisen  at  this  period  from  an  aversion 
to  their  calling  simply  as  such.  We  must 
rather  attempt  to  discover  a  special  ground 
of  dislike  to  these  individual  missionaries. 
Nor  is  it  unnatural  to  suppose  that  there 
was  one  common  ground  for  his  hostility 
both  to  the  apostle  and  the  missionaries. 
Now  let  us  suppose  that  the  latter  were  of 
Jewish  descent.  It  is  said  to  their  praise, 
that  they  went  out  to  publish  the  gospel, 
without  taking  any  thing  of  the  heathen  for 
their  maintenance.  If  they  were  Jewish 
missionaries  this  would  serve  as  a  praise- 
worthy distinction,  for  from  what  Paul  has 
said  respecting  this  class  of  persons,  we 
know  that  many  of  them  abused  the  right 
of  the  publishers  of  the  gospel  to  be  main- 
tained by  those  for  whose  salvation  they 
laboured.  Now,  as  there  existed  in  the 
Gentile  churches  an  ultra-pauline  party,  of 
a  violent,  one-sided,  anti-jewish  tendency, 
and  the  forerunner  of  Marcion,  Diotrephes 
possibly  stood  at  the  head  of  such  a  body, 
and  his  hostile  conduct  towards  these  mis- 
sionaries, as  well  as  towards  the  apostle 
John,  who  on  his  arrival  in  Lesser  Asia 
had  sought  to  reconcile  the  differences  that 
were  on  the  point  of  breaking  out,  by  the 
harmonizing  influence  of  the  Christian 
spirit — may  be  traced  to  the  same  source. 
Thus  at  a  later  period,  Marcion  attached 
himself  to  Paul  alone,  and  paid  no  deference 
to  the  authority  of  John. 

Various  traditions  respecting  the  labours 
of  John  in  these  regions,  which  he  con- 
tinued to  a  very  advanced  age,  perfectly 
agree  with  that  image  of  fatherly  superin- 
tendence presented  to  us  in  these  epistles. 
In  a  narrative  attested  by  Clemens  Alexan- 
drinus,*  we  see  how  he  visited  the  Chris- 


New  Jerusalem.  Though  the  reference  to  the 
twelve  tribes  might  induce  the  author,  whose 
imagery  was  borrowed  from  the  Old  Testament, 
to  mention  only  the  original  number  of  the  apos- 
tles, still  tlie  apparent  undervaluation  of  tlie  great 
apostle  of  the  Gentiles  whicli  this  seems  to  imply, 
must  excite  our  surprise.  And  we  are  ready  to 
ask,  whether  the  author  did  not  belong  to  tliose 
who  did  not  place  Paul  exactly  on  a  level  with  the 
older  apostles,  and  did  not  sufficiently  acknowledge 
his  fitness  for  the  apostolic  work,  though  we  must 
at  the  same  time  perceive  how  very  free  he  was 
from  the  Judaism  that  would  easily  ally  itself  with 
such  a  tendency,  and  how  deeply  he  was  imbued 
with  the  Christian  universalism  of  John's  school 
of  theology. 

*  Quis  dives  salv.  c.  42. 


tians  in  the  parts  round  about  Ephesus, 
organized  the  churches,  and  provided  for  the 
appointment  of  the  most  competent  persons 
to  fill  the  various  church-oflices.  On  one 
of  these  occasions,  he  noticed  a  young  man 
who  promised  to  be  of  much  service  in  the 
cause  of  the  gospel.  He  commended  him 
to  one  of  the  overseers  as  a  valuable  trust 
committed  to  him  by  the  Lord.  The  over- 
seer carefully  watched  him  till  he  received 
baptism.  But  he  placed  too  much  reliance 
on  baptismal  grace.  He  left  him  to  him- 
self, and  tlie  youth,  deprived  of  his  faithful 
protection,  and  seduced  by  evil  associates, 
fell  deeper  into  corruption,  and  at  last  be- 
came captain  of  a  band  of  robbers.  Some 
years  after,  when  John  revisited  that  church, 
he  was  informed  to  his  great  sorrow  of  the 
woful  change  that  had  taken  place  in  the 
youth  of  whom  he  had  entertained  such 
hopes.  Nothing  could  keep  him  back  from 
hastening  to  the  retreat  of  the  robbers.  He 
suffered  himself  to  be  seized  and  taken  into 
their  captain's  presence  ;  but  he  could  not 
sustain  the  sight  of  the  apostle ;  John's  vene- 
rable appearance  brought  back  the  recollec- 
tion of  what  he  had  experienced  in  earlier 
days,  and  awakened  his  conscience.  He  fled 
away  in  consternation  ;  but  the  venerable 
man,  full  of  paternal  love,  and  exerting  him- 
self beyond  his  strength,  ran  after  him. 
He  called  upon  him  to  take  courage,  and 
announced  to  him  the  forgiveness  of  sins 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  By  his  fatherly 
guidance  he  succeeded  in  rescuing  his  soul, 
and  formed  him  into  a  worthy  member  of 
the  Christian  community.*  Another  tra- 
dition preserved  by  Jeromef  bears  also  the 


*  Clemens  gives  this  narrative,  which  breathes 
the  spirit  of  John,  as  a  veritable  historical  tradi- 
tion,  and  no  legend,  /uvdo^^^  \s>of,  not  a  /uuBc;  in 
the  sense  of  a  fable,  a  legend;  skcvo-ov  /xZ^cr,  ou 

fAv-'^iv,   dXXa   ovra  \cyov -rrA^^tS.fxiv'jt  Kit 

fxvx/A)!  7ri^v\tiyiUivoy.  See  Segaar  on  the  passage. 
Such  late  traditions  arc  indeed  not  sufficient  pledges 
to  autlienlicate  a  narrative  as  true  in  ail  its  parts. 
It  is  possible  that  such  a  narrative  might  be  so 
consjtructed,  partly  to  check  the  injurious  confi- 
dence in  the  magical  effijcts  of  baptism,  and  to 
set  in  a  clear  light  the  truth,  that  every  one  after 
obtaining  baptism  needed  so  much  the  greater 
watchfulness  over  himself — and  partly  to  counter- 
work the  opinion  of  the  Rigorists  on  the  nature  of 
Repentance,  that  whoever  violated  the  baptismal 
covenant  by  peccata  mcrtalia,  could  not  again  re- 
ceive forgiveness  of  sins.  But  at  all  events,  this 
narrative,  which  is  free  from  all  colouring  of  the 
miraculous,  gives  (he  impression  of  a  matter  of 
fact  lying  at  its  basis. 

t  Comment,  in  Ep.  ad  Galat.  c.  vi. 


232 


INP'LUENCE  OF  JOHN'S  LABOURS. 


[Book  V. 


impress  of  the  apostle's  spirit.  When  the 
venerable  John  could  no  longer  walk  to  the 
meetings  of  the  church,  but  was  borne 
thither  by  his  disciples,  he  always  uttered 
the  same  address  to  the  church ;  he  re- 
minded them  of  that  one  commandment 
which  he  had  received  from  Christ  himself 
as  comprising  all  the  rest,  and  forming  the 
distinction  of  the  New  Covenant,  "  My 
children,  love  one  another T  And  when 
asked  why  he  always  repeated  the  same 
thing,  he  replied,  "That  if  this  one  thing 
were  attained,  it  would  be  enough." 

Thus  the  aged  apostle  laboured  to  the 
close  of  the  first  century ;  and  the  spirit 
that  ditfused  itself  from  the  churches  of  Les- 
ser Asia  during  the  first  half  of  the  second 
century,  testifies  of  his  protracted  ministry 
in  those  regions.  The  Lord  made  use  of 
his  instrumentality  to  prevent  the  founda- 
tion of  the  faith  here  laid  by  the  apostle 
Paul  from  being  buried  under  a  heap  of 
heterogeneous  speculations — and  to  pre- 
serve the  unity  of  the  Christian  faith  and 
life  from  being  distracted  by  various  extra- 
vagances ;  that  the  glorious  body  of  the 
Christian  church  might  not  be  divided  into 
a  multitude  of  sects  and  schools,  and  es- 
pecially that  a  schism  might  not  be  pro- 
duced by  the  increasing  opposition  of  the 
Judaizing  and  Hellenistic  elements.  His 
peculiar  tendency,  which  served  to  exhibit 
rather  the  fulness  and  depth  of  a  heart 
filled  with  the  spirit  of  Christ,  than  the 
sharpness  and  distinctness  of  doctrinal 
ideas,  was  adapted,  while  it  rejected  with 
ardent   love  whatever   threatened   to   en- 


danger the  foundation  of  faith  in  the  Son  of 
God,  to  conciliate  subordinate  differences, 
and  to  promote  the  formation  of  a  universal 
Chi'istian  communion  out  of  heterogeneous 
elements.  The  extent  of  his  influence  is 
marked  by  the  simple  practical  spirit,  the 
spirit  of  zealous  love  to  the  Lord,  and  the 
spirit  of  Christian  fidelity  in  firmly  adhering 
to  the  original  apostolic  traditions,  even 
though  not  perfectly  understood,  which 
distinguished  the  Christian  teachers  of 
Lesser  Asia  in  their  conflict  with  the 
Gnosticism  which  was  then  beginning  to 
prevail. 

With  John  the  apostolic  age  of  the 
church  naturally  closes.  The  doctrine  of 
the  gospel  which  by  him  had  been  still  ex- 
hibited in  its  original  purity  was  now  ex- 
posed, without  the  support  of  apostolic  au- 
thority, to  a  conflict  with  a  host  of  op- 
ponents, some  of  whom  had  already  made 
their  appearance ;  the  Church  was  hence- 
forth left  to  form  itself  to  maturity  without 
any  visible  human  guidance,  but  under  the 
invisible  protection  of  the  Lord:  and  finally, 
after  a  full  and  clear  developement  of  oppos- 
ing influences,  it  was  destined  to  attain  the 
higher  and  conscious  unity  which  distin- 
guished the  spirit  of  the  apostle  John. 

We  wish  now  to  contemplate  more 
closely  the  developement  of  the  Christian 
doctrine  in  its  original  form,  and  to  observe 
how  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  exhibited  itself 
in  the  manifoldness  of  the  natural  varieties 
animated  by  that  Spirit,  and  in  the  various 
modes  of  conception  which  proceeded  from 
those  varieties. 


Chap.  I.] 


THE  PAULINE  DOCTRINE. 


BOOK  VI. 

THE  APOSTOLIC  DOCTRINE. 


The  doctrine  of  Christ  was  not  given 
as  a  rigid  dead  letter,  in  one  determinate 
form  of  human  character,  but  it  was  an- 
nounced as  the  word  of  spirit  and  of  life 
with  a  living  flexibility  and  variety,  by 
men  enlightened  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  who 
received  and  appropriated  it  in  a  living 
manner,  in  accordance  with  their  various 
constitutional  qualities,  and  the  difference 
of  their  course  of  life  and  education.  This 
difference  served  to  manifest  the  living  unity, 
the  riches  and  the  depth  of  the  Christian 
spirit  in  the  manifoldness  of  the  forms  of 
conception,  which  unintentionally  illus- 
trated each  other  and  supplied  their  mutual 
deficiencies.  Christianity,  indeed,  was  de- 
signed and  adapted  to  appropriate  and 
elevate  the  various  tendencies  of  human 
character,  to  blend  them  by  means  of  a 
higher  unity,  and,  agreeably  to  the  design 
of  the  peculiar  fundamental  tendencies  of 
human  nature,  to  operate  through  them  for 
the  realization  of  the  ideal  of  Man,  and  the 
exhibition  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the 
human  race  through  all  ages. 

In  the  developement  of  the  original 
Christian  doctrine,  we  can  distinguish  three 
leading  tendencies,  the  Pauline,  the  Ja- 
cobean (between  which  the  Petrine  forms 
an  intermediate  link),  and  the  Johannean.* 
We  wish  first  to  review  the  Pauline  form 
of  doctrine,  since  in  this  we  find  the  fullest 


and  most  complete  developement  of  Chris- 
tian truth,  which  will  best  serve  as  the 
basis  of  comparision  in  tracing  the  leading 
tendencies  of^  the  other  apostles. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  PAULINE  DOCTRINE. 


*  Dr.  Nitzsch,  in  reference  to  the  various  forms 
of  apostolic  doctrine,  admirably  remarks, — "  To 
disown  them  in  favour  of  a  one-sided  doarmatism, 
is  to  abandon  that  completeness  and  solidity  which 
these  modes  of  contemplatinsr  the  Christian  faith 
impart,  while  they  reciprocally  complete  one  an- 
other; it  is  to  slight  that  by  which  scripture  truth 
maintains  its  elevation  above  all  conflicting  sys- 
tems."—See  ''Die  Theolngische  Zeitschrift"  edited 
by  Schleiermacher,  De  Welte,  and  LOcke.  1822, 
part  3,  p.  68. 

30 


In  order  to  develope  from  its  first  prin- 
ciples the  peculiar  system  of  this  apostle, 
we  must  take  into  consideration  the  pecu- 
liar qualities  of  his  ardent  and  profound 
mind — his  peculiar  education,  how  he  was 
formed  in  the  Pharisaic  schools  to  a  dialec- 
tic and  systematic  developement  of  his  ac- 
quirements— the  peculiar  manner  in  which 
he  was  led  from  the  most  rigorous  Judaism 
to  faith  in  the  gospel,  by  a  powerful  im- 
pression on  his  soul  which  formed  a  grand 
crisis  in  his  history.  VVe  must  recollect 
the  peculiarity  of  his  sphere  of  action  as 
an  apostle,  in  which  he  had  to  oppose  an 
adulteration  of  Christianity  arising  from  a 
mixture  of  those  views  which  he  himself 
had  held  before  his  conversion.  In  refer- 
ence to  the  sources  from  which  he  derived 
his  knowledge  of  the  Christian  doctrine, 
we  must  also  bear  in  mind  what  he  says 
respecting  his  independence  and  separate 
standing  as  a  teacher  of  the  gospel.  There 
is  no  doubt,  for  he  occasionally  alludes  to 
it,  that  he  had  met  with  a  traditionary  re- 
cord of  the  sayings,  actions,  and  precepts 
of  Christ,  and  these  formed  the  materials 
for  the  developement  of  his  Christian  know- 
ledge  (p.  66) ;  but  the  Spirit  promised  by 
Christ  to  his  disciples,  who  was  to  disclose 
to  them  the  whole  meaning  and  extent  of 
the  truth  announced  by  him,  enlightened 


234 


THE  PAULINE  DOCTRINE. 


[Book  VI. 


Paul  in  an  independent  manner,  so  as  to 
develope  the  truths  of  which  the  germ  was 
contained  in  those  traditions,  and  form 
them  into  one  whole  with  the  earlier  di- 
vine revelations,  and  with  the  truths  im- 
planted in  the  original  constitution  of  man 
as  a  religious  being.  Those  who  blamed 
him  for  blending  foreign  Jewish  elements 
with  Christianity,  entirely  misconceived  the 
views  of  that  apostle,  who  most  clearly 
apprehended  and  most  fully  developed  the 
points  of  opposition  between  Judaism  and 
Christianity.  Nor  does  it  in  the  least 
justify  their  censures  that  he  made  use  of 
certain  Jewish  elements,  which  contained 
nothiijg  at  variance  with  Christianity,  but 
rather  served  as  the  groundwork  of  the 
new  dispensation.  A  comparison  of  the 
Pauline  leading  ideas  with  the  words  of 
Christ  as  reported  by  Matthew  and  Luke, 
proves  that  the  germs  of  the  former  are 
contained  in  the  latter. 

That  which  constituted  the  preparative 
standing-point  for  Paul's  whole  Christian 
life,  and  determined  his  transition  from 
Judaism  to  Christianity,  laid  also  the  foun- 
dation for  the  peculiar  form  in  which  the 
latter  was  received  and  intellectually  ap- 
prehended by  him.  Here  we  find  the  na- 
tural central-point,  from  which  we  proceed 
in  the  developement  of  his  doctrine.  The 
ideas  ,of  vo(xoff  and  Sixociodwri  form  the  con- 
nexion as  well  as  the  opposition  of  his 
earlier  and  later  standing-point.  The  term 
Sixaio(fvvy]  in  the  Old  Testament  sense,  de- 
signates the  theocratic  way  of  thinking  and 
life,  and  also  that  unrestricted  theocratic 
right  of  citizenship  which  entitled  to  a  par- 
ticipation in  the  temporal  goods  of  the 
community,  and  to  eternal  felicity.  Ac- 
cording to  his  former  views,  Paul  believed 
that  he  had  acquired  a  title  to  the  epithet 
of  Siycaiog  by  the  strict  observance  of  the 
law ;  as,  in  truth,  the  Pharisees,  to  whom 
he  belonged,  placed  their  confidence  and 
indulged  their  pride  in  that  observance, 
while  they  guarded  against  the  violation  of 
the  law  by  a  variety  of  prohibitions.  He 
was,  as  he  himself  asserts  (Phil,  iii.), 
blameless  as  far  as  related  to  this  legal 
righteousness.  And  now  from  his  Chris- 
tian standing-point  the  epithet  of  Sixaiog* 

*  Paul  was  very  far  from  employing  the  word 
Su^ioT-vvii  merely  to  designate  a  subordinate  moral 
standing-point  like  the  later  anti-Jewish  Gnostics, 
for  lie  always  proceeded  on  the  theocratical  prin. 


was  in  his  esteem  the  highest  that  could 
be  given  to  a  human  being,  and  Sixaioduvy] 
expressed  complete  fitness  for  participation 
in  all  the  privileges  and  blessings  of  the 
theocracy,  and  consequently  of  salvation, 
i^w>),  Aixaio(fvvri  and  ^ut)  were  always  in 
his  mind  correlative  ideas.  But  his  con- 
ceptions of  the  nature  of  this  ^ixaiorfuvv]  had 
undergone  a  total  revolution  since  he  was 
convinced  of  the  insufficiency  and  nullity 
of  that  which  he  had  before  distinguished  by 
this  name.  That  (Jixaiotfuvr)  vofxijcr)  he  now 
regarded  as  only  an  apparent  righteousness, 
which  might  satisfy  human  requirements, 
but  could  not,  however  plausible,  deceive 
a  holy  God,  and  therefore  was  of  no  avail 
in  reference  to  the  kingdom  of  God.  It 
was  henceforth  his  fundamental  principle, 
that  no  man  by  such  works  as  he  might 
be  able  to  accomplish  from  the  standing- 
point  of  the  law,  could  attain  a  righteous- 
ness that  would  avail  before  God.*  This 
maxim,  which  marks  the  opposition  be- 
tween his  earlier  and  later  views,  it  was 
his  main  object  to  develope  in  arguing  with 
his  Judaizing  opponents.  Now  he  cer- 
tainly in  this  controversy  first  treated  of 
the  s^yoL  vojxou  as  an  observance  of  the  ritual 
prescriptions  of  the  law ;  for  his  adversa- 
ries wished  to  impose  even  these  on  the 
believing  Gentiles  as  belonging  to  the  true 
(JixaiotfuvT]  and  as  essential  to  fitness  for  the 
kingdom  of  God ;  and  this  it  was  which 
he  would  not  allow.  Yet  from  the  stand- 
ing-point of  Judaism  such  a  distinction  be- 
tween the  ceremonial  and  moral  law  was 
not  possible,  for  every  thing  was  contem- 
plated as  a  divine  command  ;  both  equally 
involved  obedience  to  the  divine  revealed 
will,  and  both  required  a  disposition  of  sin- 
cere piety.f  Though  Paul  in  different 
passages  and  references  had  sometimes  the 


ciples  of  the  Old  Testament.  I  cannot  therefore 
admit  that,  in  Rom.  v.  7,  a  higher  degree  of  mo- 
rality  is  intended  by  the  word  dyj-d-oc  than  by  cT;- 
Kdto?.  The  opposite  is  evident,  from  the  manner 
in  which  Paul  places  these  words  together  in  Rom. 
vii.  12. 

*  The  Pauline  expression  ou  Jix-ettovTut  huTricv 

TOU  Si'JV  i^  Sg^fflV  VO/UOV    OT    ix.   VO/UOV  7r5,7tt    <7dLg^,    is    a 

phrase  which  most  probably  Paul  very  soon  form- 
ed, from  the  peculiar  developement  of  his  Christian 
convictions,  arising  from  the  method  of  his  con- 
version. 

t  When  Christ,  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
says  that  he  came  not  to  destroy  the  law  or  the 
prophets,  but  to  fulfil,  he  certainly  made  no  such 
distinction. 


Chap.  I.] 


JUSTIFICATION  AND  WORKS  OF  THE  LAW. 


285. 


ritual,  and  at  other  times  the  moral  portion 
of  the  vofxoj  especially  in  his  thoughts,  yet 
the  same  general  idea  lies  always  at  the 
basis  of  his  reasonings.  When  he  had 
occasion,  as  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians, 
to  impugn  the  justifying  power  and  con- 
tinued obligation  of  the  ceremonial  law, 
still  his  argumentation  proceeds  on  the 
whole  idea  of  the  vo,ao?.  It  is  the  idea  of 
an  externally  prescribed  rule  of  action,  the 
law  as  commanding,  but  which  by  its  com- 
mands  can  never  produce  an  internal  al- 
teration in  man.  Satisfaction  can  be  given 
to  the  law — which  indeed  is'  true  of  every 
law  as  such — only  by  perfect  obedience. 
Now  since  no  man  is  able  to  effect  the 
obedience  thus  required  by  the  divine  law, 
it  of  course  pronounces  condemnation  on 
all  as  guilty  of  its  violation;  Gal.  iii.  10. 
This  is  true  of  the  imperative  moral  law 
which  is  revealed  in  the  conscience,  not 
less  than  of  particular  injunctions  of  this 
law  exhibited  in  the  Old  Testament  theo- 
cratic form,  as  Paul  himself  applies  it  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  to  the  law  writ- 
ten on  the  hearts  of  men,  the  law  of  con- 
science, which,  as  he  asserts,  calls  forth 
the  consciousness  of  guilt  in  those  to  whom 
the  vofAoj  was  not  given  in  the  external 
theocratic  form. 

In  reference  to  the  whole  idea  of  the 
vofji-og  in  the  revelation  of  the  divine  require- 
ments to  man  in  the  form  of  an  imperative 
law,  the  apostle  says,  Gal.  iii.  21,  that  if 
it  could  make  men  inwardly  alive,  if  it 
could  impart  a  true  internal  life  from 
which  all  goodness  would  spontaneously 
proceed,  then  it  would  be  right  to  speak  of 
a  Sixaiodvvr]  proceeding  from  the  law.  Yet 
in  that  case,  if  man  were  truly  in  harmony 
with  the  requirements  of  the  law  in  the 
constitution  of  his  internal  life,  it  could  not 
be  properly  said  that  he  obtained  a  right- 
eousness available  before  God  by  the  works 
of  the  law ;  for  the  external  supposes  the 
internal ;  the  disposition  of  true  righteous- 
ness is  manifest  of  itself  to  the  eye  of  om- 
niscience ;*    the    internal    cannot    proceed 


*  This  is  acknowledged  by  Aristotle ;  on  Sd  tu. 
imcttn.  Tr^ciTTOVTa.;  itKctiov?  yivard-xi. — t*  Tr^it-y/wJ-TO. 
<ftx,etl:t  xtyiTM,  otolv  7}  TOt^vra.  ctn.  uv  o  S'Mdloi  tt^u. 
^mr  Smaio^  h — sj-t/v  oh^,    '"  Tutwr^  TrgrttTm,  a.x\ct 

Kit  0   OUTO)  TT^ATTOIV  UC  Ol  J'lKHlOl TTgitTTf^V^lV.        Eth. 

Nich.  ii.  3.  As  Paul  contrasts  the  standing-point 
of  the  righteousness  of  the  law  and  that  of  true 
righteousness,  so  Aristotle  contrasts  the  t*  Ctto 
tZv   vc/mm    TiTd-yjuivsi   ttmiv,   and    the   TrZg  sp^ovra 


from  the  external,  but  the  external  must 
proceed  from  the  internal.  Still  in  this 
case,  works  corresponding  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  law  would  be  the  necessary 
marks  of  the  truly  righteous  and  of  the 
righteousness  that  avails  before  God,  of 
what  is  truly  welUplcasing  to  God.  But 
in  the  present  condition  of  man,  this  is  no- 
where  to  be  found.  The  disposition  cor- 
responding to  the  requirements  of  the  law 
does  not  exist  in  man,  and  an  external  law 
cannot  produce  a  change  internally,  cannot 
communicate  power  for  fulfilling  its  own 
commands,  nor  overcome  the  opposition 
that  exists  in  the  disposition.  Even  if  a 
man  be  influenced  by  inferior  motives,  by 
carnal  fear  or  hope,  by  vanity  which  would 
recommend  itself  to  God  or  man,  to  ac- 
complish what  is  commanded  according  to 
appearance,  still  the  disposition  required 
by  the  spirit  of  the  law  would  be  wanting. 
The  works  resulting  from  such  attempts, 
whether  they  related  to  the  moral  or  ritual 
part  of  the  vo^j^og,  would  want  the  disposi- 
tion which  is  the  mark  of  the  genuine 
5ixaio(j'uv'/]  presenting  itself  before  a  holy 
God.  It  results  from  this  connexion  of 
ideas,  that  though  ipyu  vojxou  may  in  them- 
selves be  works  which  really  exhibit  the  ful- 
filling of  the  law,  they  would  be  considered 
by  Paul  as  acts  of  a  merely  superficial  ex- 
ternal, and  not  internal  obedience,  they 
would  bear  the  impress  of  mere  legality  in 
opposition  to  true  piety  and  morality.  The 
spya  vO|aou  are  not  classed  with  ipya  ayaha 
but  opposed  to  them ;  Eph.  ii.  10.  Of  such 
a  legal  righteousness  he  speaks  when  he 
says,  Phil.  ii.  6,  that  in  this  respect  he  had 
been  a  Pharisee  without  blame,  though 
viewing  it  afterwards  from  the  Christian 
standing-point  he  esteemed  it  as  perfectly 
nugatory.  Thus,  in  a  twofold  sense,  Paul 
could  say  that  by  works  of  the  law  no  man 


5TgaTT8/V    iKHa-Ttt,    wC    t'V*/    "'J/SlS'OV,    hiyU    /'    0/OV    il± 

TV io'xigiii t^i  (the  ip^cinlv  to.  t^v  TViufAiro;,  from  which 
all  ri^rht  action  nnist  proceed;  Rom.  viii.  5).  But 
Christianity  elevates  tlie  reference  of  the  mind 
above  the  reflection  of  the  good  in  the  ^gaTTc^«irat 
to  the  uuro  aya^ov,  tlic  original  source  and  arche- 
type of  all  good  in  God,  to  communion  with  God, 
and  the  exhibition  of  this  communion  in  the  ac- 
tions of  the  life.  It  is  the  disposition  of  the  truly 
righteous  which  refers  every  thing  to  the  glory  of 
God.  Morality  is  a  manifestation  and  exhibition 
of  the  divine  life.  And  Christianity  points  out 
the  process  of  developcment  tiirough  which  a 
man,  by  means  of  regeneration,  may  attain  to 
that  ligsTH  which  produces  the  right  Tr^o^ug^Krit. 


MEANING  OF  THE  TERM  2aph. 


[Book  VI. 


could  be  justified  before  God.  Taking  the 
expression  tvorks  of  the  laiv  in  an  ideal 
sense,  no  man  can  perfortn  such  works  as 
are  required  by  the  law ;  taking  it  in  an 
empirical  sense,  there  are  no  works  which 
are  really  performed  on  the  standing-point 
of  the'law,  and  correspond  to  its  spirit  and 
requirements. 

If  the  assertion  of  the  insufficiency  of  the 
righteousness  of  the  law  be  made  without 
more  exactly  defining  it,  it  may  be  sup- 
posed to  mean,  that  the  moral  commands 
of  the  law  exhibit  only  an  inferior  moral 
standing-point,  and  on  that  account  can 
lead  no  one  to  true  righteousness.  Ac- 
cording to  this  supposition,  our  judgment 
respecting  the  claims  of  Christianity  would 
take  a  particular  direction,  and  we  should 
consider  the  exhibition  of  a  complete  sys- 
tem of  morals,  as  forming  its  essential  pre- 
eminence over  the  former  dispensation. 
But  from  the  manner  in  which  Paul  makes 
this  assertion,  it  is  evident  that  this  is  not 
his  meaning.  He  never  complains  of  the 
law  as  defective  in  this  respect,  but  on  the 
contrary  eulogizes  it  as  in  itself  holy  and 
good;  Rom.  vii.  12.  The  single  command- 
ment of  love  which  stands  at  the  head  of 
the  vofxoj,  contains  in  fact  every  thing  (Ro- 
mans xiii.  9)  essential  to  moral  perfection, 
and  whoever  fulfilled  this  would  be  truly 
righteous.  And  in  the  two  first  chapters 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  his  aim  is  to 
])rove  that  the  Jews  in  relation  to  their  vojjiocr, 
as  well  as  the  Gentiles  in  relation  to  the 
moral  law  inscribed  on  their  hearts,  were 
not  wanting  in  their  knowledge  of  what 
was  good,  but  in  the  power  of  will  to  per- 
form what  they  knew  to  be  good.  The 
reason  why  the  law  could  not  produce  true 
righteousness,  consisted  in  the  fact  that  it 
presented  goodness  only  in  the  form  of  an 
external  command,  and  also,  in  the  rela- 
tion of  the  command  to  the  moral  condi- 
tion of  those  to  whom  the  law  was  given. 
This  leads  us  to  the  central  point  of  the 
Pauline  Anthropology;  namely,  hunjan 
nature  as  estranged  from  the  divine  life  and 
standing  in  opposition  to  the  requirements 
of  the  law;  whether  the  eternal  moral  law, 
or  the  law  in  its  outward  theocratical  form. 
This  opposition  we  must  now  examine 
more  minutely. 

That  principle  in  human  nature  which 
strives  against  the  fulfilment  of  the  law, 
the  apostle  generally  distinguishes  by  the 


name  of  the  Flesh,  and  the  man  in  whom 
this  principle  predominates,  or  the  man 
whose  mind  is  not  yet  transformed  by 
Christianity,  by  the  name  of  tfagxixoc;  or  ra 
TTig  danog  (p^ovwv.  He  represents  this  prin- 
ciple striving  against  the  law  as  a  law  in 
the  members,  which  opposes  the  law  of 
reason  ;  he  speaks  of  "  the  motions  of  sin 
in  the  members"  which  obstructed  the  ful- 
filment of  the  law  acknowledged  by  the 
mind ;  Romans  vii.  5.  The  body  as  the 
seat  of  sinful  desires  he  calls  the  tfwiaa  t^s 
tifxa^riaj,  Rom.  vi.  6,  thegufta  Trig  (fa^xog, Col. 
ii.  11.  Hence  we  might  conclude,  that  the 
apostle  deduced  sin  from  the  opposition  be- 
tween sense  and  spirit  in  human  nature, 
and  that  he  considered  evil  as  a  necessary 
transition-point  in  the  developement  of  hu- 
man nature,  till  spirit  acquired  the  perfect 
ascendency.  But  this  could  not  be  the 
apostle's  meaning,  for  he  considered  this 
conflict  between  reason  and  sense,  not  as 
founded  in  the  original  nature  of  man,  but 
as  the  consequence  of  a  free  departure  from 
his  original  destination,  as  something  blame- 
worthy ;  and  here  we  see  of  what  practical 
importance  in  the  Pauline  doctrine  is 
the  supposition  of  an  original  perfection  in 
man  and  a  fall  from  it.  Hence  we  must 
consider  in  every  instance,  the  preponde- 
rance of  sensual  inclination  over  reason, 
according  to  Paul's  view,  only  as  an  essen- 
tial consequence  of  the  first  moral  disunion. 
There  are  indeed  many  things  to  be  ui'ged 
against  the  supposition  that  when  he  spe- 
cifies the  tfapf  as  the  source  of  sin,  he  meant 
nothing  but  sensuality  in  opposition  to  the 
spiritual  principle  in  man.  In  Gal.  v.  20, 
among  the  works  of  the  rfagg,  he  mentions 
divisio7is  ((Ji^otfrarfiai)  which  cannot  be  at- 
tributed to  sensual  impulses.  It  is  possible 
indeed  to  argue  in  favour  of  such  an  inter- 
pretation by  saying,  that  Paul  had  in  view 
those  divisions  which  he  traced  to  sensual 
impulses,  to  a  sensual  way  of  thinking,  to 
a  Judaism  that  adhered  to  sensual  objects, 
and  opposed  the  more  spiritual  conceptions 
of  Christianity.  But  it  appears  still  more 
surprising  that  he  traces  every  thing  in 
that  erroneous  tendency  which  he  opposed 
in  the  church  at  Colossse  to  the  tfa^f,  to  a 
vouj  (fa^xtxos  ;  and  here  it  would  be  difficult 
to  attribute  every  thing  to  a  sensual  ad- 
dictedness,  for  we  meet  on  the  contrary 
with  a  morbid  striving  at  freedom  from  the 
senses,  an  ascetic  tendency  which  would 


Chap.  I.] 


OP  HUMAN  DEPRAVITY. 


237 


defraud  the  bodily  appetites  of  their  just 
claims.  And  even  if  in  ail  these  attempts 
we  detected  the  workings  of  a  refined  sen- 
suality,-that  tendency  which,  while  cleav- 
ing to  outward  objects,  could  not  rise  to 
the  pure  inward  religion  of  the  spirit ;  still 
we  find  that  in  the  Corinthian  Church,  also, 
the  apostle  traced  to  the  tfa^^  every  thing 
which  either  openly  or  secretly  opposed 
Christianity,  not  excepting  even  the  specu- 
lative Grecian  tendency,  the  tfojpiav  ^y]rs7v, 
which  treated  the  simple  gospel  with  con- 
tempt. From  all  these  considerations,  we 
may  infer  with  certainty  that  something 
more  than  sensuality  was  included  in  the 
Pauline  idea  of  tfa^g.  And  it  confirms  this 
conclusion,  that  Paul  not  only  uses  the 
phrase  xara,  uv'h^uirov  irs^i'^tarsTv  as  equiva- 
lent to  xara  da^xa.  'n's^iiraTsTv,  but  also  em- 
ploys the  designation  avS^wTroj  Nj^up^ixog  as 
equivalent  to  av&^cj'ffoj  tfa^xixo^,  1  Cor.  ii. 
14.  All  this  relates  only  to  the  opposition 
of  the  Human  to  the  Divine,  whether  the 
tfa^f  or  the  -^vx/i*  against  the  'hsTov  'jrvsvixa. 
Paul  detected  in  the  philosophic  conceit  of 
the  Greeks,  which  with  all  its  striving  could 
not  pass  beyond  the  bounds  of  earthly  ex- 
istence, and  satisfied  itself  without  finding 
the  highest  good  which  alone  can  give  true 
satisfaction  to  the  mind,  and  in  the  arro- 
gance of  the  imaginary  legal  righteousness 
of  the  Jews,  the  same  principle  of  the  rfapf 
as  in  the  thirst  for  sensual  pleasure.  There 
was  a  tfoipia  xara  Capxa,  a  (JixaiotfuvT]  xara 
rfapxa.  These  ideas  Cap^,  xoiijiog,  irvsufjua 
Tou  xotf/xou  correspond  to  one  another.  Thus 
the  term  Capl  denotes  human  nature  gene- 
rally in  its  state  of  estrangement  from  the 
divine  life ;  and  from  this  designation  we 
cannot  determine  what  Paul  considered  as 
the  one  fundamental  tendency  from  which 
all  the  forms  of  sin  might  be  deduced,  or 
whether  he  admitted  one  such  source.  On 
this  last  point  we  find  no  precise  explana- 
tion in  his  writings.  But  as  he  represented 
the  &«!;)  ^rjv,  the  XP"^''"'?  ^^^>  ^o  be  the  princi- 


*  Paul  indeed  might  distinguish  the  Trviu/ua,  from 
the  4".^"  ^^  ^  power  inherent  to  human  nature, 
which  serves  as  an  organ  for  the  Divine,  or  for 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  under  that  influence  acquires 
a  predominant  activity.  Tiiis  m;iy  be  inferred 
also  from  the  trichotomy  (a  threefold  division  of 
man)  in  1  Thess.  v.  23.  According  to  that  tri- 
chotomy, the  -^uX"*-^^  would  be  a  person  in  whom, 
by  the  predominance  of  the  lower  powers  of  the 
soul,  the  higher,  the  subjective  mtiifjiit  was  de- 
pressed. 


pie  of  good  in  man,  it  is  implied  that  the 
JauTw  ^Yiv,  the  selfish  tendency  (the  syu  in 
relation  to  self,  not  subordinating  itself  to 
the  religious  sentiment.  Gal.  ii.  30,)  was 
the  fundamental  tendency  of  evil.  Now, 
partly  because  the  power  of  the  sinful  prin- 
ciple  in  the  present  condition  of  human  na- 
ture makes  itself  known  by  the  conflict  of 
sensual  inclinations  with  the  law  acknow- 
ledged  by  the  Spirit — partly  because  Chris- 
tianity  first  spread  itself  among  those  classes 
in  which  it  had  to  combat  most  of  all  with 
the  power  6f  rude  sensuality — partly  be- 
cause the  body  serves  as  the  organ  of  the 
sinful  tendency  which  has  the  mastery  ia 
the  soul,  and  the  power  of  sinful  habit  con- 
tinues in  it  with  a  sort  of  self-subsistence 
even  after  the  soul  has  been  made  partaker 
of  a  higher ; — on  all  these  accounts,  Paul 
often  employs  the  term  tfap^  to  express  the 
whole  being  of  sin. 

Paul  commonly  refers  to  the  conscious- 
ness of  sin  as  an  universal  fact  in  human 
nature,  and  appeals  to  what  every  man 
may  know  from  his  own  inward  experience. 
By  this  means,  his  preaching  every  where 
found  acceptance,  because  it  was  based  on 
a  fundamental  truth,  which  was  not  re- 
ceived on  tradition,  nor  on  the  testimony  of 
foreign  authority,  but  manifested  itself  in 
the  consciousness  of  every  individual.  The 
consciousness  of  this  schism  in  human 
nature,  and  the  feeling  arising  out  of  it,  of 
the  need  of  redemption,  remains  in  its  un- 
changeable validity,  independent  of  all  his- 
torical tradition,  and  though  man  must  ac- 
knowledge this  schism  as  a  given  fact  with- 
out being  able  to  explain  its  origin.  This 
internal  fact,  to  which  Paul  appealed  as  a 
matter  of  immediate  consciousness,  we 
must  distinguish  from  all  attempts-  to  ex- 
plain it,*  which  may  appear  untenable, 
while  this  fact,  and  the  sense  of  a  need  of 


*  This  fact,  the  only  one  necessary  to  be  pre- 
supposed in  order  to  faith  in  a  Redeemer,  is  in 
itself  independent  of  all  investigations  respecting 
the  derivation  of  the  human  race  ;  and  as  some- 
thing known  by  immediate  inward  experience, 
belongs  to  a  province  of  life  wliich  lies  out  of  the 
range  of  all  speculation,  or  of  inquiries  into  natu- 
ral science  and  history.  And  the  doctrine  of  a 
pre-e.iistence  of  souls,  thougli  insufficient  to  ex- 
plain this  fact,  leaves  it  untouched,  or  even  re- 
quires  to  be  explained  by  it.  It  is  essential  to 
Christianity  that  it  rests  on  an  historical  basis, 
which,  in  order  to  be  acknowledged  in  its  true 
meaning,  only  presupposes  experiences  which 
every  man  can  make  for  himself^ 


238 


THE  ORIGINAL  STATE  OF  MAN. 


[Book  VI. 


redemption  springing  out  of  it,  and  faith 
in  a  Redeemer,  retain  their  value  undimi- 
nished. Hence  it  is  very  natural,  and  a 
proof  of  the  apostle's  wisdom,  that  he  treats 
in  so  fevi^  passages  of  the  original  perfection 
of  the  first  man,  and  of  the  first  sin,  com- 
pared'with  the  number  which  relate  to  this 
universal  fact.  But  it  by  no  means  follows, 
that  what  he  says  on  this  subject  has  a 
merely  accidental  connexion  with  his  Chris- 
tian convictions ;  that  every  thing  which 
he  says  of  the  first  man,  only  served  as  a 
foil  borrowed  from  the  notions  in  vogue 
among  the  Jews,  to  set  the  redeeming  work 
of  Christ  in  a  more  striking  light  by  the 
contrast.  We  may  rather  affirm  that  this 
fact  is  intimately  and  closely  connected 
with  the  whole  Christian  consciousness  of 
the  apostle,  for  it  lies  every  where  at  the 
basis,  where  he  represents  this  schism  not 
as  something  included  in  the  plan  of  the 
divine  creation  itself,  and  necessary  in  the 
developement  of  human  nature,  but  as 
something  blameworthy.  To  justify  the 
holiness  and  love  of  God,  it  must  have  been 
important  for  him  to  be  able  to  say,  that 
man  was  not  created  in  this  condition  by 
God,  but  that  it  originated  in  an  abuse  of 
the  freedom  bestowed  upon  him.* 


*  Krabbe,  in  his  excellent  work  "  Die  Lehre  von 
der  Sunde,"  p.  56,  remarks,  that  he  does  not  clearly 
understand  what  are  my  views  respecting  the  ori- 
gination  of  sin  in  the  primitive  state  of  man.  But 
it  was  foreign  to  my  object — since  I  only  wished 
to  dcvelope  the  doctrines  of  the  apostle  Paul  in  the 
form  in  which  they  were  conceived  and  repre- 
sented by  him,  and  their  mutual  connexion — to 
explain  myself  further  on  this  topic,  and  to  state, 
as  I  must  have  done  as  a  believer  in  Revealed 
Religion,  that,  according  to  my  conviction,  the 
origin  of  evil  can  only  be  understood  as  a  fact,  a 
fact  possible  by  virtue  of  the  freedom  belonging  to 
a  created  being,  but  not  to  be  otherwise  deduced 
or  explained.  It  lies  in  the  idea  of  evil,  that  it  is 
an  utterly  inexplicable  thing,  and  whoever  would 
explain  it  nullifies  the  very  idea  of  it.  It  is  not 
the  limits  of  our  knowledge  which  make  the  origin 
of  sin  something  inexplicable  to  us,  but  it  follows 
from  the  essential  nature  of  sin  as  an  act  of  free 
will,  that  it  must  remain  to  all  eternity  an  inex- 
plicable fact.  It  can  only  be  understood  empiri- 
cally by  means  of  the  moral  self-consciousness. 
TO  ipairnjua,  o  Truvrcev  a.l'tlov  itti  kakZv,  /uaxxov  <fs  « 
TTsg/  TouTsu  dSi;,  iv  T>i  -^u^n  iyyiyvo/juvn,  tiv  n  /ah  t/c 
i^ai^id'n^mai,  tmc  axu^ux;  ovtoi;  ou  juh  ttoti  Tv^cit. 
Ep.  II.  Platon.  Whoever  in  his  arrogant  little- 
ness can  siitisfy  himself  with  mutilating  human 
nature,  and  reducing  it  to  a  minimum,  with  sub- 
stituting thinking  in  a  certain  form  in  place  of  the 
whole  man,  may  adjust  after  his  fashion  all  the 
phenomena  in  the  moral  world,  but  the  uncon- 


But  this  view  of  the  subject  is  not  ad- 
missible if,  as  many  have  maintained,  Paul 
exhibited  the  first  man  as  a  representative 
of  human  nature,  and  wished  to  show  by 
his  example  how,  by  virtue  of  the  original 
constitution  of  human  nature,  love  of  plea- 
sure appeared  in  opposition  to  the  rational 
principle  or  to  the  capability  for  religion — 
that  this  is  constantly  repeated  in  the  case 
of  every  individual  in  order  that  man,  from 
the  consciousness  of  this  opposition,  may 
attain  through  redemption  to  the  efficient 
supremacy  of  religion  in  his  nature.  This 
chain  of  ideas  we  should  certainly  find  in 
Paul's  writings,  if  it  could  be  shown  that, 
in  Rom.  vii.  9,  he  alluded  to  and  intended 
to  mark  the  condition  of  original  innocence; 
and  how  by  the  commandment  that  state  of 
childlike  ingenuousness  was  removed,  and 
the  slumbering  love  of  pleasure  was  brought 
into  consciousness,  and  raised  to  activity. 
But  it  cannot  be  proved  that  the  apostle, 
where  he  speaks  of  an  apparent  freedom 
from  guilt,  in  which  the  principle  of  sinful- 
ness, though  scarcely  developed,  lay  at  the 
bottom,  had  in  his  thoughts  that  original 
freedom  from  guilt  which  he  rather  de- 
scribes as  sinlessness.  Certainly  he  could 
not  have  said  that  by  one  man  sin  came 
into  the  world,  if,  in  Rom.  vii.  9,  he  had 
assumed  the  existence  of  sin  already  in  the 
first  man  according  to  his  original  constitu- 
tion, as  something  grounded  in  the  essence 
of  human  nature.  In  order  to  reconcile 
this,  something  foreign  must  be  introduced 
into  Paul's  train  of  thought,  which  evidently 
does  not  belong  to  it.  If  we  proceed  on 
the  supposition  that  a  freedom,  in  the  sense 
in  which  it  must  be  allowed  according  to 
this  Pauline  doctrine,  and  a  transition  ifrom 
sinlessness  to  sin,  is  something  inconceiva- 
ble, still  we  are  not  justified  in  explaining 
Paul  according  to  a  representation  of  which 
no  trace  can  be  found  in  his  writings,  not 
to  add  that  such  a  view  is  opposed  to  his 
moral  and  religious  spirit,  as  well  as  to 
that  of  Christianity  in  general ;  for  accord- 
ing to  it,  the  consciousness  of  freedom,  and 
the  sense  of  guilt  connected  with  it,  could 
be  nothing  else  than  a  necessary  deception 
imposed  by  the  Creator  himself  in  the  de- 
velopement of  human  nature  ;  an  unavoida- 
ble illusion  in  the  consciousness  of  each  in- 
dividual. 


querable  voice  of  Nature  will  know  how  to  assert 
her  rights  against  all  such  fine-spun  theories. 


Chap.  I] 


ON  THE  FALL. 


The  sin  of  the  first  man  occupies  so  im- 
portant a  position  in  Paul's  views,  because 
it  was  a  free  act  from  which  a  course  of 
life  proceeded,  contradicting  the  original 
moral  nature  of  man  or  the  image  of  God 
in  man.  When  he  says,  Rom.  v.  12, 
"  By  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world," 
we  shall  most  naturally  understand  it  (as 
he  adds  no  other  limiting  clause)  in  this 
manner  ;  that  the  sinful  tendency  of  the 
will,  or  the  opposition  between  the  human 
and  the  divine  will,  now  first  made  its  ap- 
pearance in  the  hitherto  sinless  human 
nature,  and  propagated  itself  with  the  de- 
velopement  of  the  race  from  this  first  point. 
This  is  according  to  a  law  which  regulates 
the  propagation  of  human  kind  as  a  whole, 
and  in  particular  tribes,  nations  and  fami- 
lies, without  which  there  could  be  no  his- 
tory, no  developement  of  human  kind  as  a 
Tace.  And,  in  fact,  we  see  Paul  applying 
the  same  law,  when  he  contemplates  evil 
in  its  combined  and  reciprocal  effects  on  the 
great  mass  of  mankind,  the  collective  body 
of  Jews  or  Greeks. 

All  men  have  sinned,  since  they  have 
followed  the  sinful  tendency  that  has  passed 
upon  them  through  the  developement  of  the 
race.  In  this  sense,  Paul  says  that  by  the 
disobedience  of  one  many  became  sinners.* 

*  It  is  now  indeed  generally  acknowledged,  that 
in  the  last  clause  of  Rom.  v.  12,  the  relative  pro. 
noun  cannot  be  referred  to  Adam.  It  is  not  evi- 
dent to  me  (as  Rothe,  p.  32  of  his  acute  essay  on 
this  passage,  Wittenberg,  1836,  has  maintained), 
that  i<p'  w  cannot  be  translated  "for  that  ;"  the 
original  meaning  of  this  preposition  with  the  da- 
tive, by  means  of  which  it  expresses  something 
conditional,  an  accompaniment,  easily  passes  into 
the  sign  of  a  certain  causal  relation ;  and  as  iTri 
with  a  dative  signifies  this,  hence  i<p^  Z  by  an 
attraction  may  signify  "  for  that,"  "  because  that." 
This  meaning  is  certainly  to  be  adopted  in  2  Cor. 
V.  4.  What  Rothe,  p.  25,  has  said  against  this 
constructioa  in  the  last  passage  is  quite  untenable. 
Nor  does  Philipp.  i.  21-24,  contradict  this  inter- 
pretation, for  anxiety  after  eternal  life  by  no 
means  excludes  the  repugnance  necessarily  found- 
ed in  human  nature  against  the  conflict  with 
death.  Man  would  always  prefer  passing  to  a 
higher  state  of  existence  without  so  violent  a  pro- 
cess of  transition,  and  the  jiu^ila-^ut  is  certainly 
(what  Rothe  denies)  quite  as  necessary  and  con- 
stant a  mark  of  the  Christian  life  as  the  iTrtTrc^ih. 
I  will  readily  allow  that  Paul  has  made  use  of 
this  expression  in  the  Romans  to  designate  caus- 
ality, since  it  corresponds  more  tlian  any  other  to 
the  form  under  which  he  is  here  thinking  of  caus- 
ality. The  first  original  causality  is  the  sin  of 
Adam — the  secondary  cause,  the  connecting  link 
for  this  continuation  of  death  from  Adam,  is  the 


He  also  connects  sin  and  death  together, 
and  affirms  that  with  sin  death  came  into 
the  world,  and  had  propagated  itself  among 
all  men.  Now,  according  to  Paul's  views, 
this  cannot  be  understood  of  an  essential 
change  in  the  physical  organization  of  man. 


sinning  of  individuals,  on  which  the  connc.Tion 
between  sin  and  death,  subjectively  considered, 
depends.  But  if  the  e?'  a>  be  not  referred  to  Adam, 
still  the  passage  might  be  so  taken  that  the  impu- 
tation of  Adam's  sin  would  be  maintained  bv  it, 
if  either  the  «^a§Tov  is  referred  to  the  participa-  ' 
tion  of  all  in  Adam's  sin,  (which  yet  would  be  en- 
tirely arbitrary,  since  no  more  definite  expression 
is  added  to  indicate  that  the  apostie  is  speaking  of 
the  sinning  of  all  in  one),  or  the  tip'  Z  is  under- 
stood  in  Rothe's  sense.  The  reasoning  of  the 
apostle  would  then  be  this  :  Men  sinned  indeed 
from  the  time  of  Adam  to  the  appearance  of  the 
Mosaic  law,  but  they  did  not  sin  like  Adam  by 
the  violation  of  a  positive  law,  and  without  a  law 
there  can  be  no  imputation  of  sin.  Consequently, 
to  that  time,  not  men's  own  sins,  but  only  that  sin 
of  Adam  was  punished  as  the  common  guilt  of 
humanity ;  only  in  this  relation  could  deatli  affect 
them  as  a  punishment  of  sin.  But  Paul  could  not 
say  this  without  contradicting  what  he  had  as- 
serted a  little  before;  for  he  had  distinctly  shown, 
that  the  want  of  an  outward  lijeoeratic  law  by  no 
means  excused  the  Gentiles  in  their  sins,  since  its 
place  was  supplied  by  the  divine  law  revealed  in 
their  consciences  ;  and  always  when  he  refers  to 
the  consciousness  of  guilt  in  men,  he  appeals  to 
this  internal  judgment  on  their  own  sins,  without 
taking  account  of  Adam's  sin  as  reckoned  to  the 
whole  human  race.  And  if,  with  Rothe,  we  dis- 
tinguish a  positive  juridical  connexion  formed  by 
imputation  between  sin  and  death,  from  an  inter- 
nal, real,  natural,  and  therefore  immediate  con- 
nexion,  (which  is  a  leading  idea  in  his  essay,  and 
expressed  fully  in  p.  54),  this  self-contradiction  in 
Paul  would  not  be  obviated,  ibr  the  divine  impu- 
tation and  the  voice  of  conscience,  the  internal 
sense  of  guilt,  are  correlative  ideas.  The  voice 
of  conscience,  in  the  internal  sense  of  guilt,  is 
nothing  else  than  the  subjective  revelation  of  the 
divine  imputation  ;  and  as  Paul  assumes  the  first 
independently  of  a  positive  law,  he  must  therefore 
assume  the  second  as  something  independent  of 
positive  law,  as  he  himself  developes  it  in  Rom.  ii. 
14-16,  and  also  marks  the  connexion  between  sin 
and  death  established  by  tlie  divine  justice,  and 
manifested  as  such  in  the  consciences  of  men  ; 
Rom.  i.  32.  If  we  allow  Paul  to  be  his  own  in- 
terpreter, we  shall  find  the  train  of  thought  in 
Rom.' v.  13,  14,  to  be  the  following.  lie  brings 
forward  tiie  objection  that  the  sin  of  Adam  had 
reigned  in  the  world  till  Moses,  although  no  posi- 
tive law  was  in  existence,  and  without  law  there 
could  be  no  imputation  of  sin.  He  repels  this  ob- 
jection by  the  fact,  that  death  still  reigned  even 
over  those  who  had  not  tinned  like  Adam  against 
a  positive  law.  This  fact  is  an  objective  evidence 
of  imputation,  and,  as  is  evident  from  the  pre- 
ceding remarks,  this  imputation  approves  itself"  to 
be  just  in  the  conscience,  which  exhibits  men  as 
transgressors  of  an  undeniable  divine  law. 


240 


REVELATION  OF  GOD  IN  CREATION. 


[Book  VI. 


and  that  the  body  by  that  event  first  be- 
came mortal  instead  of  immortal,  for  he 
expressly  asserts  the  opposite  in  1  Cor.  xv. 
45,  since  he  attributes  to  the  first  man  a 
tfwjULa  -/jjiiy-ov,  ■\jV)Qv.m*  in  contrast  with  the 
Cwixa  "Trvsufxarixov  of  the  resurrection. 

This  change,  therefore,  can  only  relate 
partly  to  the  manner  in  which  our  earthly 
existence  would  terminate,  the  forcible  dis- 
ruption of  the  connexion  between  soul  and 
body  which  we  designate  by  the  name  of 
death,  partly  to  the  manner  in  which  the 
necessity  of  such  a  death  would  appear  to 
the  human  mind.  But  both  are  closely 
connected  with  one  another.  As  life,  life 
in  Qommunion  with  God,  a  divine,  holy, 
happy,  and  unchangeable  life,  are  ideas  in- 
dissolubly  connected  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment phraseology,  particularly  in  the  writ- 


*  What  Paul  here  says  of  the  4^;^""''  of  '^^"' 
certainly  relates  only  to  the  constitution  of  the 
body,  which  only  has  in  it  the  principle  of  earthly 
life;  he  could  not  mean  to  designate  by  it  the 
nature  of  man  in  general,  as  if,  since  it  had  in 
itself  nothing  higher  than  an  animal  principle, 
and  was  destitute  of  the  divine  principle  of  life 
which  was  first  imparted  through  Christ  to  human 
nature,  it  must  necessarily  succumb  to  temptation. 
That  supposition  which  we  have  already  combated 
would  then  follow,  that  sin  was  something  already 
deposited  in  the  psychical  constitution  of  human 
nature,  and  a  necessary  link  in  its  developement, 
which  would  manifest  its  power  when  once 
aroused  from  its  slumbers,  and  that  sinlessness 
could  only  emanate  from  Christ.  But  according 
to  the  doctrine  of  Paul,  the  indwelling  Trii^y.*  of 
the  human  nature  itself,  is  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  supernatural  ■n■v^\lu^,  as  the  receptacle  in 
the  human  soul  for  the  operations  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,  that  which,  in  connexion  with  the  super- 
natural influence,  belongs  to  its  right  activity; 
see  above,  p.  85.  Even  in  the  spiritual  nature  "of 
fallen  man,  he  recognises  something  higher  as  the 
•^■vxyi-  I  cannot  agree  with  Usteri,  that,  in  the 
passage  1  Thess.  v.,  by  the  term  TrviZfj.^,  we  are 
to  understand  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
or  the  divine  principle  of  life  communicated  by  it, 
as  some  individualized  in  man.  In  reference  to 
this,  Paul  could  not  express  the  wish  that  it  might 
be  preserved  blameless,  for  in  itself  it  could  not  be 
affected  by  any  sin:  wherever  any  thing  sinful 
found  entrance,  it  must  retire.  The  passage  in 
1  Thess.  i.  19,  "  Repress  not  the  operations  of  the 
Divine  Spirit;  let  inspiration  have  its  free  move- 
ment,"  cannot  be  considered  parallel ;  and  as  little 
the  exhortation  in  Eph.  iv.  30,  not  to  grieve  by 
evil  passions  the  Spirit  of  God  working  in  the 
souls  of  believers,  which  is  very  different  from 
keeping  it  blameless  and  spotless.  In  all  these  | 
passages,  ^vsu,«a  is  not  spoken  of  as  a  property  of 
man  ;  in  the  first,  on  the  contrary,  the  TrtivfA^  is  I 
represented  as  altogether  homogeneous,  as  a  com- 
ponent part  of  human  nature  with  the  soul  and  j 
body.  i 


ings  of  Paul  and  John,  so,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  equally  connected  the  ideas  of 
sin,  unhappiness,  and  death.  As  man  in 
communion  with  God  becomes  conscious 
of  a  divine  life  raised  above  all  change  and 
death,  and  the  thought  of  the  cessation  of 
life  or  annihilation  is  unknown  ;  so  when 
by  sin  this  connexion  is  broken,  and,  in 
estrangement  from  God  as  the  eternal  foun- 
tain of  life,  he  becomes  conscious  of  his 
contracted  existence,  the  thought  of  death 
first  springs  up.  Without  this,  the  transi- 
tion from  an  earthly  existence  to  a  higher 
— objective  in  itself,  and  subjective  to  the 
mind* — would  have  been  only  the  form  of 
a  higher  developement  of  life.  In  this 
sense,  Paul  calls  sin,  the  sting  of  death,  1 
Cor.  XV.  50,  by  which  he  marks  the  inter- 
nal connexion  between  death  and  a  sense 
of  guilt ;  as  the  wounding  power  of  death 
is  founded  in  sin,  death  as  that  terrific  ob- 
ject to  the  mind  of  man  exhibits  itself  only 
in  connexion  with  the  consciousness  of  sin. 
Paul  certainly  represents  a  corruption  of 
human  nature  as  the  consequence  of  the 
first  sin,  and  admits  a  supremacy  of  the 
sinful  principle  in  the  human  race,  but  not 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  original  nature 
of  man  as  the  ofl^spring  of  God,  and  created 
in  his  image,  has  been  thereby  destroyed. 
Rather  he  admits  the  existence  in  man  of 
two  opposing  principles — the  predominat- 
ing sinful  principle,  and  the  divine  principle 
depressed  and  obscured  by  the  former,  yet 
still  more  or  less  manifesting  its  heavenly 
origin.  Hence  he  deduces  an  undeniable 
consciousness  of  God  and  an  equally  un- 
deniable moral  self-consciousness  as  a 
radiation  from  the  former.  And  as  he  re- 
cognises an  original  and  universal  revela- 
tion of  God  to  the  human  consciousness,  so 
also  he  acknowledges  in  human  nature  a 
constitution  adapted  to  receive  it ;  as  there 
is  a  self-testimony  of  God,  in  whom  the 
spirit  of  man  lives,  moves,  and  exists,  so 
also  there  is  an  original  susceptibility  in 
human  nature  corresponding  to  that  testi- 


*  Krabbe,  in  his  work  already  quoted,  although 
the  premises  deduced  by  him  from  1  Cor.  xv.  45, 
ought  to  have  led  to  the  same  view  as  mine,  yet 
he  lias  opposed  it,  under  the  supposition  that  I 
have  not  admitted  an  objective  alteration  of  the 
form  of  death,  but  only  a  subjective  iilteration  in 
reference  to  the  form  in  which  it  is  represented  to 
the  mind  of  man.  To  guard  against  this  mis- 
understanding,  I  have  added  several  new  observa- 
tions to  render  my  meaning  more  explicit. 


Chap.  I.] 


THE  TWOFOLD  PRINCIPLE  IN  MAN. 


241 


mony.  The  whole  creation  as  a  revelation 
of  God,  especially  of  his  almightiness  and 
goodness,*  is  designed  to  arouse  the  spirit 
of  man  to  a  perception  of  this  inward  re- 
velation of  God.  But  since  by  the  pre- 
dominant sinful  tendency  of  man  the  sus- 
ceptibility for  this  revelation  of  God  is  im- 
paired, he  has  lost  the  ability  to  raise  him- 
self by  means  of  the  feelings  awakened  by 
outward  impressions  to  a  developement  of 
the  idea  of  God,  to  serve  as  an  organ  for 
which  is  the  highest  destiny  of  the  human 
spirit. f  Since  the  consciousness  in  man  of 
an  interior  being,  by  virtue  oC  which  he  is 
distinct  from  nature,  and  exalted  above  it, 
is  capable  of  appropriating  the  supernatu- 
ral, has  been  depressed  by  sin, — since  he 


*  In  Rom.  i.  20,  Paul  first  asserts  in  general, 
that  the  invisible  being  of  God  is  manifested  to 
the  thinking  spirit  by  the  creation  ;  he  then  speci- 
fies the  revelation  of  his  power,  and  adds  to  it  the 
general  term  S-6iST>i?,  (on  the  form  of  this  word  see 
Rilckert,)  including  every  thing  besides  which  be- 
longs to  the  revelation  of  the  idea  of  God,  to  our 
conceptions  of  the  divine  attributes  to  the  dogaTa 
Tou  S-65U.  We  cannot  deduce  from  the  words  (for 
it  was  not  the  apostle's  intention  to  be  more  defi- 
nite) a  special  reference  to  any  other  divine  attri- 
bute ;  but  it  is  not  without  reason  that  he  brings 
forward  the  idea  of  Almightiness,  because  this 
first  strikes  the  religious  consciousness  on  the 
contemplation  of  Nature,  and  hence  the  conscious- 
ness of  dependence  on  a  higher  power  is  the  pre- 
dominant sentiment  in  Natural  Religion.  Still 
we  may  infer,  from  the  term  ■iiu;)(^a.^t(rT>ia-a.v  in  v. 
21,  that  the  goodness  of  God  was  present  to  his 
thoughts,  which  is  favoured  by  a  reference  to  Acts 
xiv.  17.  In  this  result  I  agree  with  Schnecken- 
burger  in  his  Essay  on  the  Natural  Theology  of 
Paul  and  its  sources,  contained  in  his  "  Beilrage 
zur  Einleitung,  4'c."  But  I  cannot  perceive  the 
necessity  for  deducing  the  manner  in  which  Paul 
has  expressed  himself  from  any  other  source  than 
from  the  depths  of  his  own  spirit,  enlightened  by 
the  Spirit  of  Christ ;  and  in  Philo's  far  less  origi- 
nal investigations,  I  can  find  nothing  which  can 
serve  to  explain  Paul's  thoughts  and  language,  al- 
though I  see  nothing  in  the  use  Schneckenburger 
is  disposed  to  make  of  Philo  for  the  illustration  of 
the  New  Testament,  w^hich  tends  to  depreciate  the 
latter ;  and  I  must  entirely  agree  with  his  excel- 
lent remarks  on  the  relation  of  the  Alexandrian- 
Jewish  school  to  the  appearance  of  Christianity. 
He  also  justly  remarks,  that  those  who  in  their 
folly  think  that  they  can  illustrate  the  greatest 
revolution  in  the  human  race  (the  moral  creation 
effected  by  Christianity)  by  excerpts  from  Philo 
(an  attempt  as  rational  as  to  explain  the  living 
principle  by  a  corpse),  must  serve  quite  a  different 
object  from  that  which  they  have  proposed  to  them- 
selves. 

t  The  connexion  of  the  inward  and  outward  re- 
velation of  God  is  probably  hinted  at  in  the  phrase 
fc  avToTc    Romans  i.  19. 

31 


has  enslaved  himself  to  that  nature  over 
which  he  was  destined  to  rule,*  he  is  no 
longer  able  to  developc  the  feelings  e.xcited 
in  his  breast,  of  dependence  on  a  higher 
power,  and  of  gratitude  for  the  blessings 
bestowed  upon  him,  so  as  to  believe  in  an 
Almighty  God  as  Creator  and  Governor  of 
the  world,  but  he  allows  these  feelings  to 
tern-»inate  in  the  created  beings,  in  the 
powers  and  phenomena  of  nature  by  which 
they  were  first  excited.  Thus,  as  Paul  de- 
scribes  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  idola- 
try originatecf  in  the  deification  of  Nature, 
which  yet  implies  a  depressed  conscious- 
ness of  God,  and  to  this,  as  lying  at  its 
basis,  Paul  appealed  in  his  discourse  at 
Athens.  This  depression  of  the  conscious- 
ness of  God  by  the  substitution  of  sensible 
objects,  tended  more  and  more  to  the  de- 
terioration of  man's  moral  nature  ;  Rom.  i. 
28.  Yet  this,  as  it  belonged  to  the  essence 
of  humanity,  could  not  be  entirely  obliter- 
ated. It  manifested  itself  in  the  conscience 
as  the  undeniable  emanation  from  the  con- 
science of  God.  According  to  Paul,  this  is 
the  revelation  of  an  internal  law  for  the 
life,  and  a  judgment  upon  it,  undeniable 
by  man,  even  should  he  not  deduce  from  it 
the  consciousness  of  that  God  who  here 
manifests  himself  as  a  hidden  legislative 
and  judging  power.  Men,  in  passing  judg- 
ment on  one  another,  give  evidence  of  the 
power  of  that  innate  law  of  their  nature, 
and  condemn  themselves  ;  Rom.  ii.  l.f 

Thus  Paul  represents  two  general  prin- 
ciples in  the  natural  man  as  striving  against 
each   other ;  the  principle  peculiar  to  the 


*  The  dominion  of  man  over  nature  presupposes 
in  its  true  significance  the  free  developement  of  the 
knowledge  of  God,  on  which  the  elevation  of  the 
spirit  over  nature  and  its  aftinity  to  God  is  founded, 
as  a  means  of  exercising  that  true  dominion. 

t  I  cannot  agree  with  those  who  think  that 
Paul,  in  this  passage,  alluded  to  the  Jews,  who 
are  expressly  mentioned  in  v.  9.  Had  this  been 
the  case,  the  transition  from  those  of  whom  he 
had  been  speaking,  the  Gentiles,  to  this  new  sub- 
ject, the' Jews,  must  have  been  in  some  way  mark- 
ed. But  the  (T/o  only  refers  us  to  what  immediately 
precedes,  i.  32,  which  relates  to  the  Gentiles,  though 
it  does  not  follow  that  Paul  confined  himself  to  the 
same  class  of  Gentiles.  Since  wiioever  knows  the 
law  of  God  (according  to  which  they  who  do  such 
things  are  worthy  of  deatii),  and  yet  does  what  it 
forbids,  cannot  excuse  himself,  thou  canst  allege 
no  excuse  for  thyself;  thou,  whoever  thou  mayest 
be,  thou  who  teslifiest  of  thy  knowledge  of  God, 
when  thou  judgest  another,  thou  condemnest  thy- 
self. 


242 


THE  STATE  OF  BONDAGE. 


[Book  VI. 


ofFspring  of  God,  and  allied  to  God,  an  im- 
planted consciousness  of  God,  and  (ground- 
ed on  that)  a  moral  self-consciousness,  the 
reaction  of  the  religious  and  moral  nature 
of  man ;  and  the  principle  of  sin ;  or,  in 
other  words,  Spirit  and  Flesh.  And  as  the 
former,  the  original  nature  of  man  is 
checked  in  its  developement  and  efficiency 
by  the  latter,  and  detained  a  prisoner  as  by 
a  hostile  force,  he  describes  the  state  of  the 
natural  man  in  generai  an  one  oi"  bondage  * 
Still  a  distinction  is  lo  be  made  between  the 
different  states  of  this  bondage,  whether 
it  is  cpnscious  or  unconscious  ;  whether  the 
depressed  higher  nature  has  become  un- 
conscious of  its  own  prerogative,  and  of 
the  restraint  imposed  upon  it,  or  whether 
the  sense  of  bondage  in  which  man's  higher 
self  is  held  has  been  excited,  and  hence  a 
longing  after  freedom  in  the  developed 
higher  self-consciousness.  The  latter  is 
the  state  to  which  the  apostle  has  affixed 
the  name  of  bondage  in  the  more  restricted 
sense  of  the  word,  the  bondage  under  the 
law  ;  a  state  in  which  the  consciousness  of 
the  depressed  higher  nature  is  combined 
with  that  of  the  law  revealing  itself  in  it. 
Hence  these  two  states  of  unconscious  or 
conscious  bondage  are  distinguished  as 
living  without  the  law,  or  living  under  the 
law.  These  two  states  the  apostle  describes 
in  the  7th  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ro- 
mans ;  he  here  depicts,  in  his  own  person, 
and  from  his  own  experience,  two  general 
states. 

The  first  state  he  represents  as  one  in 
which  a  man  lives  in  delusive  satisfaction, 
unconscious  both  of  the  requirements  of 
the  holy  law  and  of  the  power  of  the  coun- 
teracting principle  of  sinfulness.  He  awakes 
from  this  state  of  security  when  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  law  and  its  requirements 
is  excited.  The  moral  ideal,  which  is  pre- 
sented by  the  law  to  the  self-consciousness 
of  man,  exerts  an  attractive  influence  on 
his  higher  nature.  He  feels  that  he  can 
find  satisfaction  and  happiness  only  in  the 
agreement  of  his  life  with  this  law.  But 
then  he  sees  that  he  has  been  wofully  de- 
ceived, for  the  law  when  it  brings  forth  into 
consciousness  the  .sinful  desires  that  had 
hitherto  been  slumbering  in  his  breast,  irri- 
tates them  to  greater  activity  by  the  oppo- 
sition of  its  commands.     The  man  who  is 


enduring  this  conflict  is  represented  by  Paul 
as  saying,  "  The  commandment  that  should 
have  tended  to  life  brought  only  death  ;  for 
sin  which  now  took  occasion  to  break  forth, 
deceived  me  by  the  commandment  and  by 
it  slew  me."— Rom.  vii.  10-11.  The  de- 
ception which  was  practised  by  the  power 
of  the  hitherto  slumbering  but  now  ram- 
pant sinful  desires,  consisted  in  this,  that 
when  the  law  in  its  glory,  the  moral  arche- 
type, first  revealed  itself  to  the  higher  na- 
ture of  man,  he  was  filled  with  earnest  de- 
sire to  seize  the  revealed  ideal ;  but  this  de- 
sire only  made  him  more  painfully  sensible 
of  the  chasm  which  separated  him  from 
the  object  after  which  he  aspired.  Thus, 
what  appeared  at  first  a  blissful  ideal,  by 
the  guilt  of  death-producing  sin  became 
changed  into  its  opposite.  The  higher  na- 
ture of  man  aspiring  after  a  freer  self-con- 
sciousness, is  sensible  of  the  harmony  be- 
tween itself  and  the  divine  law,  in  which  it 
delights ;  but  there  is  another  power,  the 
power  of  the  sinful  principle  striving  against 
the  higher  nature,  which,  when  a  man  is 
disposed  to  follow  the  inward  divine  lead- 
ing, drags  him  away,  so  that  he  cannot  ac- 
complish the  good  by  which  alone  his 
heavenly  nature  is  attracted.*  In  the  con- 
sciousness of  this  wretched  disunion,  he 
exclaims,  '•  Who  shall  deliver  me  from  this 
power  of  sin  V^'\  After  thus  vividly  calling 
to  mind  the  state  of  disunion  and  unhappi- 
ness  from  which  Christianity  has  set  him 
free,  he  is  carried  away  by  emotions  of 
thankfulness  for  redemption  from  that  in- 
ternal wretchedness ;  and  dropping  the 
character  he  had  for  the  moment  assumed, 
he  interrupts  himself  by  an  exclamation 
occasioned  by  the  consciousness  of  his  pre- 
sent state,  and  then,  in  conclusion  briefly 


The  iovKticL 


THC  a^agT/itf. 


*  By  the  opposition  between  the  inner  man  and 
the  law  in  the  members  or  the  flesh,  Paul  certainly 
does  not  mean  simply  the  opposition  between  Spirit 
and  Sense  ;  for  if  the  spirit  were  really  so  ani- 
mated by  the  good  whicli  is  represented  in  the  law 
as  it  ought  to  be  according  to  its  original  nature 
and  destination,  its  volitions  would  be  powerful 
enough  to  subordinate  sense  to  itself.  But  the 
apostle  represents  the  spirit  as  powerless,  because 
a  selfish  tendency  predominates  in  the  soul.  He 
therefore  intends  by  these  terms  to  express  the  op- 
position between  the  depressed  higher  nature  of 
man,  and  the  sinful  principle  which  controls  the 
actions  of  men. 

t  Paul  terms  it  the  body  of  death,  inasmuch  the 
power  of  evil  desires  manifests  itself  particularly 
in  the  body  as  the  slave  of  sinful  habits. 


Chap.  I.] 


THE  APOSTLE'S  EXPERIENCE. 


248 


adverts  to  the  state  of  disunion  before  de- 
scribed, "  I  myself  therefore  am  a  man 
who  with  the  spirit  serve  the  law  of  God, 
but  with  the  flesh  the  law  of  sin."  If  we 
understand  the  phrase,  "  serve  the  law  of 
God,'"  in  the  full  strictness  of  the  idea, 
more  seems  to  be  expressed  by  it  than  the 
standing-point  of  the  natural  man  allows  : 
for  taking  the  words  in  their  highest  sense 
they  describe  such  a  developement  of  the 
whole  lil'e  to  God,  such  an  animating  of  it 
by  a  practical  sense  of  Gody  as  must  pro- 
ceed from  regeneration  and  supposes  its 
existence.  But  we  must  first  of  all  accu- 
rately fix  the  meaning  of  ^ouXsi^siv  and 
vo/xoj  in  this  passage.  Both  terms  are  used 
by  Paul  in  a  twofold  manner.  The  funda- 
mental idea  of  (JouXsutiv  is  that  of  a  life  cor- 
responding to  God's  law  and  to  the  con- 
sciousness of  dependence  on  him.  But  this 
consciousness  of  dependence  may  be  of  two 
sorts  ;  either  one  with  which  the  tendency 
of  the  will  harmonizes,  one  in  which  the 
man  consents  with  freedom  ;  or  one  which 
stands  in  contradiction  to  the  will.  And 
so  likewise  in  the  application  of  the  term 
Law,  of  which  the  general  idea  is  a  rule 
of  life  and  action.  'I'his  rule  may  be  either, 
according  to  the  second  meaning  of  SovXsta, 
a  rule  presenting  itself  to  the  spirit  of  man 
from  without,  an  outwardly  commanding 
constraining  law,  which  contradicts  the  pre- 
dominant internal  tendency  of  the  Will, 
and  whose  supremacy  is  therefore  only  ac- 
knowledged by  compulsion  ;  or  it  may  be 
a  rule  proceeding  from  within,  founded  on 
the  internal  developement  of  the  life,  with 
which  the  predominant  tendency  of  the 
will  is  in  perfect  harmony,  according  to  the 
first  meaning  of  oouXsia.  Now  the  apostle 
here  employs  SovXsia  in  the  second  sense, 
and  describes  a  state  in  which  the  con- 
sciousness of  God  makes  its  power  felt  in 
the  opposition  to  the  sinful  tendency  of  the 
will,  that  controls  the  life;  for  if  the  other 
sense  of  the  term  were  intended,  that  un- 
happy disunion  would  immediately  cease. 
If  the  consciousness  of  God  had  become 
an  internal  law  of  the  life  with  which  the 
determinations  of  the  will  were  in  har- 
mony, the  (Tapg  would  no  longer  exercise  its 
power  as  a  determining  principle  of  the 
life. 

No  doubt  the  apostle  took  the  materials 
of  this  description  from  his  own  experience, 
which  put  it  in  his  power  to  delineate  the 


j  condition  in  such  lively  colours.  Though 
I  educated  by  pious  parents  in  Judaism,  still 
I  there  was  for  him  during  childhood  a  pe- 
riod of  ingenuous  simplicity,  in  which  the 
consciousness  of  the  law  and  of  the  con- 
trariety between  its  requirements  and  the 
indwelling  principle  of  sin,  could  not  be 
developed  with  the  same  clearness  as  ia 
maturcr  life.  And  from  this  first  epoch  of 
childhood,  he  was  led  by  his  Pharisaic  edu- 
cation to  \f\e  summit  of  servitude  to  the 
law.  But  he  represents  in  his  own  person 
the  two  general  standing-points  of  humaa 
developement,  by  which  the  race,  as  well 
as  individuals,  have  been  trained  for  the 
reception  of  redemption.  He  here  describes 
in  an  individual  example  the  use  of  Juda- 
ism as  the  legal  religion,  viewed  in  its  pe- 
culiar nature  of  Christianity,  in  reference 
to  the  developement  of  the  human  race. 
Very  different  was  that  part  of  Judaism 
which  constituted  the  point  of  union  be- 
tween it  and  the  gospel,  and  the  aspect 
under  which  it  might  be  viewed  as  the  gos- 
j  pel  veiled,  the  prophetic  element,  by  which 
it  was  connected  with  the  promises  made 
I  before  the  giving  of  the  law,  and  formed  a 
'  continuation  of  them  till  the  Redeemer 
himself  appeared.  As  in  order  to  prepare 
I  for  the  reception  of  the  Redeemer,  it  was 
j  needful,  on  the  one  hand,  to  excite  a  con- 
sciousness of  internal  disunion  and  bond- 
!  age,  and  the  consequent  sense  of  a  need  of 
redemption  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  to 
point  out  the  relief  about  to  be  aflx)rded  for 
this  misery,  and  the  personage  by  whom  it 
would  be  effected ;  so  Judaism  was  in  both 
these  respects  a  divine  revelation  and  a  re- 
ligious economy  preparative  to  Christianity. 
)  In  confutation  of  the  Jews  and  Judaizers, 
j  who  would  not  recognise  in  Judaism  a  pre- 
parative dispensation,  but  maintained  its 
perpetual  validity,  the  apostle  evinced  that 
all  the  leadings  of  the  divine  government 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world  related  to 
the  fulfilment  of  a  design  embracing  the 
salvation  of  the  whole  fallen  race  of  man, 
a  design  of  communicating  among  all  men 
by  the  Messiah's  redeeming  grace,  for  the 
obtaining  of  which  no  other  means  would 
be  requisite  than  surrendering  themselves 
to  it  and  receiving  it  by  means  of  faith. 
There  was,  therefore,  only  one  fundamen- 
tal relation  between  God  and  man ;  on  the 
part  of  God  a  revelation  of  his  grace  in 
its  promise  and  fulfilment ;  on  the  part  of 


244 


THE  USE  OF  THE  LAW. 


[Book  VI. 


man,  an  appropriation  of  this  grace  by  ' 
faith.  The  legal  Judaism  could  make  no 
alteration  in  this  unchangeable  or  funda- 
mental relation  between  God  and  man, 
which  had  been  already  established  by  the 
promises  given  to  Abraham  ;  it  could  not 
add  a  new  condition,  such  as  the  observ-, 
ance  of  the  law,  for  the  fulfilment  of  the 
promises.  Gal.  iii.  15,  in  which  case  the 
fulfilment  of  the  promise  would  be  attached 
to  something  that  could  not  be  performed, 
since  no  man  is  capable  of  observing  the 
law.  The  law,  therefore,  formed  only  a 
preparatory,  intervening  economy  for  the 
Jewish  nation,*  partly  designed  to  check  in 
some  measure  the  grosser  indulgences  of 
sin,f  but  more  especially  to  call  forth  and 

*  To  this  Rom.  v.  20,  refers  vo/j.oc  Tragua-'Uh^-iv. 


maintain  a  vivid  consciousness  of  sin.* 
Since  the  law  put  an  outward  check  on  the 
sinful    propensity,   which  was   constantly 


Trctp-xatnanaiy 


ap/v.   Gal. 


10.     The  in- 


terpretation  which   I   have  here  followed  of  thi 


passage  requires  to  be  supported  against  the  ob- 
jections  of  Usteri   in    his   "  Entwickkelung   des 
paulinischen  Lehrbegriffes"  (Developement  of  the 
Pauline  Doctrines),  4th  ed.  p.  6G,  67,  and  in  his 
Commentary  on  the  Epistle   to  the  Galatians,  p. 
114.     The   reasons  alleged  by  him  are,  that  the 
idea  of  transgression  presupposes  the  idea  of  law — 
that  according  to  the  Pauline  association  of  ideas, 
sin  was  called  forth  by  the  law,  the  law  could  pre- 
vent no  check  to  sin,  but,  on  the  contrary,  must 
tend  to  hasten  the  outbreak  of  sinfulness.     Paul 
would  therefore  contradict  himself,  if  he  said  that 
the  law  was  added  in  order  to  check    sin.     But 
although  Paul  by  describing  ct/usi^Tt^  as  Trupctfiaa-i;, 
conceived  of  it  as  a  transgression  of  the  law,  yet 
sin  without  reference  to  the  Mosaic  law  might  be 
so   denominated  in  reference  to  the  law  of  God 
revealed   in  the    conscience.     When  the  internal 
law  as  a  revelation  of  God  is  outwardly  presented 
in  a  literal  form,  it  only  serves  to  bring  this  oppo- 
sition into  clearer  consciousness,  and  to  counter, 
work  the  manifold  influences  by  which  this  con- 
sciousness is  obscured  and  depressed.    Indeed,  the 
law,  according  to  Paul,  cannot  conquer  sin  inter- 
nally, but  only  serves  to  manifest  it  in  its  full  ex- 
tent.    It  can  produce  no  true  holiness  in  the  dis- 
position;   nevertheless,  we   can  readily    conceive 
how   a   positive   law,    bringing  into   clearer  con- 
sciousness the  opposition  of  good  and  evil,  opposing 
the  distinctly  expressed  divine  will  to  sinful  incli- 
nations, by  threatening  and  alarming  would  check 
the  outward  indulgence  of  sinful  desires,  act  as  a 
check  on   grosser  immorality,   and  promote  out- 
ward moral   decorum.     This,   it  is  true,  can  be 
attained   only  in  a  very  imperfect  degree  by  the 
law,  since  it  has  not   the   power  of  operating  on 
the  internal  ground,  from  which  all  the  outward 
manifestalions  of  sin  proceed.     On  the  one  hand, 
the  law  checks  the  grosser  outbreaks  of  sin ;  on 
the  other,  it  occasions  that  the  sinfulness  called 
forth  by  opposition  from  its   concealment,  is  dis- 
played in  the  form  of  particular  transgression  of 
the  law,  and  a  man  thereby  becomes  conscious  of 
the  hidden  and  deeply -seated  root  of  all  evil.   Both 


may  be  represented  as  the  work  of  the  law ;  the 
check  put  on  the  outbreaks  of  sinfulness,  and  the 
greater  prominence  given  lo  it  in  the  form  of  par- 
ticular transgressions  of  special  commands.    Both 
may  be  considered   as  the  objects  of  that  divine 
wisdom  which  gave  the  law  to  man,  if  we  only 
keep  the  various    references   distinct  from   each 
other.     On  the  one  hand,  to  prevent  the  total  bru- 
talization  of  human  nature,  and  on  the  other,  not 
to  permit  the  self-deception  that  any  other  means 
of  training  can  avail  short  of  that  method  which 
will  eflfect  a  radical  cure.     As  to  the  first  point, 
Paul  marks  it  in  Rom.  iii.  23,  where  he  says  that 
men  were  kept  as    prisoners  by  the   law,  which 
agrees  with  what  Christ  says  when,  in  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  he  opposes  the  holiness  of  disposi- 
tion attained  through  the  gospel,  to  the  theocratic 
political  law,  which  would  only  restrain  from  with- 
out the  outbreaking  force  of  evil,  and  with  what 
he  says  in  Matt.  xix.  8,  on  the  relation  of  the  law 
to  the  (TKAxgoKagiT/st  of  men.     With  respect  to  the 
other  interpretation  of  the  passage — "  the  law  is 
added  in  order  to  make  sin  knowable  as  such,  to 
bring  men  to  a  clear  consciousness  of  it;"  the 
words  do  not  so   plainly   convey  this   meaning. 
According  to  that  interpretation  they  would  mean, 
— the  law  was  given  to  favour  transgressions,  in 
order  that  transgressions  might  take  place  ;  the 
thought   would  after    all    be  very  obscurely   ex- 
pressed,   and    if  this   were    said  without   further 
limitation,  it  would  convey  such  a  mean  estimate 
of  the  law,  which  Paul  from  his  standing-point 
certainly  could  not  allow.     And  as  Ruckert  justly 
remarks,  the  use  of  the  article  with  the  word  Traga- 
^sLTicev  (on  account  of  certain  existing  sins  in  order 
to  put  a  check  to  them)  better  suits  the  method  of 
interpretation  we  have  followed  and  the  connexion 
of  the  passage,  since  it  is  the  design  of  Paul  to  ac- 
knowledge the  importance  of  the  law  in  its  own 
though  subordinate  value.    See  Schneckenburger's 
review  of  Usteri's  work  on  the  Pauline  doctrines, 
which  agrees  on  this  and  several  other  points  with 
our  own  views,  in  Rheinwald's  Repertorium,  No. 
vi.  &c. 


Rom.  V.  20, 


;«  5r?.sovaa"« 


XfXHgTtA, 


'  so  that 


sin  might  abound,"  that  is,  that  the  power  of  in- 
dwelling sin,  the  intuitive  force  of  the  sinful  prin- 
ciple as  such,  might  be  manifested  so  much  more 
strongly.  In  reference  to  the  developement  of  the 
Pauline  sentiment,  Fritsche,  in  his  excellent  com- 
mentary, to  which  I  am  much  indebted,  justly  re- 
marks (p.  350),  that  this  cannot  be  the  literal 
sense  of  the  passage,  for  here  a/zagrw  is  spoken  of 
as  a  single  violation  of  God's  law.  The  sense  of 
the  passage  is,  in  order  that  transgressions  may 
increase.  But  this  must  serve  to  make  them  more 
conscious  of  the  intrinsic  power  of  the  evil  princi- 
ple, by  its  coming  forth  more  distinctly  in  out- 
ward  manifestation,  as  we  detect  in  the  symptoms 
of  a  positive  disease  the  morbific  matter  which  has 
been  for  a  long  time  lurking  in  the  system.  Thus, 
Rom.  vii.  13,  in  order  that  sin  might  show  itself 
abundantly  as  sin ;  sin  in  its  destructive  power,  so 
that  the  law,  in  itself  salutary,  must  bring  destruc- 
tion to  man  on  account  of  sin. 


Chap.  I.] 


THE  JEWS  AND  GENTILES. 


245 


giving  fresh  proofs  of  its  refractoriness — 
as   by   this    means   the    consciousness  of 
the    power    of    the    sinful     principle    be- 
came more  vivid,  and  hence  the  sense  of 
need  both  of  the  forgiveness  of  sin  and 
freedom  from  its   bondage  was  awakened, 
— the   law  became  a  ifuiSayoiyos  sis  Xp'""- 
Tov.    The  bondage  of  Judaism  partly  con- 
sisted   in    the    union   of    religion    with    a 
multitude  of  sensible  forms,  which  could 
only  typify  the  divine  that  was  not  yet  dis- 
tinctly apprehended  ;  the  dependence  of  the 
developement  of  the  internal  religious  life 
on  outward  and  sensible*  objects,  might 
also   contribute,    like   the    moral   part   of 
the    law,   to    restrain    rude    sensuality,  to 
awaken  the  internal  religious  sentiment,  to 
arouse  it  to  a  consciousness  of  the  bond- 
age  that  oppressed  it,  and   to  a  longing 
after  freedom. f     In  this  aspect,  the  unity 
of  the  Moral  and  the  Ritual  in  the  Mosaic 
law   is   apparent;  both    belonged    to    this 
standing-point  of  religious  and  moral   de- 
velopement, and  subserved  the  same  object. 
In  the  ages  preceding  Christianity,  man- 
kind were  divided  into  Jews  and  Gentiles. 
The  distinction  between  them  consisted  in 
the   opposition  between   natural  develope- 
ment,   and    revelation    among   the   Jews. 
God  had  from  the  beginning  communicated 
and  propagated  the  knowledge  of  himself 
by  a  connected  series  of  revelation  ;  by  a 
positive  law,  the  need  of  a  redemption  was 
manifested,  and  promises  were  given  with 
gradually  increasing  clearness  of  Him  who 
was  to  justify  this  need  ;  Rom.  ix.  4.    The 
theocracy  was  here  presented  in  the  form 
of  a  particular  nationality,  until  at  last  the 
Redeemer  arose   from    the    midst  of  this 
nation  and  verified  in  his  own  person  the 
promises  made  to  them.     The  Gentiles,  on 
the  contrary,  were  left  to  themselves,  and 
shut  out  from  the  organized  historical  pre- 
paration of  the  kingdom  of  God.     Still  the 
apostle  recognises,   as  we  have  here  re- 
marked,   an   original    revelation    of    God 
among  the  heathen,  without  which  even 
idolatry  could  not  have  arisen.     He   pre- 
sents us  with  a  twofold  idea  of  divine  reve- 
lation, distinguished  by  two  names.     The 

TO.  a-APKIKSL. 


universal  revelation  of  God  in  the  creation, 
and  through  that  in  the  reason  and  con- 
science, in  which  three  factors  are  com- 
bined — the  self-revelation  of  God  in  crea- 
tion acting  from  without — the  adaptation  ' 
to  the  knowledge  of  God  in  the  spirit  of 
man,  (reason  and  conscience) — and  the 
undeniable  connexion  of  created  spirits, 
with  the  original  Spirit  whose  offspring 
they  are,  in  whom  they  live  and  move  and 
have  their  being,  the  foundation  from  which 
proceed  all  the  movements  ©f  the  higher 
life ;  this  universal  revelation  the  apostle 
distinguishes  by  the  name  (pavspwtfij.  Reve- 
lation in  a  more  restricted  sense  (which 
proceeds  not  from  an  operation  of  the  Di- 
vine Spirit  through  the  medium  of  creation 
like  the  former,)  by  means  of  which  man 
apprehends  in  a  divine  light  the  truths  re- 
lating to  salvation,  the  knowledge  of  which 
he  could  not  attain  by  his  o.wn  reason, — 
Paul  terms  a-TroxaXu^-is. 

But  that  universal  revelation,  owing  to 
the  corruption  which  repressed  the  awa- 
kened consciousness  of  God,*  could  not  be 
manifested  purely  and  clearly  ;  the  deifi- 
cation  of  nature,  which  gained  the  ascen- 
dency over  its  partial  illumination  of  man- 
kind, formed  an  opposition  against  the 
element  of  divine  revelation  in  Judaism 
which  was  implanted  there  in  its  purity, 
and  presented  by  the  providence  of  God. 
But  in  considering  the  opposition  of  Hea- 
thenism to  Judaism,  we  must  distinguish 
from  its  injurious  influences  that  internally 
revealed  law  of  conscience  which  corre- 
sponded to  the  positive  law  in  Judaism.f 


*  The  <S'iS'ou\aiT^at  utto  to.  o-Toiyi^* 
Vide  p.  186.     Nole. 

t  Thus  Peter  calls  the  law  in  its  whole  extent, 
contrasted  with  the  grace  of  redemption,  "a  yoke --  -,--^^  mnnUind 


*  Rom.  i.  18,  T«v  aM^iiny  iv  a^ty.t<t  x«<r»;^oyTic. 
"  They  repressed  the  truth  that  manifested  itself 
to  them,  the  consciousness  of  trutii  that  was 
springing  up  in  their  minds — through  sin."  In 
these  words,  Paul  particularly  referred  to  the  Gen- 
tiles, though  they  miglit  also  be  applied  to  the 
Jews.  It  was  not  needful  for  him  to  point  out  to 
the  Jews  that  they  could  not  allege  as  an  cxcuso 
for  their  conduct,  the  want  of  a  knowledge  of  God 
and  of  his  law,  since  they  were  only  too  much 
disposed  to  pride  tiienisclvcs  on  the  mere  know- 
ledge of  what  had  been  revealed  to  them. 

t  Although  Paul  was  accustomed  to  form  his 
connexion  of  vo^oc  from  Judaism,  and  to  apply  it 
to  the  Mosaic  law;  yet  his  Christian  univcrsaiism, 
and  his  unfettered  views  of  the  process  of  Inmian 
developement  among  heathen  nations,  led  him  to 
recognise  every  where  a  law  of  undeniable  author- 
ity in  the  hearts  of  men,  and  to  consider  the  law, 
under  the  special  Mosaic  form,  as  the  represcnta- 


246 


THE  JEWS  AND  GENTILES. 


[Book  VI. 


That  law  of  conscience  would  lead  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  disunion  in  the  inner 
man,  and  of  the  need  of  redemption,  with- 
out which  Christianity  could  find  no  point 
of  connexion  or  entrance  in  men's  minds, 
and  as  such  a  point  of  connexion  Paul 
on  all  occasions  employs  it  in  arguing  with 
the  Gentiles. 

The  apostle  places  in  opposition  to  each 
other  the  Jews  incorporated  in  the  king- 
dom of  God,  and  the  heathen  who  were 
living  without  God  ;  still  he  does  not  put 
all  who  were  living  in  heathenism  on  the 
same  level.  Certainly  he  could  not  say  of 
every  individual,  what  he  says  of  the  cor- 
rupt mass  in  general,  Eph.  iv.  19,  that 
they  had  given  themselves  up  to  the  indul- 
gence of  their  lusts  with  a  suppression  of 
all  moral  feeling;  he  no  doubt  recognised 
in  the  civil  and  domestic  virtues  of  the 
heathen  some  scattered  rays  of  the  re- 
pressed knowledge  of  God.  In  this  respect 
he  says,  comparing  the  heathen  with  the 
Jews,  that  where  the  former  fulfilled  in 
some  cases  the  commands  of  the  law,  fol- 
lowing the  law  written  on  their  hearts,  they 
thereby  passed  sentence  of  condemnation 
on  the  Jews,  to  whom  the  positive  law  had 
been  given,  of  which  they  boasted,  but 
neglected  to  obey  it.  Not  that  we  can 
suppose  him  to  mean,  that  in  any  instance 
there  was  any  thing  like  a  perfect  fulfil- 


allow  that  Paul,  wherever  he  speaks  of  vo^o?,  had 
only  in  his  thoughts  the  Mosaic  law;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  we  must  maintain  that  when  he  repre- 
sents the  law  as  one  that  condemns  man,  reveals 
his  guilt,  it  appears  to  him  as  the  representative  of 
the  divine  law  as  it  reveals  itself,  and  is  applicable 
to  all  mankind  though  less  clearly.  Although 
Paul,  when  he  speaks  of  the  curse  of  the  law, 
Gal.  iii.  13,  and  describes  it  as  "the  handwriting 
of  ordinances,"  Col.  ii.  14,  must  have  the  Jews 
immediately  in  view,  who  were  conscious  of  the 
obligation  of  the  law,  yet  certainly,  according  to 
his  conceptions,  it  relates  to  all  mankind.  As 
long  as  the  law  was  in  force,  it  denounced  a  curse 
on  all  who  did  not  obey  it,  as  the  observance  of  it 
was  the  only  means  for  participating  in  the  king- 
dom of  God,  and  obtaining  eternal  life.  Hence 
the  curse  pronounced  by  it  must  be  first  taken 
away,  that  "  the  blessing  of  Abraham"  which  re- 
lated to  all  mankind  might  come  upon  the  Gen- 
tiles ;  Gal.  iii.  14.  Hence  also  among  the  heathen 
the  revelation  of  the  og^yn  d-iov  (to  accomplish  which 
is  the  work  of  the  law),  Rom.  iv.  15,  must  precede, 
and  they  must  obtain  the  knowledge  that  through 
Christ  they  are  freed  from  this  o^yn  in  order  to  be 
partakers  of  redemption.  These  remarks  are  of 
force  against  the  views  of  Ruckert  and  Usteri — 
See  especially  their  Commentary  on  Gal.  iii.  13. 


ment  of  the  law.  To  suppose  this  would 
be  in  direct  contradiction  to  what  Paul  af- 
firms respecting  the  consciousness  of  guilt 
universally  awakened  by  the  law,  that  it 
could  only  call  forth  a  sense  of  sin  and 
deserved  punishment ;  we  cannot  separate 
a  single  act  from  the  whole  life,  if  with 
Paul  we  refer  every  thing  to  the  animating 
disposition,  and  do  not  form  our  estimate 
according  to  the  outward  value  of  good 
works.  Where  the  whole  of  the  internal 
life  was  not  animated  by  that  which  must 
be  the  principle  of  all  true  goodness,  that 
principle  could  not  perfectly  operate  even 
for  a  single  moment.  Still  the  repressed 
higher  nature  of  man,  the  seat  of  the  law 
of  God,  gave  more  or  fewer  signs  of  its 
existence. 

From  the  Jewish  and  from  the  Gentile 
standing-points  there  was  only  one  mode 
of  transition  to  a  state  of  salvation,  the 
consciousness  of  an  inward  disunion  be- 
tween the  divine  and  the  undivine  in  human 
nature,  and  proceeding  from  that,  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  need  of  redemption.  And 
hence  there  were  two  hindrances  which 
obstructed  the  attainment  of  salvation  by 
men  ;  either  the  gross  security  of  heathen- 
ism, where  the  higher  movements  of  life 
were  entirely  suppressed  by  the  dominion 
of  sinful  pleasure,  or  the  Jewish  merit  of 
works  and  self-righteousness,  where  men, 
pacifying  their  consciences  by  the  show  of 
devotion  and  of  fulfilling  the  law,  deceived 
themselves,  and  supposed  that,  by  the  me- 
chanism of  outward  religious  exercises,  or 
by  the  performance  of  certain  actions  which 
wore  the  appearance  of  good  works,  they 
had  attained  the  essence  of  the  holiness 
required  by  the  divine  law.  In  reference 
to  the  latter,  Paul  says  of  the  Jews,  Rom. 
X.  3,  that  since  they  knew  not  the  essence 
of  true  holiness  which  avails  before  God 
and  can  be  imparted  by  God  alone,  and 
since  they  esteemed  their  own  works  to  be 
genuine  holiness — they  could  not  perceive 
their  insufficiency,  and  hence  they  could 
not  appropriate  the  holiness  revealed  and 
imparted   by  God.*     As   the  manner   in 


*  The  (T/xa/so-t/vw  tow  3-«ou  here  denote  a  right- 
eousness which  avails  before  God,  and  originates 
with  him,  in  opposition  to  one  which  men  suppose 
may  be  attained  by  their  own  power  and  works, 
and  which,  though  men  may  deceive  themselves 
by  false  appearances,  cannot  stand  in  the  sight  of 
a  holy  omniscient  God.     It  denotes  accordingly 


Chap.  L] 


THE  JEWS  AND  GENTILES. 


247 


which  the  Jews,  insensible  of  their  need  of 
divine  aid,  endeavoured  to  attain  hoHness 
by  the  observance  of  the  law,  was  the 
cause  of  their  not  attaining  it ;  so  on  the 
other  hand  the  heathen — those,  namely,  in 
whom  self-conceit  of  another  kind  had  not 
been  produced  by  a  philosophical  training 
— since  no  such  spiritual  pride  counter- 
acted the  feeling  of  the  need  of  redemption 
in  their  minds,  when  once  through  parti- 
cular circumstances,  inward  experiences, 
or  perhaps  through  the  .preaching  of  the 
gospel,*  the  voice  of  the  law  had  been  dis- 
tinctly heard — were  easily  awakened  to 
this  feeling  of  helplessness,  and  thus  led  to 
faith  in  the  Redeemer.f 

In  another  respect  also,  Paul  compares 
the  Jewish  and  the  heathen  or  Grecian 
standing-points  with  one  another.  Among 
the  Jews  the  predominance  of  the  sensuous 
element  in  their  religious  life,  which,  being 
unsusceptible  of  the  internal  revelation  of 
divine  power,  sought  for  extraordinary 
events  in  the  world  of  the  senses  as  marks 
of  the  divine,  a  tendency  which  he  distin- 
guished by  the  name  of  sigii-seelcing,  was 
opposed  to  faith  in  a  crucified  Redeemer, 
who  had  appeared  in  "  the  form  of  a 
servant."  This  revelation  of  the  power  of 
God,  where  the  sensual  man  could  per- 
ceive only  weakness  and  ignominy,  must 
have  been  a  stumbling-block  to  their  sign- 
seeking  minds,  which  longed  for  a  Messiah 
in  visible  earthly  glory  as  the  founder  of 
a  visible  kingdom.  Among  the  educated 
portion  of  the  Greeks,  on  the  contrary, 
that  one-sided  tendency,  which  sought  only 
for  the  satisfaction  of  a  love  of  knowledge 
in  a  new  religion,  the  one-sided  predomi- 
nance of  speculation,  which  Paul  desig- 
nated wisdom- seeking  and  philosophical 
conceit — opposed  faith   in  that  preaching 


the  manner  in  which  men  are  justified  through 
faith  in  Christ,  in  opposition  to  the  rigiiteousness 
of  the  law  or  of  works.  The  apostle  uses  the  ex- 
pression jTrnayn^AM,  since  he  considers  the  cause 
of  their  not  receiving  what  God  is  willing  to  be- 
stow,  to  be  a  spirit  of  insubordination,  a  want  of 
humility  and  acquiescence  in  the  divine  arrange- 
ments. 

*  Which  in  this  connexion  must  present  itself 
at  first  as  a  revelation  of  the  divine  wrath  against 
sin.     Rom.  i.  18. 

t  Hence,  naturally,  as  among  the  Jews  it  was 
precisely  their  ita»<.ih  \oix'.y  inito^um  which  was 
the  cause  of  their  not  attaining  true  righteousness, 
so  among  the  heathen  their  //»  SMx-m  was  the 
cause  of  their  more  easily  attaining  it. 


which  did  not  begin  with  the  solution  of 
intellectual  difficulties,  but  with  offering 
satisfaction  to  hearts  that  longed  for  the 
forgiveness  of  sin  and  sanctification  ;  hence 
to  this  class  of  persons  the  doctrine  which  ■ 
did  not  fulfil  the  expectations  of  their  wis- 
dom-seeking tendency,  and  demanded  the 
renunciation  of  their  imaginary  wisdom 
must  have  appeared  as  foolishness  ;  1  Cor. 
i.  22-23.  Thus  Paul  said  in  reference  to 
the  Greelvs,  1  Cor.  iii.  18,  He  who  thinks 
himself  wise,  let  him  become  a  fool,  that 
he  may  be  able  to  find  true  wisdom  in  the 
gospel.  To  the  Jews  the  language  ad- 
dressed on  the  Pauline  principles  would  be. 
He  who  esteems  himself  righteous  must 
first  become  in  his  own  eyes  a  sinner,  that 
he  may  find  in  the  gospel  true  righteous- 
ness. Thus  must  nations  as  well  as  in- 
dividuals be  brought  to  their  own  experi- 
ence, to  a  sense  of  the  insufficiency  of  their 
own  wisdom  and  righteousness,  in  order, 
by  feeling  their  need  of  help,  to  be  in  a 
suitable  state  for  receiving  that  redemption 
which  was  prepared  for  all  mankind  ;  Rom. 
xi.  32.  The  whole  history  of  mankind 
has  redemption  for  its  object,  and  there 
are,  according  to  the  measure  of  the  diver- 
sified standing-points  of  human  develope- 
ment,  diversified  degrees  of  preparation  ; 
but  this  is  the  central  point  to  which  the 
whole  history  of  man  tends,  where  ail  the 
lines  in  the  developement  of  individual  ge- 
nerations and  nations  meet.  According 
to  this,  we  must  understand  what  Paul 
says,  that  God  sent  his  Son  into  the  world 
in  the  fulness  of  time,  Gal.  iv.  4— when 
he  speaks  Eph.  iii.  9  of  the  mystery  of  re- 
demption as  hidden  from  eternity  in  God 
— and  which  was  to  be  fulfilled  in  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  fulness  of  time,  Eph.  i.  10. 
In  the  divine  counsels  he  could  not  suppo.se 
there  was  a  before  and  after ;  but  by  this 
mode  of  expression  he  marks  the  internal 
relation  of  the  divine  counscl.s  and  works 
to  each  other,  the  actual  establi.shment  of 
the  kingdom  of  God  among  men  by  re- 
demption, the  final  aim  of  the  whole  earthly 
creation  by  which  its  destiny  will  he  com- 
pletely fulfilled.  This  globe  is  created  and 
destined  for  the  purpose  of  being  the  .seat 
of  the  kingdom  of  God,  of  being  animated 
by  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  body  of  whi'^li 
the  kingdom  of  God  is  the  soul.  The  end 
of  all  cTeated  existence  is  that  it  may  con- 
tribute to  the  glory  of  God,  or  to  reveal 


248 


NECESSITY  OF  REDEMPTION. 


[Book  VI. 


God  in  his  glory.  But  in  order  that  this 
may  be  really  accomplished,  it  must  be 
with  consciousness  and  freedom,  and  these 
are  qualities  which  can  be  found  only  in 
an  asserpblage  of  rational  beings.  It  is 
such  an  assemblage  therefore  which  is  dis- 
tinguished by  the  name  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  when  the  reason  of  the  creature 
has  been  brought  by  sin  into  a  state  of 
contrariety  with  the  end  of  its  existence, 
Redemption  is  a  necessary  condition  of 
establishing  the  kingdom  of  God  on  this 
globe. 

Paul  could  not  indeed  have  represented 
human  nature  under  the  aspect  of  its  need 
of  redemption  in  this  manner,  if  he  had  not 
been  led  to  the  depths  of  self-knowledge, 
by  his  own  peculiar  developement.  But  so 
far  was  he  from  mingling  a  foreign  element 
with  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  that  from  his 
own  experience  he  has  drawn  a  picture 
which  every  man,  who  like  Paul  has  striven 
after  holiness,  must  verify  from  his  self- 
knowledge  ;  it  is  a  picture,  too,  the  truth  of 
which  is  presupposed  by  the  personal  in- 
struction of  Christ,  as  we  shall  find  by 
reading  the  three  first  gospels.  We  gather 
this  not  so  much  from  single  expressions 
of  Christ  respecting  the  constitution  of 
human  nature,  as  from  the  representations 
he  gives  of  the  work  he  had  to  accomplish 
in  its  relation  to  mankind.*  When  he  com- 
pares Christianity  to  leaven  which  was 
designed  to  leaven  the  whole  mass  into 
which  it  was  cast,  he  intimates  the  neces- 
sity of  transforming  human  nature  by  a 
new  higher  element  of  life  which  would  be 
infused  into  it  by  Christianity.  Christ  calls 
himself  the  Physician  of  mankind  ;  he  says 
that  he  came  only  for  the  sick,  for  sinners  ; 
Matt.  ix.  13;  Luke  v.  32.  It  is  impossi- 
ble that  by  such  language  he  could  intend 
to  divide  men  into  two  classes — the  sick, 
those  who  were  burdened  with  sin,  and 
who  needed  his  aid ; — and  the  righteous, 
those  in  health  and  who  needed  not  his 
assistance  or  could  easily  dispense  with  it  ; 
for  the  persons  in  reference  to  whose  ob- 
jections he  uttered  this  declaration,  he 
would  certainly  have  recognised  least  of  all 
as  righteous  and  healthy.  Rather  would 
he  have  said,  that  as  he  came  only  as  a 


*  That  the  work  of  Christ  presupposes  a  condi- 
tion of  corruption  and  helplessness,  is  acknow- 
ledged by  De  Wette  in  his  "  Biblischen  Dogmatik" 
§246. 


Physician  for  the  sick,  as  a  Redeemer  for 
sinners,  he  could  only  fulfil  his  mission  in 
the  case  of  those  who,  conscious  of  disease 
and  sin,  were  willing  to  receive  him  as 
Physician  and  Redeemer ;  that  he  was 
come  in  vain  for  those  who  were  not  dis- 
posed to  acknowledge  their  need  of  healing 
and  redemption.  Christ,  when  he  draws 
the  lines  of  that  moral  ideal  after  which  his 
disciples  are  to  aspire,  never  expresses  his 
reliance  on  the  moral  capabilities  of  human 
nature,  on  the  powers  of  reason ;  he  appeals 
rather  to  the  consciousness  of  spiritual  in- 
sufficiency, the  sense  of  the  need  of  illumi- 
nation by  a  higher  divine  light,  of  sanctifica- 
tion  by  the  power  of  a  divine  life ;  wants  like 
these  he  promises  to  satisfy.  Hence  in  his 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  he  begins  with  pro- 
nouncing blessed  such  a  tendency  of  the 
disposition,  since  it  will  surely  attain  what 
it  seeks ;  compare  Matt.  xi.  28.  When 
Christ,  Matt,  xix.,  Luke  xviil,  enjoined  on 
the  rich  man  who  asked  him  what  he  must 
do  to  inherit  eternal  life — to  "  keep  the 
commandments,"  it  is  by  no  means  incon- 
sistent with  what  Paul  asserts  of  the  in- 
sufficiency of  the  works  of  the  law  for  the 
attainment  of  salvation,  but  is  identical 
with  it,  only  under  another  form  and  as- 
pect. Christ  wished  to  lead  this  individual, 
who  according  to  the  Jewish  notions  was 
righteous,  to  a  consciousness  that  outward 
conformity  to  the  law  by  no  means  involved 
the  disposition  that  was  required  for  par- 
ticipation in  the  kingdom  of  God.  The 
test  of  renouncing  self  and  the  world  which 
he  imposed  upon  him,  would  lead  one  who 
was  still  entangled  in  the  love  of  earthly 
things,  though  from  his  youth  he  had  lived 
in  outward  conformity  to  the  law — to  feel 
that  he  was  destitute  of  this  disposition. 
Nor  can  we,  from  the  expressions  in  which 
children  are  presented  as  models  of  the 
state  of  mind  with  which  men  must  enter 
the  kingdom  of  God,  Matt.  xix.  14,  Luke 
xviii.  15,  infer  the  doctrine  of  the  incorrup- 
tion  of  human  nature,*  partly  because  the 
point  of  comparison  is  only  the  simplicity 
and  compliance  of  children,  the  conscious- 
ness of  immaturity,!  the  disclaiming  of 
imaginary  pre-eminence,  the  renunciation 
of  prejudices  ;  and  partly  because  childhood 
is  an  age  in  which  the  tendency  to  sin  is 


*  As  Baumgarten  Crusius  appears  to  do  in  his 
Biblischen  Dogmatic,"  p.  362. 
t  See  my  Leben  Jesu,  p.  547. 


Chap.  I.] 


THE  WORK  OF  REDEMPTION. 


1240 


less  developed,*  but  by  no  means  implies 
the  non-existence  of  such  a  tendency. 
Still  Christ  could  not  have  used  these  and 
similar  expressions  (as  in  Matt.  xvii.  10) 
in  commendation  of  what  existed  in  chil- 
dren as  an  undeveloped  bud,  if  he  had  not 
recognised  in  them  a  divine  impress,  a 
glimmering  knowledge  of  God,  which  when 
brought  from  the  first  into  communion  with 
Christ,  was  carried  back  to  its  original,  and 
thereby  preserved  from  the  reaction  of  the 
sinful  principle.!  And  the  recognition  of 
a  something  in  human  nature  allied  to  the 
divine,  is  implied  in  what  Christ  says  of 
the  eye  of  the  spirit,  of  that  which  is  the 
light  of  the  inner  man,  by  the  relation  of 
which  to  the  source  of  light,  the  whole 
direction  and  complexion  of  the  life  is  de- 
termined ;  so  that,  either  by  keeping  up  a 
connexion  with  its  divine  source,  light  is 
spread  over  the  life  of  man,  or  if  the  eye  be 
darkened  by  the  prevalence  of  a  worldly 
tendency,  the  whole  life  is  involved  in  dark- 
ness. But  as  we  have  seen,  Paul  presup- 
poses such  an  undeniable  and  partially  il- 
luminating knowledge  of  God  in  human 
nature,  and  this  assumption  is  supported  by 
what  he  says  of  the  various  degrees  of 
moral  developement  among  mankind. 

The  idea  of  the  need  of  redemption  leads 
us  to  the  work  of  redemption  accomplished 
by  Christ.  Paul  distinguishes  in  the  work 
of  Christ,  his  doing  and  his  suffering.  To 
sin,  which  from  the  first  transgression  has 
reigned  over  all  mankind,  he  opposes  the 
perfect  holy  life  of  Christ.  To  the  evil 
whose  consummation  is  death,  representing 
itself  as  punishment  in  connexion  with  sin 
by  virtue  of  the  feeling  of  guilt  and  con- 
demnation founded  in  the  conscience,  he 
opposes  the  sufferings  of  Christ  as  the 
Holy  One ;  which,  as  they  have  no  refe- 
rence to  sins  of  his  own,  can  only  relate  to 
the  sins  of  all  mankind,  for  whose  redemp- 
tion they  were  endured.  In  reference  to  the 
former,  Paul  says,  in  Rom.  viii.  3,  that 
what  was  impossible  to  the  law,  what  it 


»  On  this  account  Paul  in  1  Cor.  xiv.  20,  speaks 

of  a  VifT/atffs'V  Til  x.iKIA. 

t  The  qualities  which  Christ  attributes  to  chil- 
dren,  are  entirely  opposed  to  a  harsli  Augustinian 
theology,  and  the  gloomy  view  of  life  founded  upon 
it,  although  this  must  be  recognised  as  relatively 
a  necessary  step  in  the  developement  of  the  Chris- 
tian life,  in  reference  to  certain  circumstances, 
and  as  the  root  of  important  phenomena  in  the 
history  of  the  church. 

32 


was  unable  to  effect  owing  to  the  predomi- 
nant sinfulness  in  human  nature,  (namely 
to  destroy  the  reign  of  sin  in  human  nature, 
which  the  law  aimed  to  effect  by  its  holy 
commands),  was  accomplished  by  God, 
when  he  sent  his  Son  into  the  world  in  that 
human  nature  which  hitherto  had  been 
under  the  dominion  of  sin,  and  when  he 
condemned  sin,  that  is  despoiled  it  of  its 
power  and  supremacy,  and  manifested  ita. 
powerlessuess  in  that  human  nature,  over 
which  it  had  before  reigned,  in  order  that 
the  requirements  of  the  law  might  be  ful- 
filled in  believers,  as  those  whose  lives 
were  governed  not  by  sinful  desire  but  by 
the  Spirit,  the  divine  vital  principle  of  the 
Spirit  that  proceeded  from  Christ.*  Paul 
does  not  here  speak  of  any  particular  point 
in  the  life  of  Christ,  but  contemplates  it  as 
a  whole,  by  which  the  perfect  holiness  re- 
quired by  the  law  was  realized.  Thus  the 
reign  of  holiness  in  human  nature  succeeds 
to  the  reign  of  sin,  the  latter  is  now  de- 
stroyed and  the  former  established  object- 
ively in  human  nature;  and  from  this  ob-. 
jective  foundation  its  continued  develope- 
ment proceeds.  And  in  no  other  way  can 
the  human  race  be  brought  to  fulfil  their  des- 
tiny, the  realization  of  the  kingdom  of  God, 
which  cannot  proceed  from  sin  and  estrange- 
ment from  God,  but  must  take  its  commence- 
ment from  a  perfectly  holy  life,  presenting 
a  perfect  union  of  the  divine  and  the  human. 
The  Spirit  of  Christ,  from  which  this  reali- 
zation of  the  ideal  of  holiness  proceeded  in 
his  own  life,  is  also  the  same  by  which  the 
life  of  believers,  who  are  received  into  his 
fellowship,  is  continually  formed  according 
to  this  archetype.  In  Rom.  v.  18,  Paul 
opposes  to  the  one  sin  of  Adam  the  one 
holy  work  (the  Iv  Jixaiu|xa)  of  Christ. 
And  if,  induced  by  the  contrast  to  the  one 
sin  of  Adam,  he  had  in  view  one  act  es- 
pecially of  Christ,  the  offering  up  of  him- 
self, as  an  act  of  love  to  God  and  man,  and 


«  The  other  interpretation  of  this  passage,  ac- 
cording to  which  it  means  that  Christ  bore  for 
men  the  punishment  attached  to  sin  by  the  law, 
appears  to  me  not  to  be  favoured  by  the  context, 
for  it  is  most  natural  to  refer  the  aJuvxroi  tw  vo,mou 
in  the  first  clause  to  the  xstTaJig/KWv  my  a./u.t^Tity 
in  the  last.  But  this  will  not  suit  if  wc  lake  the 
first  in  the  sense  of  condemning  and  punishing, 
for  it  was  precisely  this  which  the  law  cnuld  do; 
but  to  condemn  sin  in  the  sense  in  which  the  word 
is  used  in  John  xvi.  11,  and  xii.  31,  the  law  was 
prevented  from  doing  by  the  opposition  of  the  ra^^. 


250 


CHRIST'S  HUMILIATION  AND  GLORIFICATION. 


[Book  VI. 


of  voluntary  obedience  to  God,  still  this  1 
single  act,  even  according  to  Paul's  state- 
ment,  ought  not  to  be  considered  as  some- 
thing isolated,  but  as  the  closing  scene  in 
harmony  with  the  whole,  by  which  he  com- 
pleted the  realization  of  the  ideal  of  holi- 
ness in  human  nature,  and  banished  sin 
from  it.  In  this  view  indeed  the  whole 
life  of  Christ  may  be  considered  as  one 
holy  work.  As  by  one  sin,  the  first  by 
which  a  commencement  was  made  of  a 
life  of  sin  in  the  human  race,  sin,  and  with 
sin  condemnation  and  death,  spread  among 
all  mankind  ;  so  from  this  one  holy  life  of 
Christ,  holiness  and  a  life  of  eternal  hap- 
piness resulted  for  all  mankind.  This 
holy  life  of  Christ,  God  would  consider  as 
the  act  of  the  human  race,  but  it  can  only 
be  realized  in  those  who,  by  an  act  of  free 
self-determination,  appropriate  this  work 
accomplished  for  all,  and  by  this  surrender 
of  themselves  enter  through  Christ  into  a 
new  relation  with  God ;  those  who  through 
faith  are  released  from  the  connexion  with 
the  life  of  sin  propagated  from  Adam,  and 
enter  into  the  fellowship  of  a  holy  life  with 
Christ.  Since  they  are  thus  in  union  with 
Christ,  in  the  fellowship  of  his  Spirit,  for 
his  sake  they  are  presented  as  Sixaioi  before 
God,  and  partake  of  all  that  is  indissolubly 
connected  with  the  holiness  of  Christ  and 
of  his  eternally  blessed  life.  In  this  sense, 
Paul  says  that  from  the  one  ^(xaiwfxa  of 
Christ,  objective  ^ixaiwtfig  and  the  conse- 
quent title  to  ^uYj  comes  upon  all  (Rom.  v. 
18);  that  by  the  obedience  of  one  many 
shall  be  made  righteous  (v.  19);  in  this 
latter  passage,  he  probably  blends  the  ob- 
jective and  the  subjective  ;  the  objective  im- 
putation of  the  ideal  of  holiness  realized  by 
Christ,  founded  in  the  divine  counsels,  or 
the  manner  in  which  the  human  race  ap- 
pear in  the  divine  sight ;  and  the  conse- 
quent subjective  realization,  gradually  de- 
veloped, which  proceeds  from  faith. 

With  respect  to  the  second  point,  the 
sufferings  of  Christ  as  such,  we  find  this 
(not  to  mention  other  passages  where  this 
idea  forms  the  basis)  distinctly  stated  in 
two  places.  In  Gal.  iii.  13,  after  the  apos- 
tle had  said  that  the  law  only  passed  sen- 
tence  of  condemnation  upon  men*  who  had 


*  Although  the  use  of  n'^Metc  (Gal.  iii.  13)  and  the 
contrast  with  the  s&w,  v,  14,  make  it  probable  that 
Paul  had  the  Jews  chiefly  in  his  thoughts,  yet  this 


shown  that  they  were  guilty  of  violating 
it,  he  adds,  that  Christ  has  freed  them  from 
this  condemnation  since  on  their  account 
and  in  their  stead*  he  had  borne  this  con- 
demnation, by  sufl'ering  the  punishment  of 
the  cross  as  a  person  accused  by  the  law. 
The  second  place  is  2  Cor.  v.  21.  Him 
who  knew  no  sin,  the  sinless  one,  God  has 
made  sin  for  our  sakes  (the  abstract  for  the 
concrete) ;  he  has  made  him  a  sinner,  he 
has  allowed  him  to  appear  as  a  sufferer  on 
account  of  sin,  that  we  might  become 
through  him  the  righteousness  of  God,  that 
is,  such  as  may  appear  before  God  as 
righteous ;  that  therefore  as  Christ  the 
Holy  One  entered  by  his  sufferings  into 
the  fellowship  of  our  guilt,  so  we  sinners 
enter  into  the  fellowship  of  his  holiness. 

In  accordance  with  these  views,  Paul  di- 
vided the  life  of  Christ  into  two  parts.  At 
first  Christ  presented  himself  as  a  weak 
mortal,  although  conscious  of  possessing  a 
divine  nature  and  dignity,  submitting  to  all 
the  wants  and  limitations  of  earthly  hu- 
manity, partaking  of  all  those  evils  which 


by  no  means  excludes  a  reference  to  mankind  in 
general ;  (agreeably  to  what  we  have  already  said 
respecting  the  ideal  and  universal  relation  of  the 
law.)  Paul  indeed  says  particularly  of  (he  Jews, 
that  they  could  not  attain  righteousness  by  the 
law,  as  they  expected,  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  de- 
nounced its  curse  against  them,  from  which  they 
must  first  be  freed.  But  since  the  vofAOi  corre- 
sponds to  the  universal  law  written  on  the  heart, 
so  also  this  curse  pronounced  by  the  law  corre- 
sponds to  the  sentence  of  condemnation  which  that 
internal  law  pronounces  in  the  consciences  of  men. 
The  curse  is  only  first  expressly  pronounced  among 
the  Jews,  and  presented  more  distinctly  to  their 
consciousness  ;  just  as  the  express  promises  were 
first  made  to  them.  See  the  excellent  remarks  in 
Bengel's  Gnomon.  On  this  supposition,  the  na- 
tural connexion  between  v.  13  and  14,  is  apparent, 
which  is  founded  in  the  thought  that  the  heathen 
must  be  first  freed  from  the  curse  which  rests  on 
them  as  sinners,  in  order  that  the  blessing  which 
was  to  extend  itself  from  Abraham  to  all  man- 
kind, and  which  could  not  be  fulfilled  in  those  who 
were  estranged  from  God  by  guilt,  might  be  ful- 
filled in  them.  The  same  sentiment,  though  ex- 
pressed in  another  form,  occurs  in  all  the  passages 
where  it  is  said  that  all  need  forgiveness  of  sins. 
As  in  Paul's  mind,  there  was  a  common  reference 
to  Jews  and  Gentiles,  he  joins  them  together  in  the 
"  KuBufAiv,"  And  afterwards  he  says,  that  Christ 
wlien  he  appeared  among  that  nation  who  typified 
the  theocracy  for  the  whole  human  race,  and  satis, 
fied  the  requirements  of  the  law,  performed  this 
for  the  whole  human  race,  who  therefore  were 
brought  into  a  filial  relation  to  God. 

*  Both  these  ideas  may  be  included  in  the  t/Vtg 


Chap.  I.] 


SUFFERINGS  AND  RESURRECTION  OP  CHRIST. 


251 


affect  human  nature  in  connexion  with  sin, 
and  as  the  punishment  of  sin,  so  that  in 
his  outward  appearance  and  condition  he 
placed  himself  entirely  on  a  level  with  men 
suffering  on  account  of  sin.  The  consum- 
mation of  this  state  was  the  crucifixion,  as 
the  consummation  of  the  misery  entailed  by 
sin  is  presented  in  death.  The  second  part 
was  the  life  of  Christ  risen  and  glorified,  in 
which  his  unchangeable  divine  and  blessed 
life  reveals  itself  in  perfection,  corresponding 
to  that  perfect  holiness  which  he  manifested 
on  earth — for  as  sin  and  death,  so  are  sin- 
lessness  and  a  life  of  eternal  blessedness 
correlative  ideas  in  Paul's  writings  ;  and  as 
in  Christ's  risen  and  glorified  humanity, 
that  divine  life  is  presented  which  corre- 
sponds to  perfect  holiness,  so  it  is  a  practi- 
cal proof  that  he  in  the  earlier  portion  of 
his  life,  fulfilled  the  law  of  holiness  in  and 
for  human  nature,  and,  by  enduring  the  suf- 
ferings incurred  through  sin,  effected  the  re- 
lease of  mankind  from  the  guilt  and  punish- 
ment, and  has  assured  to  them  eternal  life, 
which  will  be  communicated  to  all  who  en- 
ter into  fellowship  with  him  by  faith.*  Thus 
it  is  declared  in  2  Cor.  xiii,  4,  that  though 
Christ  was  crucified  owing  to  human  weak- 
ness, the  crucifixion  was  the  closing  point 
of  his  life  in  the  participation  of  human 
weakness — yet  since  his  resurrection,  he 
enjoys  a  life  of  divine  power  without  any 
mixture  of  human  weakness.  In  Rom.  vi. 
16,  the  death  of  Christ  is  spoken  of  as  bear- 
ing a  relation  to  sin — as  an  event  which, 
but  for  sin,  would  not  have  taken  place, 
and  had  for  its  only  object  the  blotting  out 
of  sin ;  and  that  having  perfectly  attained 
that  end,  it  was  not  to  be  repeated.  The 
earthly  life  and  sufferings  of  Christ  bear  a 
relation  to  sin,  as  being  the  means  of  re- 
deeming the  human  race  from  it.  But  now 
the  risen  and  glorified  Saviour,  having 
once  completed  the  redemption  of  liuman 
nature,  is  separated  from  all  relation  to  sin 
and  the  evils  connected  with  it,  and  exalted 
above  all  conflicts  and  earthly  weakness, 

*  An  illustration  of  Paul's  lauguage  may  be 
found  in  an  Epistle  of  Constantine,  relating  to 
some  Christians  who  eagerly  seized  on  an  oppor- 
tunity of  returning  from  exile  to  their  native 
country,  olov  ajTra^ft*  t<  txv  iTntvoSov  Troinyufxtvoi. 
Euseb.  de  vita  Conslanlin.  ii.  31,  and  the  words  of 
Eusebius  himself.  Hist.  Eccles.  vili.  12,  respecting 
those  who  preferred,  rather  than  surrendering 
themselves  to  the  heathen,  tov  3-*»aTov  dg5r*^/x* 


lives  in  divine  power  and  blessedness,  to 
the  glory  of  God.  He  no  longer  endures 
the  sufferings  to  which  human  nature  be- 
came subject  by  sin,  and  he  needs  to  per- 
form nothing  more  for  the  extinction  of  sin, 
having  done  this  once  for  all.  There  re- 
mains only  his  positive  operation  for  the 
glory  of  God,  without  the  negative  refer- 
ence to  the  extinction  of  sin.  Conscious 
of  his  divinity,  he  did  not  eagerly  retain 
(Phil.  ii.  6)  equality  with  God  lor  the  mere 
exhibition  of  it,  but  divested  himself  of  the 
divine  glory  which  appertained  to  him,  pre- 
sented himself  in  the  form  of  human  de- 
pendence, humbled  himself  and  became 
obedient  unto  death,  even  the  ignominious 
death  of  the  cross.  Wherefore — on  ac- 
count of  this  perfect  obedience  rendered 
under  all  human  weakness  and  suffering — 
God  has  exalted  him  to  the  highest  dignity 
and  rule  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  Accord- 
ing to  this  train  of  ideas,  as  the  sufferings 
of  Christ  are  represented  as  having  a  re- 
lation to  sin,  so  his  resurrection  is  adduced 
as  a  practical  evidence  of  the  freedom  from 
sin  and  the  justification  bestowed  by  him, 
by  virtue  of  the  connexion  existing,  not 
only  between  sin  and  death,  but  between 
righteousness  and  eternal  life.  And  in 
reference  to  the  importance  of  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ,  as  an  objective  proof  of 
the  release  of  human  nature  from  the  guilt 
of  sin  and  the  death  that  it  involved,  the 
apostle  says  in  1  Cor.  xv.  17,  "  If  Christ 
be  not  risen,  ye  are  yet  in  your  sins." 
From  this  connexion  of  ideas  it  follows, 
that  the  sufferings  of  Christ  must  always 
be  considered  in  union  with  his  whole  life 
and  as  the  close  and  consummation  of  it ; 
and  with  a  twofold  reference  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  Pauline  doctrine,  they  bear 
to  the  completion  of  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion, namely — the  appropriation  of  human 
guilt,  by  entering  into  the  suffering  condi- 
tion of  man — and  the  perfect  realization  of 
the  moral  law.  And  therefore,  when  Paul 
speaks  of  what  Christ  effected  by  his  blood 
and  his  cross,  one  single  point  which  forms 
the  consummation  and  the  close  of  the 
whole  stands  for  that  whole,  according  to 
a  mode  of  expression  common  to  the  sa- 
cred writers,  though  in  its  full  significance 
it  can  be  understood  only  in  connexion 
with  all  the  rest. 

As  the  result  of  this  work  of  Christ  for 
sinful  mankind,  Paul  specifies  reconcilia- 


252 


PAULINE  IDEA  OF  RECONCILIATION. 


[Book  VI. 


tion  with  God,  redemption,  justification. 
With  respect  to  the  idea  of  reconciliation, 
it  cannot  have  been  conceived  by  Paul  as 
if  men  had  been  objects  of  the  divine  wrath 
and  hatred,  till  Christ  appeasing  the  divine 
justice  by  his  sufferings,  by  his  timely  in- 
tervention reconciled  an  offended  God  to 
mankind,  and  made  them  again  the  objects 
of  his  love ;  for  the  plan  of  redemption 
presupposes  the  love  of  God  towards  the 
race  that  needed  redemption,  and  Paul  con- 
siders the  sending  of  Christ,  and  his  living 
and  suffering  for  mankind,  as  the  revela- 
tion of  the  superabounding  love  and  grace 
of  God';  Eph.  iii.  19;  Titus  iii.  4;  Rom. 
V.  8,  viii.  32.  And  this  counsel  of  God's 
love  he  represents  as  eternal,  so  that  the 
notion  of  an  influence  on  God  produced  in 
time  falls  to  the  ground,  since  the  whole 
life  and  sufferings  of  Christ  were  only  the 
completion  of  the  eternal  counsel  of  divine 
love.  Therefore  Paul  never  says,*  that 
God  being  hostile  to  men,  became  reconciled 
to  them  through  Christ,  but  that  men  who 
were  the  enemies  of  God  became  recon- 
ciled to  him  ;  Rom.  v,  10  ;  2  Cor.  v.  16. 
Thus  he  calls  on  men  to  be  reconciled  to 
God ;  2  Cor.  v.  20.  The  obstacle  exists 
on  the  side  of  men,  and  owing  to  this  they 
do  not  receive  the  revelation  of  the  love  of 
God  into  their  self-consciousness  ;  and 
since  by  the  redeeming  work  of  Christ  this 
obstacle  is  taken  away,  it  is  said  of  him 
that  he  has  reconciled  man  to  God,  and 
made  him  an  object  of  divine  love. 

From  what  has  been  said,  we  may  at- 
tach merely  a  subjective  meaning  to  recon- 
ciliation ;  and  the  ideas  presupposed  by  it 
of  enmity  with  God  and  of  God's  wrath, 
may  appear  to  be  the  only  indications  of 
subjective  relations,  in  which  man  finds 
himself  in  a  certain  state  of  disposition  to- 
wards God — indications  of  the  manner  in 
which  God  presents  himself  to  the  con- 
science of  a  man  estranged  from  him  by 
sin,  or  the  manner  in  which  the  knowledge 

*  If  we  only  reflect  upon  the  connexion  of  the 
objective  and  the  subjective  in  the  doctrine  of  Paul 
respecting  the  reconciliation  of  men  with  God,  it 
will  easily  appear  that  this  passage  is  not  charge- 
able with  that  want  of  logical  connexion  and  clear- 
ness of  conception,  which  one  of  the  most  noted 
expositors  of  the  Pauline  Epistles — Ruckert — 
fancied  that  he  found  in  it ;  the  love  of  truth  has, 
however,  led  this  estimable  man  to  a  more  correct 
view,  and  in  the  last  edition  of  his  able  Commen- 
tary on  the  Romans,  he  has  improved  his  analysis. 


of  God  must  develope  itself  in  connexion 
with  the  consciousness  of  guilt.  Thus  by 
the  term  Reconciliation  only  such  an  in- 
fluence on  the  disposition  of  man  may  be 
denoted,  by  which  it  is  delivered  from  its 
former  state,  and  placed  in  another  relation 
tovvards  God.  Since  Christ  by  his  whole 
life,  by  his  words  and  works,  and  espe- 
cially by  his  participation  in  the  sufferings 
of  humanity,  and  by  his  sufferings  for  men, 
has  revealed  God's  love  towards  those  who 
must  have  felt  themselves  estranged  from 
him  by  sin — and  has  exhibited  his  suffer- 
ings as  a  pledge  of  the  forgiving  love  of  God, 
and  his  resurrection  as  a  pledge  of  the  eter- 
nal life  destined  for  them, — thus  he  has  kin- 
dled a  reciprocal  love  and  childlike  confi- 
dence tovvards  God  in  the  souls  of  those  who 
were  unable  to  free  themselves  from  the  state 
of  disquietude  which  was  produced  by  the 
consciousness  of  guilt.  The  reconciliation  of 
man  to  God  (according  to  this  view)  con- 
sists in  nothing  else  than  the  alteration  of 
disposition  arising  from  the  revelation  of 
God's  love  towards  fallen  humanity,  which 
this  revelation  produces  in  their  self-con- 
sciousness. Still  it  is  supposed  that  the 
reconciliation  of  man  to  God  is  not  the  re- 
sult of  any  amendment  on  the  part  of  the 
former,  but  the  amendment  is  the  result  of 
the  reconciliation,  since  through  the  new 
determination  of  the  self-consciousness  by 
means  of  love  and  confidence  towards  God, 
an  altogether  new  direction  of  the  life, 
the  source  of  all  real  amendment  turned 
towards  God  and  away  from  sin  is  pro- 
duced. According  to  this  view  also  it  is 
presupposed  that  man,  who  felt  himself 
estranged  from  God  by  sin,  finds  in  him- 
self no  ground  of  confidence  towards  God, 
and  requires  an  objective  ground,  a  practi- 
cal revelation  to  which  his  own  self-con-  ■ 
sciousness  can  attach  itself,  in  order  to  ex- 
cite and  support  his  confidence.  This  lat- 
ter is,  without  doubt,  a  leading  point  of  the 
Pauline  system,  as  it  is  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  New  Testament  in  general.  All  the 
exhortations  and  encouragements  of  the 
apostle  proceed  continually  from  a  reference 
to  the  practical  revelation  of  God's  re- 
deeming love.  Nor  can  it  be  a  valid  ob- 
jection, on  the  other  hand,  that  Paul,  in 
2  Cor.  V.  20,  addressing  those  who  were 
already  believers,  and  calling  on  them  to 
be  reconciled  to  God,  meant  that  by  amend- 
ment they  entered  into  a  new  relation  to 


Chap.  I.] 


ON  FORGIVENESS  OF  SINS. 


258 


God,  and  were  brought  out  of  their  former 
state  of  enmity  ;  for  it  makes  here  no  dif- 
ference whether  Paul  is  speaking  to  those 
who  had  already  professed  Christianity,  or 
to  those  with  whom  this  was  not  the  case. 
In  every  case  according  to  his  conceptions,* 
the  believing  appropriation  of  the  reconci- 
liation of  man  with  God  effected  through 
Christ  was  accompanied  by  a  new  direc- 
tion of  the  life,  and  where  this  did  not  en- 
sue, it  was  a  sign  that  the  believing  appro- 
priation had  not  taken  place,  and  the  man 
was  still  destitute  of  that  reconciliation  with 
God  from  which  amendment  proceeds.  In 
that  very  passage  Paul  does  not  say.  Amend 
yourselves  in  order  that  you  may  be  re- 
conciled to  God  ;  but  rather,  Let  not  the 
grace  of  reconciliation  appear  to  be  in  vain 
for  you,  as  if  you  had  not  appropriated  it. 
By  Christ's  offering  up  his  life  for  man 
estranged  from  God,  man  is  objectively 
reconciled  to  God.  God  has  removed  that 
which  made  the  separation  between  himself 
and  man.  But  what  has  been  objectively 
accomplished  for  all  mankind,  must  now 
be  appropriated  by  each  individual  and  thus 
become  subjective.  Hence,  according  to 
these  different  points  of  view,  Paul  could 
say — ."  Be  ye  reconciled  [subjectively)  to 
God,"  and  "  We  are  reconciled  (objective- 
ly) to  God  by  the  death  of  his  Son  ;"  Ro- 
mans v.  10. 

But  those  views  in  conformity  to  which 
the  life  and  sufferings  of  Christ  are  con- 
sidered merely  as  a  manifestation  of  God's 
love,  and  the  reconciliation  effected  by  him 
as  the  subjective  influence  of  this  mani- 
festation on  the  human  heart — appear  by 
no  means  adequate  to  the  meaning  of  the 
Pauline  declarations  already  quoted  re- 
specting the  redemption  of  Christ.  And 
although  the  gross  anthropopathical  notion 
of  God's  reconciliation  with  man,  is  evi- 
dently inconsistent  with  Paul's  train  of 
ideas,  it  does  not  follow,  that  by  the  ex- 
pression reconciliation,  only  a  subjective 
change  in  the  disposition  of  man  is  de- 
noted, for  we  are  by  no  means  justified  in 
explaining  the  correlative  ideas  of  an  en- 
mity with  God,  and  a  wrath  of  God  merely 
as  subjective,  and  among  the  various  de- 
signations of  the  divine  attributes  connected 
with  them,  acknowledge  a  reality  merely 
in  the  idea  of  the  love  of  God.     On  the 


*  This  is  distinctly  marked  by  his  exhortation 

KCLTAKXcLyhtt. 


contrary,  the  common  fact  of  human  con- 
sciousness, according  to  which  a  man  ad- 
dicted to  sin  feels  himself  estranged  from 
God,  and  cannot  get  rid  of  the  feeling  of 
his  guilt  and  ill-deserts,  reveals  to  us  a 
deeper  objective  ground  in  the  moral  con- 
stitution of  the  universe  and  in  the  essence 
of  God.  In  this  universal  fact,  we  have  a 
witness  of  the  revelation  of  God's  holiness 
in  the  consciences  of  mankind,  which  is  as- 
undeniable  as  the  revelation  of  his  love. 
By  the  "  icrath  of  Gocl^'"  though  in  an  an- 
thropopathical form,  something  objective 
and  real  is  signified,  which  is  not  fully  ex- 
pressed by  the  idea  of  punishment,  but  in- 
cludes what  is  the  ground  of  all  punish- 
ment, (on  which  account  this  phrase  "  the 
wrath  of  God"  is  sometimes  used  to  express 
merely  punishment),  the  ground  ol"  the 
necessary  connexion  between  sin  and  evil, 
the  absolute  contrariety  existing  between 
God  as  the  Holy  One  and  sin.*  God  re- 
cognises evil  as  evil,  as  that  which  stands 
in  contrariety  to  his  holiness,  rebels  against 
him  and  his  holy  order,  and  would  exist 
independent  of  him.  The  mode  in  which 
God  recognises  evil,  is  also  a  sentence  of 
condemnation  upon  it,  and  is  a  proof  of  its 
powerlessness  and  wretchedness.  Evil  is 
denied,  if  not  contemplated  as  something 
occupying  the  place  of  God. 

Thus  in  the  mode  by  which  man  is  freed 
by  the  love  of  God  from  that  unhappy  re- 
lation to  God,  in  which  he  stands  owing  to 
the  divine  holiness,  the  love  of  God  reveals 
itself  only  in  connexion  with  his  holiness, 
or  as  holy  love.  This  connexion  is  pointed 
out  by  Paul  in  Rom.  iii.  24.  In  this  pas- 
sage, he  contrasts  the  revelation  of  God's 
holiness  at  that  time  by  the  publication  of 
the  gospel,  and  the  non-punishment  of  prist 
sins  before  the  appearance  of  the  gospel. 
By  the  •ra^so'iS  tuv  ajxagTYjfxarwv  and  the 
dvoj^r)  TOO  &JOU,  he  understands  the  manner 
in  .which  the  conduct  of  God  was  mani- 
fested in  reference  to  sin  before  the  publi- 
cation of  the  gospel,  especially  towards  the 
heathen  world,  who  knew  nothing  of  the 
Old  Testament  revelations  of  the  holiness 
of  God  in  opposition  to  sin,  and  also  to- 
wards the  Jews,  who,  notwithstanding 
these  testimonies  in  the  delay  of  the  divine 
judgments  for  their  sins,  instead  of  intcr- 
pretiiig  the  long-suffering  of  God  as  a  call 

*  Compare  Twestcn's  Dogmalik,  ii.  p.  14G. 


254 


THE  SUFFERINGS  OF  CHRIST. 


[Book  VI. 


to  repentance,  were  sunk  in  carnal  security. 
We  may  compare  with  this,  Paul's  lan- 
guage in  Acts  xvii.  30,  speaking  of  the 
times  of  ignorance  that  God  had  over- 
looked., Though  this  is  to  be  understood 
only  relatively,  in  reference  to  the  different 
standing-points  of  historical  developement, 
for  Paul  recognised,  as  we  have  already 
shown,  in  the  moral  nature  of  the  heathen, 
a  revelation  of  the  divine  law,  of  the  divine 
holiness  and  punitive  justice.  But  under 
their  peculiar  circumstances,  there  was 
from  a  kind  of  necessity  a  general  obscu- 
ration of  that  religious  and  moral  know- 
ledge by  which  their  thinking  and  acting 
was  regulated.  This  induced  on  the  part 
of  God  a  passing  over,  a  non-imputation 
of  offences  ;  though  the  reckoning  taken 
of  transgressions  would  never  go  beyond 
the  measure  of  the  possible  knowledge  of 
the  law;  Rom.  v.  13.  Thus  there  may 
be  a  chargeableness  and  a  non-chargeable- 
ness  under  different  aspects,  by  which  the 
apparent  contradictions  in  Paul's  language 
may  be  reconciled. 

Paul  in  Rom.  iii.  25,  declares  that  for 
both  the  Jews  and  heathens  a  revelation  of 
the  divine  wrath  must  precede  the  revela- 
tion of  the  grace  that  forgives  sin.  The 
'!rap£(fig  denotes  only  what  was  negative 
and  temporary,  the  non-punishment  of  past 
sins  on  the  part  of  God ;  so  that  the  sense 
of  the  guilt  of  sin  is  not  presupposed,  and 
the  removal  of  that  sense  is  not  effected.* 
The  acpsdig,  on  the  other  hand,  denotes  ob- 
jectively  that  act  of  God  by  which  sin  is 
really  forgiven,  that  is,  is  considered  in  re- 
lation to  God  and  the  moral  constitution  of 
the  universe  as  not  existing ;  and,  subjec- 
tively, that  operation  in  the  heart  of  man 
by  which  it  is  really  freed  from  the  con- 
sciousness of  guilt ;  this  means  far  more 
than  the  non-punishment  of  sin  during  a 
certain  period.  In  those  to  whom  this  act 
of  God  relates,  the  consciousness  of  guilt 
and  of  the  divine  o'p^oi,  the  subjective  reve- 
lation of  the  divine  punitive  justice,  is  pre- 
supposed ;  and  the  operation  that  takes 
place  in  their  dispositions  necessarily  im- 
plies forsaking  a  life  of  sin,  and  the  renun- 
ciation of  all  fellowship  with  sin.  Accord- 
ing  to  the  connexion  of  ideas  in   Paul's 


*  In  scholastic  language,  VAgiTi;  may  be  referred 
to  the  voluntas  signi,  and  a.<ptTii  to  the  voluntas 
beneplaeiti. 


mind,  we  are  led  to  take  this  view  of  the 
subject.  In  contrast  with  the  former  ap- 
parent overlooking  of  sin  on  the  part  of 
God,  the  holiness  of  God  at  this  time  is 
now  manifested  by  his  openly  exhibiting 
Christ,  through  his  offering  up  of  himself^ 
as  a  reconciler  or  sin-offering  for  the  sins 
of  mankind,  so  that  he  verifies  himself  as 
the  Holy  One,  and  permits  every  one  to 
appear  before  him  as  holy,*  who  shows 
that  he  is  in  fellowship  with  Christ  by 
faith.  The  holiness  of  God  manifests  itself 
(according  to  the  Pauline  connexion  of 
ideas  already  noticed)  in  the  life  and  death 
of  Christ  in  a  twofold  manner.  First,  in- 
asmuch as  he  completely  realized  (in  op- 
position to  sin  which  had  hitherto  been  pre- 
dominant in  human  nature)  that  holy  law 
to  which  the  life  of  man  was  designed  to 
correspond,-:-made  satisfaction  to  the  moral 
order  of  the  universe,  and  glorified  God  in 
that  nature  which  was  originally  designed 
to  glorify  him.  God  has  verified  himself 
as  the  Holy  One,  since  he  forgives  sin  only 
on  the  condition  of  the  perfect  fulfilment 
of  the  law ;  he  has  shown  that  he  remits 
nothing  from  the  requirements  of  perfect 
holiness,  and  we  always  bear  in  mind  that 
this  remission  to  those  who  through  it  ob- 
tain justification,  is  not  a  mere  outward 
act,  but  becomes  in  all  the  cause  and 
pledge  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  law.  Se- 
condly, inasmuch  as  Christ,  as  perfectly 
holy,  underwent  those  sufferings  which 
the  divine  holiness  considered  as  punitive 
justicef  in  its  opposition  against  sin,  had 


*  That  we  ought  not  to  translate  Jmuioc  right- 
eous, but  holy,  appears  from  that  meaning  of  this 
word  which  lies  at  the  basis  of  Si>cu.niiv,  to  declare 
a  person  SiKtttoi. 

t  That  divine  attribute  which  reveals  itself  in 
the  necessary  connexion  of  sin  and  evil,  is  found- 
ed in  the  reaction  of  the  holiness  of  God  against 
sin  (=  the  wrath  of  God),  exhibits  itself  in  the 
reaction  of  the  moral  order  of  the  universe  against 
evil,  whence  punishment  proceeds.  If  punishment 
is  conceived  of  merely  as  a  means  of  amendment, 
and  this  is  supposed  to  comprehend  all  that  is  in- 
tended by  it,  this  is  a  degradation  of  a  rational 
being  and  of  morality  making  it  mechanical.  But 
if  punishment  is  viewed  at  first  as  a  revelation  of 
the  divine  justice,  as  an  objective  reaction  of  the 
moral  order  of  the  universe  against  evil,  another 
mode  of  viewing  it  also  presents  itself,  according 
to  which  the  punishment  necessary  in  itself  is  ap- 
pointed by  the  love  of  God,  in  order,  since  punish, 
ment  and  sin  stand  in  this  internal  connexion 
with  one  another,  to  lead  thereby  to  a  conscious, 
ness  of  sin  and  guilt,  to  make  rational  creatures 


Chap.  I.] 


THE  IDEAS  OF  AnoATTPfi2i2,  iriTHPiA. 


255 


suspended  over  human  nature.  We  are 
not  ta  conceive  of  this,  as  if  God  arbitra- 
rily imposed  these  sufferings,  or  Christ  had 
arbitrarily  subjected  himself  to  them  ;  but 
that  it  was  grounded  on  the  assumption  of 
human  nature  in  its  present  condition  and 
relation  to  God — as  the  divine  punitive 
justice  revealed  itself  to  them  who  were 
suffering  the  consequences  of  sin — and  thus 
it  was  accomplished  through  the  historical 
developement  of  the  life  of  Christ  devoted 
to  conflict  with  the  sin  that  reigned  in  the 
human  race,  and  through  his  condescend- 
ing to  their  condition  from  the  sympathy 
of  love.* 

With  the  idea  of  reconciliation,  the  ideas 
of  a'TToXurpwo'if,  (furripm  ^ixaiwtfij  are  closely 
connected.  The  two  first  terms  are  used 
in  a  wider  and  a  narrower  sense ;  they  de- 
note the  deliverance  from  the  guilt  and 
punishment   of  sin,    the   tfwriipia  ot-ro   tjjs 


sensible  of  the  relation  they  stand  in  to  the  moral 
world,  and  thus  to  call  forth  the  feeling  of  the 
need  of  redemption.  The  self-will  which  rebels 
in  sin  ag-ainst  the  moral  order  of  the  universe  and 
God's  holy  law,  must  be  humbled  by  sufferincr  be- 
fore the  holy  omnipotence  of  God  and  the  majesty 
of  his  law.  Where  submission  is  not  yielded 
freely,  it  will  be  compelled.  Without  the  idea  of 
punishment,  the  reality  of  evil  and  the  dignity  of 
rational  creatures  cannot  be  acknowledged.  It 
belongs  to  the  privilege  of  rational  beings  created 
in  the  likeness  of  God,  and  distinguishes  them 
from  other  natural  objects,  that  the  idea  of  punish- 
ment finds  its  application  in  them.  See  the  excel- 
lent remarks  of  Twesten,  in  his  Dogmatik,  i.  p. 
148. 

*  The  Pauline  view  of  the  work  of  redemption 
finds  a  point  of  connexion  in  Christ's  words  in 
Matt.  XX.  28,  whether  we  consider  >.vt^c,y  as  a  sum 
paid  for  release  from  captivity  or  slavery,  or  for 
redemption  from  deserved  punishment;  also  in  the 
institution  of  the  Holy  Supper,  (in  which  he  evi- 
dently alluded  to  the  connexion  between  the  Pass- 
over and  the  establishment  of  the  Old  Covenant), 
which  by  the  offering  of  himself  to  obtain  and 
confirm  the  forgiveness  of  sins  to  mankind,  mark- 
ed the  establishment  of  the  New  Covenant.  The 
Pauline  views  are  also  supported  by  the  manner 
in  which  Christ  adopts  the  ideas  of  the  wrath  of 
God  and  of  punitive  justice  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, without  casting  a  doubt  on  their  validity.  [ 
The  parable  of  the  Lost  Son,  and  other  expressions  j 
which  relate  to  forgiving  love,  offer  no  contradic- 
tion, but  mark  precisely  the  side  on  which  God 
reveals  himself  in  the  work  of  redemption,  and 
what,  humanly  speaking,  could  be  the  only  motive 
to  such  an  act  of  God  towards  a  race  estranged 
from  him  by  sin ;  they  do  not,  however,  determine 
the  manner  in  which  the  result  designed  by  divine 
love  is  to  be  attained  ;  the  form  and  order  followed 
by  the  compassionate  love  of  God,  for  the  love  of 
God  acts  only  as  a  holy  and  righteous  love. 


opyrji,  Rom.  V.  9,  first  objectively  as  what 
has  been  gained  by  Christ  for  the  human 
race  ;  and  also  subjectively,  what  is  cfTec 
tuated  by  progressive  developement  in  each 
individual  by  personal  appropriation,  from 
his  first  entrance  into  fellowship  with  the 
Redeemer,  to  the  complete  participation  of 
his  glory  and  blessedness  in  the  perfected 
kingdom  of  God  ;  but  more  especially 
what  belongs  to  the  perfect  realization  of 
the  idea,  the  complete  freedom  from  sin 
and  all  its  consequences,  from  all  evil, — 
natural  and  moral.* 

With  respect  to  the  idea  of  ^ixaiwtfi?,  in 
order  to  determine  it,  we  must  refer  to 
what  we  have  already  remarked  on  the 
Pauline  opposition  to  the  common  Jewish 
notion  of  righteousness.  He  sets  out  from 
the  same  point  as  his  adversaries,  as  far 
as  he  considers  the  participation  in  all  the 
privileges  and  blessings  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  indissolubly  connected  with  the  5ixaio- 
(fvvf],  the  genuine  theocratic  disposition  and 
condition  of  life.  The  correlative  idea  of 
righteousness  in  this  sense  was  blessedness, 
the  participation  of  the  blessings  promised 
through  Abraham  to  all  his  posterity,  the 
fulfilment  of  all  the  promises  relating  to 
the  kingdom  of  God,  all  the  privileges  of 
the  children  of  God  ;  and  an  entrance  into 
all  the  relations  in  which  they  stand  to 
God.  But  Paul  maintained  against  the 
Jews  and  Judaizers,  that  by  the  law  and 
the  working  of  the  law,  no  one  could  at- 
tain this  otxaiorfuvr],  present  himself  a  Sixatog 
before  God,  and  enter  into  the  relation 
with  God  founded  upon  it ;  but  that  every 
man  appears  as  a  sinner  in  God's  sight, 
till  entering  by  faith  into  fellowship  with 
Christ  (the  only  perfect  (Jixaiog  by  whom 
mankind  are  delivered,  in  the  way  that  we 
have  described  from  the  state  of  a/xafTia), 
he  presents  himself  in  union  with  Christ 
(£»  X^iC'tTj)  as  a  5ixaioj  before  God,  and  en- 
ters into  the  entire  relation  with  God,  im- 
plied in  this  predicate,  is  viewed  by  God 
as  Sixaiog,  and  established  in  all  the  privi- 
leges connected  with  this  idea  (Sixamrai). 
Consequently  Paul  includes  in  the  idea  of 
SixaicKfis  that  act  of  God,  by  which  he 
places  the  believer  in  Christ  in  the  relation 
to  himself  of  a  Sixaiog,  notwithstanding  the 
sin  that  still  cleaves  to  him.     Aixaio(3'i;v»)  de- 

*  uTrcwrearn  is  found  in  the  latter  sense  in 
Rom.  viii.  23,  Eph.  i.  14 ;  and  fct^n^ict  in  the  latter 
sense  in  Rom.  xiii.  11 ;  1  Pet.  i.  5. 


256 


ABRAHAM  AN  EXAMPLE  OF  FAITH. 


[Book  VI. 


notes,  then,  the  subjective  appropriation  of 
this  relation,  the  appearing  righteous  before 
God,  by  virtue  of  faith  in  the  Redeemer, 
and  the  whole  new  tendency  and  aim  of 
the  life,  as  well  as  the  whole  new  relation 
to  God,  now  received  into  the  conscious- 
ness, which  is  necessarily  connected  with 
it ;  the  righteousness  or  perfect  holiness  of 
Christ  appropriated  by  faith,  as  the  objec- 
tive ground  of  contidence  for  the  believer, 
and  also  as  a  new  subjective  principle  of 
life.  Thus  the  righteousness  of  faith  in 
the  Pauline  sense  includes  the  essence  of 
a  new  disposition  ;  and  hence  the  idea  of 
^ixaiorfuvr)  may  easily  pass  into  the  idea  of 
sanctification,  though  the  two  ideas  are 
originally  distinct.  Accordingly,  it  is  not 
any  arbitrary  act  on  the  part  of  God,  as 
if  he  regarded  and  treated  as  sinless  a  man 
persisting  in  sin,  simply  because  he  be- 
lieves in  Christ ;  but  the  objective  on  the 
part  of  God  corresponds  to  the  subjective 
on  the  part  of  man,  namely  faith,  and  this 
necessarily  includes  in  itself  a  release  from 
the  state  inherited  from  Adam,  from  the 
whole  life  of  sin  and  the  entrance  into 
spiritual  fellowship  with  the  Redeemer, 
the  appropriation  of  his  divine  life.  The 
realization  of  the  archetype  of  holiness 
through  Christ  contains  the  pledge  that 
this  shall  be  realized  in  all  those  who  are 
one  with  him  by  faith,  and  are  become  the 
organs  of  his  Spirit ;  its  germ  and  princi- 
ple is  already  imparted  to  them  in  believ- 
ing, although  the  fiy.iit  of  a  life  perfectly 
conformed  to  the  Redeemer,  can  only  be 
developed  gradually  in  its  temporal  mani- 
festation. The  connexion  of  these  ideas 
will  be  rendered  clearer  by  developing  the 
Pauline  idea  of  faith. 

What  Paul  distinguished  by  the  name  of 
Faith  has  its  root  in  the  depths  of  the 
human  disposition.  It  presupposes  a  reve- 
lation of  God  in  a  direct  relation  to  man, 
and  faith  is  the  reception  and  vital  appro- 
priation of  this  divine  revelation  by  virtue 
of  a  receptivity  for  the  divine  in  the  human 
disposition,  of  the  tendency  grounded  in 
human  nature  and  the  need  implanted  in  it 
for  believing  in  the  supernatural  and  divine, 
without  which  tendency  and  need,  man, 
however  his  other  faculties  might  be  culti- 
vated, would  be  no  more  than  an  intelli- 
gent animal*     Something  must  be  pre- 


sented as  an  object  of  knowledge  adapted 
to  this  part  of  the  human  constitution,  but 
this  object  must  be  of  a  kind  that  can  be 
correctly  recognised  and  understood  only 
by  the  disposition  ;  it  presupposes  a  certain 
tendency  of  the  disposition,  in  order  to  be 
known  and  understood,  while  it  also  tends 
to  produce  a  decided  and  enduring  ten- 
dency of  the  disposition.  An  inward  self- 
determination  of  the  spirit  grounded  in  the 
direction  of  the  will  is  claimed  by  this  ob- 
ject, while  a  new  and  constant  self-determi- 
nation is  produced  by  it.  It  is  not  in  re- 
ference to  the  object  of  faith,  but  to  the  in- 
ward subjective  significance  of  this  act 
of  the  inner  man,  as  that  which  forms 
the  characteristic  of  true  piety  in  all 
ages,  that  Paul  compares  the  faith  of  Abra- 
ham with  the  faith  of  Christians,  Rom.  iv. 
19,  where  he  exhibits  Abraham  as  a  pat- 
tern of  the  righteousness  of  faith.  When 
Abraham  received  a  promise  from  God,  of 
which  the  fulfilment  seemed  to  be  incom- 
patible with  the  natural  order  of  things,  he 
raised  himself  by  an  act  of  faith  above  this 
impediment,  and  the  word  of  the  Almighty 
which  held  forth  something  invisible,  had 
greater  influence  upon  him  than  that  order 
of  nature  which  presented  itself  to  his  un- 
derstanding and  bodily  senses.  Hence 
this  faith,  as  a  practical  acknowledgment 
of  God  in  his  almighty  creative  activity, 
and  as  a  reference  of  his  whole  life  to  the 
sense  of  dependence  on  God,  a  true  honour- 
ing of  God  :*  and  it  was  this  faith  which 
gave  its  peculiar  significance  and  character 
to  the  life  of  Abraham.  This  faith,  says 
Paul,  was  counted  to  him  by  God  for  ^i- 
xaiorfuv-o  ;  that  is,  although  Abraham  was 
not  sinless,  (as  no  man  is,)  yet  through  this 
tendency  of  his  inwai'd  life  by  virtue  of  his 
faith,  he  entered  into  the  relation  to  God  of 
a  5ixaiog ;  and  this  was  no  arbitrary  nomi- 
nal act  on  the  part  of  God,  but  his  faith  was 
viewed  by  God,  to  whom  the  inward  soul  of 
1  man  is  manifest,  as  an  index  of  the  dispo- 
sition by  which  Abraham  became  suscep- 
tible of  all  divine  communications,  and  from 
which  alone  the  sanctification  of  his  whole 
life  could  proceed.f     Now  this  is  applied 


A  state  to  which  the  intellectual  fanaticism  of 


a  party  in  the  present  age,  zealous  for  the  pre- 
tended autonomy  of  reason,  seeks  to  degrade 
man. 

*  A  MoidLi  So^'iv  Tw  S-ca.    Rom.  iv.  20. 

t  The  cT/o  in  Romans  iv.  22,  points  to  this  con- 
nexion.     Wherefore,  as  faith  includes  all  this,  as 


Chap.  I.]  FAITH  IN  A  CRUCIFIED  AND  RISEN  SAVIOUR. 


257 


by  Paul  to  faith  with  a  special  reference  to  ' 
Christianity.  There  is  only  added  a  pecu- 
liar direction  caused  by  the  object  on  which 
this  faith  is  fixed,  by  which  also  the  con- 
ception of  it  as  subjective,  is  modified. 
Faith  in  this  sense,  presupposes  the  con- 
sciousness of  sin,  the  renunciation  of  any 
merits  of  our  own  before  God,  tlie  longing 
after  freedom  from  the  dominion  of  sin,  and 
our  not  yielding  to  despair  even  under  the 
most  vivid  sense  of  sinfulness,*  but  con- 
fiding  in  the  grace  of  redemption ;  thus 
there  is  an  entrance  into  communion  with 
the  Redeemer,  and  a  new  principle  of  life 
is  received  which  continually  penetrates 
and  transforms  the  old  nature. 

As  far  as  faith  includes  entering  into 
vital  fellowship  with  the  Redeemer,  and 
forsaking  the  old  life  of  sin,  it  bears  a 
special  reference  to  the  two  chief  points  in 
which  Christ  presents  himself  as  Redeemer, 
as  the  one  who  died  for  the  salvation  of 
men,  and  who  also  by  his  resurrection 
gave  them  the  pledge  of  an  eternal  divine 
life  :  hence  the  twofold  reference  of  faith 
to  Jesus  the  Crucified  and  the  Risen,  the 
negative  and  positive  side  of  faith  in  rela- 
tion to  the  old  life  which  it  renounces  and 
to  the  new  life  which  it  lays  hold  of;  it  is 
the  spiritual  act  by  virtue  of  which,  in  sur- 
rendering ourselves  to  him  who  died  for  us, 
we  die  to  a  life  of  sin,  to  the  world,  to  our- 
selves, to  all  which  we  were  before, — 
whether  we  are  Jews  or  Gentiles — and  rise 
again  in  his  fellowship,  in  the  power  of  his 
Spirit  to  a  new  life  devoted  to  him  and 
animated  by  him.  Hence  it  appeared  to 
the  apostle,  as  he  developes  the  sentiment 
in  the  sixth  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  an  absolute  contradiction  for  any 
one  to  say  that  he  believed  in  the  Redeemer 
and  yet  to  continue  in  his  old  life  of  sin. 
How  shall  we — he  asks — we  who  (by  the 
act  of  faith)  are  dead  to  sin,  live  any  longer 
therein  ?  And  he  demonstrates  from  the 
nature  of  faith  in  its  reference  to  the  death 
and  resurrection  of  Christ,  that  faith  can- 
not exist  without  a  renunciation  of  the  for- 
mer sinful  life  and  the  beginning  of  a  new 
divine  life. 

From  the  nature  ofirKfrig  as  the  govern- 


ing principle  of  the  Christian  life,  arises  the 
peculiarity  of  the  Christian  standing-point, 
in  relation  to  the  Jewish  as  the  legal  stand- 
ing-point;  and  the  various  indications  of 
this  contrariety  serve  more  distinctly  to 
characterize  the  nature  ofcitfric;  as  the  fun- 
damental principle  of  the  Christian  life,  on 
which  account  we  wish  to  consider  this 
subject  more  in  detail. 

The  law  always  presents  itself  as  im-" 
perative,  and  makes  the  salvation  of  men 
dependent  on  the  perfect  fulfilment  of  all 
its  commands.  "  Do  all  this,  and  thou 
shalt  live."  But  since  no  one  can  lulfil 
those  conditions,  the  law  can  only  produce 
despair.  But  the  gospel  addresses  the  man 
who  despairs  of  himself,  "  Do  not  give  thy- 
self up  to  the  feeling  of  despair.*  Ask 
not  how  thou  canst  make  the  impossible, 
possible.  Tiiou  necdest  only  receive  the 
salvation  prepared  for  thee  ;  -only  believe 
and  thou  hast  with  thy  faith  all  that  is 
needful  for  thy  inward  life.  Paul  admira- 
bly illustrates  this  by  applying  to  it  the 
passage  in  Deut.  xx.x.  12.f  Say  not  to 
thyself.  Who  shall  ascend  to  heaven  and 
prepare  a  path  for  me  thither  ?  For  Christ 
has  descended  from  heaven  and  has  pre-  ' 
pared  such  a  path.  To  ask  such  a  question, 
is  to  desire  that  Christ  would  descend  again 
from  heaven  for  thy  sake.  But  say  not, 
Who  shall  descend  for  me  to  the  regioos  of 
the  dead  and  deliver  me  thence  ?     Christ 


the  apostle  had  before  explained,  it  was  imputed 
to  Abraham  as  JtKatoo-w/i,,  as  if  the  Six^totrvw  had 
already  been  completed  by  it. 

*  In  this   respect,   a  TrttrTWitv  ttcl^  iKTrtS'-t   in 

.     33 


*  That  interpretation  of  this  passage,  which 
supposes  it  to  express  the  opposition  between  Be- 
lief and  Doubt,  appears  to  me  not  to  be  supported 
by  the  connexion,  whicii  leads  us  to  expect  a  con- 
trast of  the  righteousness  by  fiiith  with  the  right- 
eousness by  works,  the  5-f:u  Su^i'^o-uvii  with  tlie 
itf(a;  and  the  tci/t'  ss-t/,  which,  from  comparing 
Rom.  ix.  8,  and  other  similar  Pauline  expressions, 
must  be  thus  understood — "this  is  equivalent  to 
saying;"  and  besides  the  relation  of  the  Paulino 
words  to  the  Old  Testament  quotation,  since,  ac- 
cording to  the  interpretation  wc  have  adopted,  the 
Pauline  application  admirably  suits,  in  spirit  and 
idea,  the  meaning  of  the  Mosaic  words,  which  is 
not  the  c*e  with  the  other  interpretation. 

t  This  passage  certainly  refers  to  the  Mosaic 
religious  institutions,  and  the  word.s  arc  fitted  to 
distinguish  them  in  their  simple  religions  and 
moral  character  from  the  otiicr  religions  of  tiic 
East.  But  as  far  as  the  law,  understood  accord- 
ing to  its  own  spirit,  made  certain  requirements 
which  it  gave  no  power  to  fulfil,  Paul  might  justly 
apply  these  words  to  mark  tlie  peculiar  Christian 
standing-point ;  he  found  an  idea  licrc  expressed 
wliich  is  only  realized  by  Christianity,  and  is 
thus  prophetic  of  what  Christianity  alone  accom- 
plishes. 


258 


THE  LAW  ABROGATED  BY  FAITH. 


[Book  VL 


has  risen  from  the  dead  and  has  delivered 
thee  from  the  power  of  death.  To  ask 
this,  is  to  desire  that  Christ  might  now  rise 
from  the  dead  for  thy  sake,  as  if  he  were 
not  already  risen.  Instead  of  asking  such 
questions,  only  let  the  gospel  be  cherished 
with  vital  power  in  thy  heart ; — believe  in 
Him  who  descended  from  heaven  and  rose 
from  death,  and  thus  obtained  salvation  for 
thee.  Whoever  has  this  faith  is  truly 
pious  and  may  be  assured  of  salvation."* 

Viewed  in  the  light  of  legal  Judaism,  the 
commandments  appeared  as  merely  an  out- 
ward counteraction  of  the  internal  corrup- 
tion of  man,  which  refused  to  be  cured 
from  without;  it  was  only  rendered  more 
apparent  by  the  law ;  hence  the  letter  only 
tended  to  death  ;  it  called  forth  the  con- 
sciousness of  spiritual  death  and  of  merited 
unhappiness,  2  Cor.  iii.  6. 

The  law  in  reference  to  its  operation  on 
the  conscience  could  be  described  only  as 
vof^.off  y^aiifj^oLT og,  xaTaxgirfswj,  SavaTou,  «|xa^- 
7iag.-f  But  when  from  faith  in  the  Redeem- 
er, a  new  divine  principle  of  life  proceeds, 
when  from  faith  in  the  redeeming  fatherly 
love  of  God,  a  childlike  love  developes 
itself  as  the  free  impulse  of  a  life  devoted  to 
God,  when  instead  of  the  former  opposition 
between  the  human  and  divine  will,  a  union 
is  formed  between  them — then  the  law  no 
longer  appears  as  a  written  code,  outwardly 
opposing  a  will  estranged  from  God,  but  the 
spirit  of  the  law  is  transfused  into  the  inter- 
nal life  of  the  believer.  The  life-giving 
spirit,  harmonizing  with  the  law,  occupies 
the  place  of  the  dead  and  death-producing 
letter.  In  the  love  developed  from  faith, 
there  is  a  voluntary  fulfilment  of  the  law 
proceeding  from  the  disposition,  instead  of 
actions  the  result  of  outward  compulsion. 


*  Rom.  X.  5.  If  Paul,  in  the  second  member  of 
the  contrast,  has  not  opposed  Christ  to  Moses,  and 
employed  Christ's  own  words — and  such,  no  douht, 
might  have  been  found  among  the  traditionary 
expressions  of  Christ  which  would  have  been  fit 
to  mark  this  contrast — it  does  not  follow  that  he 
was  unacquainted  with  any  collection  of  the  dis- 
courses of  Christ,  or  that  he  could  not  suppose 
any  such  work  to  be  known  by  the  Christians  at 
Rome,  for  his  object  was  answered  by  borrowing 
from  the  Mosaic  writings  a  motto  for  the  right- 
eousness of  faith,  which  would  first  find  its  pro- 
per fulfilment  in  the  gospel. 

+  It  was  perfectly  consonant  with  the  Pauline 
views  to  distinguish  the  law  by  these  predicates, 
though  it  may  be  doubted  whether,  in  Romans 
viii.  2,  the  Mosaic  law  is  intended  by  the  word 

VO/^Oi.  I 


In  a  different  sense  from  that  in  which 
Paul,  from  the  standing-point  of  the  natural 
man,  says  that  he  had  the  law  written  o?i 
his  heart,  he  says,  from  the  standing-point 
of  believers,  that  he  carried  the  law  of  God 
in  his  heart — for  on  the  former  standing- 
point,  the  law,  even  though  internal,  pre- 
sents itself  as  the  command  of  a  foreign 
higher  voice,  of  a  holy  power  which  man 
is  forced  to  acknowledge  in  opposition  to 
his  corrupted  will ;  hence  it  remains  a 
deadly  letter,  whether  we  consider  it  as  an 
external  law  or  an  internal  revelation.  On 
the  contrary,  in  believers,  the  divine  law, 
by  virtue  of  the  new  spirit  of  life  imparted 
by  Christ,  the  Holy  Spirit,  appears  not 
merely  an  object  of  knowledge  and  recog- 
nition, but  of  an  efficacious  love  practically 
influencing  the  life.  In  this  sense,  Paul 
says  to  believers,  "  Ye  need  not  that  I 
write  unto  you,  for  ye  yourselves  are 
taught  of  God,"  1  Thess.  iv.  9  ;  and  this 
teaching  does  not  signify  something  ad- 
dressed to  the  faculty  of  acquiring  know- 
ledge, but  a  real  internal  effect  on  the 
springs  of  action.  From  what  has  been 
said,  we  may  learn  in  what  sense  Paul 
said  of  the  law  in  reference  to  its  moral 
not  less  than  to  its  ritiml  contents,  that  it 
was  abrogated  for  believers,  that  they  were 
dead  to  it,  and  placed  beyond  its  jurisdic- 
tion ;*  and  as  we  have  before  remarked,  no 
such  distinction  in  reference  to  its  perpetui- 
ty can  be  made  in  the  vofxoj.  The  law  is 
abrogated  for  the  believer,  and  he  is  dead 
to  it,  as  far  as  it  was  a  compulsory,  im- 
perative, accusing  code,  as  far  as  ^ixaiotfu^] 
and  i^wT]  were  to  be  sought  for  by  the  ful- 
filment of  its  commands.  Justification  and 
salvation  by  faith  in  the  grace  of  redemp- 
tion,! ^I'G  independent  of  every  law  to  the 
believer.     The  law  can  produce  only  out- 


*  The  being  dead  to  the  law,  Rom.  vii.  4,  and 
Gal.  ii.  19,  the  removal  of  the  law  in  its  whole  ex- 
tent, Coloss.  ii.  14,  "for  the  handwriting  of  ordi- 
nances," which  Christ  nailed  to  his  cross  is  mani- 
festly  the  law,  and  there  must  be  a  special  reference 
to  its  moral  precepts,  for  in  this  consisted  the  dif- 
ficulty of  fulfilling  it.  It  would  be  altogether 
consonant  with  the  Pauline  views,  to  understand 
the  figurative  expression  in  Rom.  vii.  2,  of  being 
dead  to  the  law  itself,  (namely,  this  law  in  its 
outward  theocratic  form,")  though  other  exegetical 
reasons  might  oppose  this  interpretation  in  the 
former  passages. 

t  The  (T/Ks/oo-yvx  S-si-j,  opposed  to  the  J'uAtoa-vv» 
«vS-^ai;r/vx,  Utu,  i^  i^yov,  i%  voy.ov — X'^i"^  vofAOv; 
Rom.  iii.  21. 


Chap.  I.] 


THE  ETERNAL  MORAL  LAW. 


259 


ward  works*  by  its  compulsory  enactments, 
but  not  those  infernal  determinations  of  the 
life,  which  form  the  essence  of  true  piety 
— these  proceed  in  the  believer  from  the 
new  animation  by  the  Divine  Spirit — the 
Christian  virtues  are  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit, 
and  those  in  whom  these  qualities,  unat- 
tainable from  the  standing-point  of  the 
law,  are  formed,  are  thereby  exalted  above 
what  can  only  be  as  a  dead  letter  opposing 
the  indwelling  principle  of  corruption.  But 
it  by  no  means  contradicts. this  relation  of 
the  law  to  the  life  of  the  believer,  that  Paul 
sometimes  brings  forward  moral  precepts 
as  quotations  from  the  vo|xoj,  for  he  con- 
siders the  Mosaic  voi^og  as  an  expression  of 
the  eternal  law  of  God  in  a  particular,  tem- 
porary form,  adapted  to  a  particular,  out- 
ward theocrac)^,  in  which  the  civil  arrange- 
ments were  subordinated  to  the  religious, 
and  hence  both  were  intermixed.  The  sub- 
stance of  the  eternal  law  of  God  lay  at  the 
basis  of  the  vo|xog,  though  for  a  special  pur-  { 
pose  it  was  presented  in  the  form  of  a  theo- 
cratic national  law,  which  checked  its  free 
and  complete  developement.  The  obliga- 
tory force  of  the  commands  borrowed  from 
the  vofxog  by  Paul,  therefore,  does  not  con- 
sist in  their  belonging  to  that  vofxog,  but  that 
they  formed  a  part  of  the  eternal  law,  from  j 
•which  they  were  transferred  to  the  peculiar  ; 
form  presented  in  the  Old  Testament ;  that 
portion  of  the  eternal  law  to  which  the  1 
moral  consciousness  of  men  bears  witness, 
is  divested  of  its  national  garbf  by  the 
spirit  of  the  gospel,  and  developed  with 
greater  clearness  by  the  illumination  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  And  when  in  Rom.  xiii.  8,  he  ' 
appeals  to  the  one  command  of  love  be- 
longing to  the  law,  he  marks  exactly  the 
difference  of  the  Christian  standing-point 
from  the  legal ;  for  if  the  spirit  of  love  ani- 
mates believers,  and  with  love  is  given  the 
fulfilment  of  the  whole  law,  it  follows  that 
the  law  is  no  longer  for  them  a  compulsory, 
death-producing  letter;  and  here  is  exem- 
plified the  truth  of  Christ's  assertion,  that 
he  came  not  to  destroy  but  to  fulfil  the  law. 


*  The  i^yct  vc/xcv,  which  are  not  i^yit  iya^n. 

t  To  this  release  of  the  spirit  confined  in  this 
garb,  to  the  inward  as  contrasted  with  the  out- 
ward theocratic  law,  we  must  refer  the  antithcti- 
cal  expressions  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
which  certainly  are  described  not  merely  against 
the  Pharisaic  expositions,  but  also  against  the 
letter  of  the  law  in  its  theocratic  national  form. 
See  Leben  Jesu,  130,  138, 


Though  the  idea  of  the  v&jxoj  in  that  nar- 
rower sense,  forms  the  distinctive  mark 
between  Judaism  and  the  gospel,  still  there 
is  no  inconsistency  in  applying  the  term* 
in  a  wider  sense,  to  denote  the  common  re- 
lation in  which  both  religions  stand  to  the 
life  of  man.  Both  religions  aim  at  a  con- 
trol over  the  life  and  give  a  peculiar  cha- 
racter to  it.  Legal  Judaism  aims  at  pro- 
ducing this  by  literal  commands  from  with-, 
out ;  Christianity  aims  at  forming  it  from 
within  through  faith,  and  the  Spirit  that 
proceeds  from  it.  In  the  former  case,  the 
law  is  outward ;  in  the  latter,  it  is  inward, 
one  which  is  the  germ  of  a  new  life  ;  for 
every  living  being  dcvelopes  itself  accord- 
ing to  a  peculiar  law.t  In  reference  to 
these  various  uses  of  the  term  vofxoj,  Paul 
endeavours  to  guard  against  the  miscon- 
ception that  because  Christians  no  longer 
live  under  the  law,  they  are  in  a  lawless 
state;  1  Cor.  ix.  21.  They  have  still  a 
law,  the  law  of  God,  the  law  of  Christ,  not 
merely  outward,  but  inward,  entering  into 
the  very  essence  of  the  Christian  life  ;  and 
this  distinction  is  marked  by  the  phrases 
living  %i7ider  the  law,  and  in  the  law. 
Hence  also  Christianity  contrasted  with 
Judaism  is  called  a  law,  and  we  find  va- 
rious modifications  of  the  term  so  applied, 
such  as  vojj-os  Trirfrsw?,  vojxog  i^w^S,  vofi-oj  irvsu- 

The  different  relations  of  the  two  theo- 
cratic standing-points,  are  clearly  connected 
with  the  different  applications  of  the  idea 
of  law ;  the  outward  conception  of  the 
idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God  with  the  out- 
ward conception  of  the  idea  of  the  law, 
and  with  the  inward  conception  of  that,  the 
idea  of  the  theocracy,  as  not  outwardly 
constituted,  but  developing  itself  from  with- 
in, and  thus  throughout  we  meet  with  the 
contrast  of  the   inward   and  the  outward. 

*  I  cannot  agree  with  those  expositors  who 
thiiik  that,  when  Paul  describes  Christianity  as  a 
vo^cc,  the  general  idea  of  law  must  be  altogether 
given  up. 

t  By  Christianity  or  Regeneration,  goodness 
again  becomes  a  part  of  human  nature,  and  thus 
the  moral  law  becomes  a  higher  law  of  nature 
harmonizing  with  the  freedom  of  the  will.  We 
may  here  apply  what  Schleiermachcr  says  in  his 
academical  essay,  182.'},  on  the  difference  between 
the  law  of  nature  and  the  moral  law,  without 
adopting  the  views  of  tiie  author  respecting  the 
relation  of  the  law  to  the  deviations  from  it,  and 
especially  the  relation  of  the  law  to  moral  free- 
dom. 


260 


SPIRITUAL  WORSHIP. 


[Book  VI. 


On  the  legal  Jewish  standing-point,  there 
was  an  outward  submission  to  the  will  of 
God,  the  outward  observance  of  the  divine 
commands,  without  the  opposition  between 
the  human  and  divine  commands  being 
taken  ^way  ;  the  ^ouXsusiv  ^su  sv  *a>.aioT>]r( 
7paf/,fAaTo<:,  in  the  old  state  of  a  nature 
estranged  from  God,  of  which  nothing  can 
be  altered  by  the  literal,  outward  command. 
On  the  standing-point  of  faith,  the  SouXsm 
is  inward,  so  that  in  the  new  state,  by  vir- 
tue of  the  inward  renovation  which  pro- 
ceeds from  the  influence  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,  the  sanctified  will  determines  itself 
in  dependence  on  God,  it  is  a  servant  of 
God  (the  SovXsvsiv  sv  xmvQr7]Ti  m'vsviiarog). 
Hence  SouXsict  in  the  latter  sense,  is  volun- 
tary and  one  with  true  freedom ;  1  Cor. 
vii.  22,  AouXsia  in  the  first  sense,  forms  a 
contrast  to  the  freedom  of  the  children  of 
God  ;  on  the  contrary,  SovXsia  in  the  second 
sense,  cannot  exist  without  uioSstfia,  and  is 
at  once  a  consequence  and  a  mark  of  it, 
for  what  distinguishes  the  childi-en  from 
the  servants  of  the  family,  is  this,  that  they 
do  not  obey  their  father's  will,  as  foreign 
to  themselves,  but  make  it  their  own ;  de- 
pendence on  him,  is,  as  it  were,  the  natural 
element  of  their  life.  That  merely  out- 
ward servitude  of  which  the  internal  oppo- 
site to  this  consists,  proceeds  from  the 
spirit  of  fear,  the  special  characteristic  of 
servitude ;  this  inward  service  proceeds 
from  the  consciousness  of  communion  with 
God  obtained  through  Christ  the  Son  of 
God,  and  of  participation  of  his  Spirit,  the 
spirit  of  childlike  relation  to  God,  the  spirit 
of  adoption  and  of  love.  Rom.  viii.  15 ; 
Gal.  iv.  6. 

So  likewise  the  worship  of  God  on  the 
legal  standing-point,*  was  an  outward  wor- 
ship (ffapxixv],xaTa  tfapxa,  by  means  of  sp^a 
(Tapxtxa)  consisting  in  a  number  of  outward 
actsjf  confined  to  certain  times  and  places. 


*  This  is  true  of  tlie  legal  moral,  as  well  as  of 
the  legal  ritual  cultus. 

t  Connected  with  tlie  SiSovKZ(rd-ut  Ctto  to.  o-toi. 
^ilsL  ToS  Ko^/ucv.  We  wish  to  offer  a  few  remarks 
in  vindication  and  confirmation  of  the  interpreta- 
tion of  this  expression  given  above,  and  against 
the  common  one  of  trroi^i^^iiA,  as  "  the  first  princi- 
ples of  religious  knowledge  among  men."  If  the 
word  a-roi^H-JL  meant  first  principles,  we  should 
naturally  expect  to  find  in  the  genitive  connected 
with  it,  the  designation  of  the  object  to  which 
these  first  principles  relate,  as  in  Hebrews  v.  12, 
Tct  trroi^iM  THC  ag;^«C  reev  Koyimv  tou  ^lov.  But  in 
the  Pauline  passage,  such  a  genitive  of  the  object 


Worship  on  the  standing-point  of  faith,  on 
the  contrary,  is  ^vsufjiarijcr],  since  it  pro- 
ceeds from  the  inworking  of  the  Ssiov  *vju- 
fxa,  and  is  an  act  of  the  spiritual  nature  of 
man,  Philipp.  iii.  3  ;  hence  it  does  not  re- 
late to  certain  isolated  acts,  but  embraces 
the  whole  life;  Rom.  xii.  1.  On  the  for- 
mer standing-point,  men  placed  their  con- 
fidence and  pride  in  something  human  and 
earthly,  whatever  it  might  be,  whether  de- 
scent from  the  theocratic  nation,  or  the 
righteousness  of  the  law,  or  ascetic  self- 
denial  and  mortification  of  the  flesh,  the 
xara  tfapxa  3<au;)^atf5a(,  sv  (fapxi  irsifoi'^svai* 


is  altogether  wanting,  and  we  find  instead  only  a 
genitive  of  the  subject.  The  omission  of  the  ex- 
press mention  of  the  leading  idea  can  hardly  be 
admitted.  Paul,  in  Gal.  iv.  8,  plainly  addressing 
those  who  had  formerly  been  heathens,  supposes 
that,  before  their  conversion,  they  had  been  in 
bondage  to  these  elements  of  the  world,  if  we  do 
not  have  recourse  to  an  arbitrary  interpretation  of 
TTuxiii.  According  to  the  common  interpretation, 
we  must  suppose  that  Paul,  by  the  first  elements 
of  religious  knowledge,  intended  to  mark  a  uni- 
versal idea,  in  a  certain  degree  applicable  both  to 
Heathenism  and  Judaism.  But  how  could  this 
agree  with  the  views  of  Paul,  who  recognised 
Judaism,  as  subordinate  and  preparative  it  is 
true,  but  yet  a  standing-point  in  religion  founded 
on  divine  revelation,  and  who,  on  the  other  hand, 
saw  in  heathenism  as  such,  that  is  in  idolatry,  of 
which  he  here  speaks,  not  a  subordinate  standing- 
point  of  religion,  but  something  entirely  foreign 
to  the  nature  of  religion,  a  suppression  through 
sin  of  the  original  knowledge  of  God  ?  Neither 
does  the  predicate  ao-S-svM  appear  suitable  to  the 
idea  of  the  first  principles  of  religion.  On  the 
contrary,  according  to  the  interpretation  I  have 
proposed,  all  is  consistent.  The  confinement  of 
religion  to  sensible  forms,  and  therefore  its  en- 
thralment  in  the  elements  of  the  world,  is  com- 
mon to  Judaism  and  Heathenism.  All  idolatry 
may  be  considered  as  a  bondage  and  submission 
to  the  elements  of  sense,  and  a  kind  of  idolatry 
may  be  attributed  to  the  Jews  and  Judaizers,  who 
sought  for  the  Divine  for  justification  and  sancti- 
fication  in  external  rites.  This  will  make  it  evi- 
dent  how  Paul  could  say  to  the  Galatian  Chris- 
tians, once  heathens,  who  were  infected  with  this 
Judaism  (Gal.  iv.  8),  "  How  can  ye,  wlio  by  the 
divine  mercy  have  been  led  lo  the  knowledge  of 
God  and  communion  with  him,  tm-n  back  again 
to  the  weak  and  beggarly  elements  (a  suitable  de- 
scription of  them,  in  reference  to  persons  who 
sought  to  find  in  them  what  the  power  of  God 
alone  could  bestow),  to  which  ye  desire  to  bring 
yourselves  again  in  bondage.  I  fear  that  I  have 
indeed  laboured  in  vain  to  turn  you  from  idolatry 
to  the  worship  of  the  living  God." 

*  According  to  Paul's  views,  this  will  apply  to 
the  overvaluation  of  what  is  human  in  every  form 
and  relation ;  as,  for  instance,  the  Grecian  culture 
and  philosophy ;  see  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corin. 
thians. 


Chap.  I.] 


PREDOMINANCE  OF  THE  hnetm/ 


261 


But    on    the    standing-point  of  rfKfTig,  after 
acknowledging  the  nullity  of  all  such  dis- 
tinctions, of  all  human  works  of  righteous- 
ness, men  place  their  confidence  and  glory 
only  in  the    redemption   obtained   through 
Christ ;    they  feel   that  they  possess  only 
what  they  all  receive  as  believers  on  equal 
terms  from  him,  and  in  communion  with 
him;  the  sv  xu^iu  xavxa.cf'hai.    Here  all  ima- 
ginary distinctions,    all  ditferences  vanish 
which  before  separated  men  from  one  ano- 
ther and  checked   their   fellowship   in  the 
highest  relation  of  life ;    every  thing   hu- 
man is  henceforth  subordinated  to  the  one 
spirit  of  Christ,  the  common  principle  of 
life;  Gal.  iii.  28.    The  only  universal  and 
constantly  available  principle  of  Christian 
worship  which  embraces  the  whole  life,  is 
faith  in  Christ  working  by  love  ;  Gal.  v.  6. 
The  principle  of  the  whole  transforma- 
tion of  the   life  which   proceeds   from  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  is  implanted  at  once  in  be- 
lieving, by  one  act  of  the  mind.     Man  by 
means  of  faith  is  dead  to  the  former  stand- 
ing-point of  a  sinful  life,  and  rises  to  a  new 
life  of  communion  vvith  Christ.     The   old 
man  is   slain  once  for  all ;  Rom.  vi.  4-6  ; 
Coloss.  iii.  3.    Paul  assumes  that  in  Chris- 
tians, the  act  by  virtue  of  which  they  are 
dead  to  sin,  and  have  crucified  the    flesh 
with  its  aflections  and  lust  is  already  ac- 
complished ideally  in  principle.    Hence  he 
infers,  how  can  they  who  are  dead  to  sin, 
live  any  longer  therein  ;  Rom.  vi.  2  ;  Gal. 
v.  24,    But  the  practice  must  correspond  to 
the  principle  ;  the  outward  conformation  of 
the  life  must  harmonize  with  the  tendency 
given  to  the  inward  life.     Walking  in  the 
Spirit  must  necessarily  proceed  from  living 
in  the  Spirit,  Gal.  v.  25 ;  the  former  must 
be  a  manifestation  of  the   latter.     Hence 
Christians  are  always  required   to  renew 
the  mortification  of  the  flesh,  to  walk  after 
the  Spirit,  and  to  let  themselves  be  anima- 
ted by  the  Spirit.     The  transformation  of 
the  old  nature  in  man  which  proceeds  from 
the  divine  principle  of  life  received  by  faith, 
is  not  completed  in  an  instant,  but  can  only 
be  attained  gradually  by  conflict  with  sin  ; 
for  the  renewed  as  well  as  the  old  nature 
consists  of  two  principles,  the  -rvsuf^a  and 
the  tfa^^,  only  with  this  difl^erence,  that  no 
longer  (as  Paul  represents  the  state  of  the 
natural  man  in  Rom.  vii.)  the  human  self 
with   its    powerless  desires  after  goodness 


but  instead  of  the  human  self,  there  is  the 
divine  principle  of  life  which  has  become 
the  animating  one  of  human  nature,  the 
*vsujj-a  Sciov,  uyiov,  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
Christ  himself  by  his  Spirit ;  Gal.  ii.  20. 
Hence  it  is  not  said  from  this  standing- 
point  that  the  Spirit  wishes  to  do  good  but 
is  hindered  by  the  tf«g|  from  accomplishing 
its  wishes,  so  that  the  tfag^  is  the  vital  prin- 
ci|)le  of  action  ;  but  it  is  enjoined  on  those- 
who  have  'received  the  divine  principle  of 
life,  Gal.  v.  16,  "  Walk  in  the  Spirit,*  so 
shall  ye  not  fulfil  the  desires  of  the  flesh, 
for  the  Spirit  and  the  flesh  conflict  with  one 
another,  so  that  you  must  distinguish  what 
proceeds  from  the  Spirit  and  what  from  the 
flesh,  and  you  must  not  fulfil  what  you  de- 
sire according  to  the  carnal  self,  but  what 
the  spirit  within  you  desires."t  This  marks 


*  I  cannot  agree  with  Ruckert,  in  rcfcrrinjsr  tiie 
TTvsu//*  here  spoken  of,  not  to  the  Spirit  of  God, 
but  to  the  higher  nature  of  man.  Certainly  the 
word  TTnvixrt  in  this  whole  chapter  is  to  be  under- 
stood only  in  one  sense,  and  takings  every  thing 
into  account,  the  idea  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the 
only  one  which  suits  Paul's  meaninir;  as,  for  ex- 
ample, in  V.  18.  And  generally  in  this  epistle,  the 
same  idea  of  the  Spirit  is  to  be  firmly  held.  Verse 
17  contains  no  proof  to  the  contrary;  for  Paul 
here  assumes,  that  the  Trvw^a  has  pervaded  the 
characteristic  faculties  of  man,  that  the  new  prin- 
ciple of  life  has  taken  possession  of  human  nature, 
and  given-  it  a  new  and  peculiar  vitality.  He 
wishes  to  mark  the  new  higher  principle  that  is 
now  the  antagonist  of  the  o-ag^  in  man.  Men 
may  with  the  strictest  propriety  be  called  upon  to 
surrender  themselves  to  this  higher  principle,  to 
allow  themselves  to  be  led  by  it,  according  to  its 
impulses,  for  Paul  considered  the  operation  of  the 
Divine  Spirit  in  man,  not  as  something  magical, 
but  constantly  assumes  the  working  together  of 
the  divine  and  the  human.  It  is  perfectly  true 
that,  according  to  Paul's  doctrine,  the  higher  na- 
ture in  man,  the  capability  of  knowing  God,  which 
before  was  confined  and  depressed,  is  set  at  liberty 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  now  serves  as  the  organ 
for  the  operations  of  the  Divine  Spirit  in  human 
nature,  and  hence,  that  as  this  higher  nature  of 
man  can  now  operate  in  its  freedom  as  the  organ 
of  .the  Divine  Spirit,  so  that  the  latter  can  now 
operate  in  man  by  means  of  this  organ,  and  hence 
the  two  are  blended  together  in  the  Christian  life. 
But  when  Paul  wisiics  to  infuse  courage  and  con- 
fidence for  the  spiritual  conflict,  he  directs  the 
attention,  not  to  what  is  subjectively  human,  but 
to  tlie  almighty  power  of  God. 

t  Tins  passage,  in  my  opinion,  cannot  be  un- 
derstood otlierwisc  than  in  this  manner,  though 
later  expositors  have  given  a  different  interprcl.i- 
tion.  It  has  been  supposed  to  mean,  "So  that  y(^ 
cannot  accomplish  what  you  desire  according  to^ 
the  spirit;  yc  arc  unable  to  follow  the  dictates  ot 
the  better  will;"— and   referring  these  words  '" 


opposestheprincipleof  sinfulness,  the  (r«p|,  I  the    state    of  the    regenerate,  this  would   form  a 


262 


JUSTIFICATION  AND  SANCTIFICATION. 


[Book  VI. 


the  contrast  to  the  standing-point  described 
in  Rom.  vii.  15.  Accordingly,  the  divine 
life  in  the  inner  man  must  be  in  continual 
conflict  with  the  operations  of  the  tfagf,  and 
progressively  converts  the  body  hitherto 
under  the  control  of  sinful  habits,  into  an 
organ  for  itself  (Rom.  vi.  11-13),  so  that 
the  fxsXrj  ToC  rfwjxarog  become  rWXa  Sixaiocfv- 
vrjg;  all  the  powers  and  faculties  which 
hitherto  have  been  in  the  service  of  sin, 
being  appropriated  and  sanctified  by  the 
divine  life,  are  employed  as  organs  of  grace 
for  the  service  of  the  kingdom  of  God ; 
and  here  the  doctrine  of  charisms  finds  its 
point  o'f  connexion  ;  (pp.  85-90.)  All  the 
peculiar  capabilities  or  talents  founded  in 
the  nature  of  each  individual,  are  to  be 
transformed  into  charisms  and  employed  as 
such.  And  it  is  the  province  of  Christian 
morals  to  show  in  what  manner  human 
nature  must  be  pervaded  in  all  its  powers 
by  the  higher  principle  of  life,  and  appro- 
priated as  an  organ  of  its  manifestation  ; 
how  all  human  relations  are  set  at  liberty 
and  referred  to  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  and 
how  what  is  individual  belonging  to  the 
representation  of  the  image  of  God  in  man 
is  not  suppressed  and  annihilated,  but  is  to 
be  transformed  and  elevated  to  a  peculiar 
form  and  manifestation  of  the  higher  prin- 
ciple of  life.  We  here  see  the  difference 
between  Christian  principle  as  Paul  repre- 
sents it,  and  a  one-sided  ascetic  direction  in 
morals,  Paul  brings  forward  as  one  side 
in  the  process,  of  the  developement  of  the 
Christian  life,  the  negative  operation  ;  to 
mortify  the  principle  of  sin  which  has 
hitherto  reigned  in  the  body,  Rom.  v,  3,  to 
mortify  the  members  as  far  as  they  serve 
sin,  Coloss.  iii.  5,*  but  this  is  only  one  side. 
The   other  is   the   positive   operation,  the 


special  ground  of  exhortation  for  following-  the 
leadings  of  the  Spirit,  and  withstanding  the  o-«g>, 
if  Paul  said  to  them  that  they  were  prevented  from 
following  the  motions  which  proceeded  from  the 
Spirit  by  the  prevalence  of  the  <ra^^.  But  if  it  is 
understood  of  the  condition  of  the  natural  man, 
and  V.  18  is  considered  as  a  contrast,  we  do  not 
see  how  Paul,  who  had  addressed  those  wiiom  lie 
assumed  to  be  Christians,  could  make  such  a  sud- 
den  transition  to  a  different  class  of  persons.  The 
correspondence  of  the  last  words  of  v.  17,  with  the 
last  words  of  the  foregoing  sense,  confirms  the 
opinion,  that  the  "  S-sxhts"  relates  to  the  '•lyri^ujuiuv 

*  The  juixx  iTTt  Titf  ^lic,  which  belong  to  a  carnal 
earthly  course  of  life,  are  directly  opposed  to  the 
heavenly  mind  in  v.  2. 


positive  appropriation,  that  as  believers  are 
now  dead  with  Christ  to  sin,  the  world,  and 
themselves,  so  now  they  lead  a  new  divine 
life,  increasingly  devoted  to  him  ;  the  Spirit 
of  Christ  that  dwells  in  them  constantly 
animates  their  bodies  afresh  as  his  organ, 
Rom.  viii.  11,  so  that  the  ^z\r\  consecrated 
to  God,  are  employed  in  his  service  ac- 
cording to  the  station  God  has  indicated  to 
each  individual,  as  oirXa  (JixaioCuvTjg.  As 
the  crvsuixa  uym  is  the  common  and  vital 
principle  of  all  believers,  the  animating 
Spirit  of  the  Church  of  God,  so  the  diver- 
sity of  the  form  in  which  he  operates  in 
and  through  each  individual,  varied  by  their 
sanctified  peculiarities  and  characteristics, 
is  designated  by  the  term  ■xpL^\5ii.a. 

But  since  this  appropriation  and  perva- 
sion of  the  old  nature  is  a  continual  con- 
flict, and  the  farther  a  man  advances  in 
holiness  the  more  capable  he  is  rendered 
by  the  illuminination  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
distinguishing  what  proceeds  from  the  Spirit 
and  what  from  the  flesh,  and  of  discerning 
all  the  disturbing  influences  of  the  latter; 
hence  the  distinction  between  the  objective 
justification  and  subjective  sanctifiction  is 
always  necessary,  in  order  that  the  con- 
fidence of  man  may  not  be  wavering  as  it 
must  be,  if  he  looks  only  to  himself,  Philipp. 
iii.  12,  but  may  maintain  its  firm  unchange- 
able ground,  by  being  fixed  on  the  objec- 
tive, the  grace  of  redemption,  the  love  of 
Christ,  from  which  no  power  of  hell  can 
separate  the  redeemed ;  Rom.  viii.  31-32. 
In  the  Pauline  idea  of  the  justification  and 
righteousness  available  before  God  which 
is  granted  to  man  by  the  redeeming  grace 
of  God,  and  appropriated  by  faith,  the  ob- 
jective is  always  primary  and  predominant. 
At  the  same  time  something  subjective  is 
imparted  with  it,  something  new  is  depo- 
sited in  the  inner  life  which  must  be  pro- 
gressively developed  ;  the  righteousness  of 
Christ  appropriated  by  faith,  is  transferred 
to  the  inner  life  of  the  believer  and  becomes 
a  new  principle,  forming  the  life  according 
to  the  exan)ple  of  Christ.*  And  when  this 
process  of  developement  shall  be  completed, 
believers  will  attain  the  possession  of  an 
eternal,  divine,  and  blessed  life  inseparable 
from  perfect   righteousness;  then  the   ob- 


*  The  scholastic  expression,  "  Justitia  Christi 
per  fidem  habct  esse  in  animo,"  perfectly  corre- 
sponds to  Paul's  meaning. 


Chap.  I.] 


THE  STRONG  IN  FAITH. 


2G3 


jective  idea  of  justification  will  be  wholly 
transfei-red  to  the  subjective,  Rom.  v.  19- 
21  ;  but  till  this  is  accomplished,  in  order 
to  lay  a  firm  foundation  for  the  confidence 
of  the  soul,  it  is  always  necessary,  while 
conceiving  both  ideas  according  to  their 
essential  and  ultimate  connexion,  still  to 
keep  in  mind  their  distinction  from  one  an- 
other. 

Since  the  whole  Christian  disposition  is 
produced  from  faith,  and  thereby  the  whole 
life  is  determined  and  forrped,  the  term 
'^I'KfTts  has  been  employed  to  designate  the 
whole  of  the  Christian  disposition  and  of 
Christian  ability.*  Thus  the  predicate 
Swaros  ffi  "TTio'trsi  designates  the  standing. 
point,  where  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  con- 
fidence in  the  justification  obtained  through 
him,  has  become  to  such  a  degree  the  ani- 
mating principle  of  the  convictions,  and  has 
so  pervaded  the  whole  tone  of  thinking, 
that  a  man  is  enabled  to  judge  and  act  in 
all  the  relations  of  life  according  to  it ;  that 
he  cannot  be  drawn  aside,  as  he  otherwise 
would  be,  by  any  foreign  element  of  other 
views  which  formerly  influenced  him  ; 
since  otherwise  it  might  happen  that  his 
earlier  religious  standing-point  would  exer- 
cise a  kind  of  power  over  his  conscience, 
from  which  he  could  not  altogether  free 
himself,  even  when  raised  to  the  Christian 
standing-point ;  as  in  the  case  of  one  who 
had  become  a  believer  from  the  Jewish 
standing-point ;  such  a  person  would  only 
by  degrees  free  himself  from  its  influences 
on  his  judgment  of  all  the  relations  of  life; 
as  the  new  Christian  principle  proceeding 
from  faith  in  the  Redeemer  gradually  im- 
pregnated his  whole  mode  of  thinking. 
This  power  of  faith  over  the  judgment  is 
shown  for  example  in  this,  that  a  man 
certain  of  his  salvation  in  fellowship  with 
the  Redeemer,  will  no  longer  allow  himself 
to  be  agitated  by  scruples  in  the  use  of  out- 
ward things,  which  he  before  indulged  on 
the  Jewish  standing-point,  as  if  this  or  that 
thing  could  defile  him.  So  we  are  to  un- 
derstand what  Paul  says  Rom,  xiv.  2,  o? 


*  Hence  the  measure  of  faith  as  the  measure  of 
Christian  ability,  and  the  measure  of  prace  be- 
stowed on  each  individual,  are  correlative  ideas  ; 
Rom.  xii.  3.  Christians  arc  only  to  aim  at  rightly 
applying  the  measure  of  ability  they  have  re- 
ceived ;  to  do  every  thing  according  to  its  pro[)or. 
lion ;  Rorn.  xii.  6.  They  are  not  to  indulge  con- 
ceit, or  to  pass  beyond  the  limits  of  their  own 
standing-point. 


fisv  -tfitfTSusi  (paysTv  iravra  i.  e.  5uvaTos  Idri 
Tj]  ifKfrsi  usTS  (paysTv  tavru  ;  he  can  no 
longer  be  misled  by  a  mixture  of  scruples 
arising  from  his  earlier  legal  standing- 
point.  The  aa'hsvcTv  rfi  mffTci  forms  the 
opposite  to  this  strength  of  faith,  in  which, 
along  with  faith,  another  element  arising 
from  the  Ibrnier  standing-point,  controlled 
the  convictions,  and  hence  the  internal 
strife  between  the  principle  founded  in 
Christian  cianviction  or  ■ffiCnj,  and  the 
doubts  that  rebelled  against  it ;  Rom.  xiv,  1. 
Though  Paul  took  occasion  from  existing 
relations  to  develope  his  views  on  this  sub- 
ject with  a  special  reference  to  the  Jewish 
legal  standing-point,  yet  they  would  apply 
to  the  relation  subsisting  between  any  other 
standing-point  and  the  Christian  or  that  of 
the  righteousness  by  faith.  The  power  of 
faith  governing  the  life  gives  an  independ- 
ence and  stability  to  the  Christian  charac- 
ter, imparts  strength  and  freedom  to  the 
mind.  This  it  is  that  forms  the  basis  of 
Christian  freedom,  which  consists  in  this, 
that  the  Christian  since  he  has  devoted  his 
whole  life  to  Christ  as- his  Redeemer  and 
through  him  to  God,  since  he  is  animated 
only  by  the  consciousness  of  this  depend- 
ence and  acknowledges  no  other, — for  this 
reason,  feels  independent  of  all  created 
beings,  of  all  earthly  things ;  hence,  he 
acts  in  the  consciousness  of  this  independ- 
ence, is  master  of  all  things  by  the  ani- 
mating Spirit  of  Christ,  and  is  in  bondage 
to  no  man,  to  no  circumstances ;  nothing 
can  so  operate  upon  him  as  to  determine 
him  to  a  difierent  course  from  that  dictated 
by  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  for  this  is  the  great 
determining  principle  of  his  life  ;  1  Cor.  vii, 
21  ;  1  Cor,  vi.  12  ;*  1  Cor.  iii.  22,  While 
the  Christian  as  an  organ  of  the  Spirit  of 
Christ  who  has  won  the  government  of  the 
world,  to  whom  at  last  all  things  must  be 
subject — is  free  from  the  world  and  every 
thing  belonging  to  it,  from  all  power  of 
created  beings,  he  likewise  in  spirit  rules 
over  all  things.  Freedom  and  mastery 
over  the  world  here  meet.  This  freedom 
and  this  mastery  over  the  world  proceed- 

*  cux.  iyu  {|su<r/*3-3-)iiro^«/  Cto  t/»cc,  I  will  not 
suiTcr  myself  to  be  mastered  by  any  outward 
things,  but  in  the  spirit  of  Christian  love  I  will 
use  all  things  freely.  Instead  of  availing  myself 
of  my  Christian  freedom,  I  should  make  myself 
really  a  slave,  in  eating  the  flesh  of  sacrifices,  if 
I  believed  that  I  must  do  this  in  every  case  with- 
out  a  reference  to  particular  circumstances. 


264 


EVERY  THING  A  DUTY. 


ing  from  faith  (like  every  thing  Christian), 
and  founded  in  the  depths  of  the  soul,  can 
hence  manifest  themselves  under  all  out- 
ward restrictions,  and  evince  their  power 
by  the  fact,  that  these  outward  restrictions 
for  the  spirit  which  is  exalted  above  them 
and  feels  itself  independent  of  every  thing, 
cease  to  be  restrictive,  and  are  included  iri 
his  free  self-determination  and  mastery 
over  the  world.  Paul  proves  his  Christian 
freedom  precisely  in  this  manner,  that  for 
the  good  of  others,  and  in  order  to  make 
every  thing  subservient  to  the  Spirit  of 
Christ,  he  so  acted  in  all  things  as  would 
best  cbntribute  to  the  advancement  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ,  and  thus  freely  sub- 
mitted to  all  the  forms  of  dependence. 
Free  from  all,  he  made  himself  the  servant 
of  all  ;  having  the  mastery  over  all,  he 
submitted  to  all  the  forms  of  dependence 
ordained  by  God,  and  in  doing  so  exer- 
cised his  mastery  over  the  world ;  1  Cor. 
ix.  1-19. 

It  is  evident  that  nothing  can  be  ex- 
cepted from  this  reference  of  the  whole  life 
to  tlie  kingdom  of  God,  for  the  Christian 
disposition  proceeding  from  faith,  and  re- 
ferring every  thing  to  God's  glory,  is  the 
great  arbitrator  in  all  the  events  of  life. 
Accordingly,  there  can  be  no  empty  space 
for  things  indifferent  of  which  Christian 
principle  takes  no  cognisance,  nothing  be- 
longing to  human  nature  which  does  not 
receive  a  moral  impress  from  Christian 
principle,  agreeably  to  Paul's  exhortation, 
"  Whether  ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatsoever 
ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God,"  1  Cor. 
X.  31.  It  may  appear  to  contradict  this 
principle,  by  which  the  whole  of  life  be- 
comes one  great  duty,  and  no  room  is  left 
for  an  aSia(po^ov,  that  Paul,  in  1  Cor.  vi.  12, 
X.  23,  distinguishes  from  the  province  of 
the  lawful,  that  which  is  useful  or  serves 
for  edification ;  but  the  contradiction  is  only 
in  appearance,  and  will  vanish  on  a  closer 
examination  of  the  apostle's  views.  It 
could  only  contradict  the  principle  in  ques- 
tion, if  Paul  had  reckoned  what  did  not 
contribute  to  edification  as  still  belonging 
to  what  was  lawful  on  Christian  grounds, 
or  if  he  had  not  considered  what  contri- 
buted to  edifying  as  what  alone  was  matter 
of  duty.  But  it  was  not  so,  for  he  declares 
it  to  be  the  clutij  of  Christians  so  to  deny 
their  selfish  inclinations  as  would  be  for 
the  best,  or  for  the  edification  of  the  church, 


[Book  vI' 


1  Cor.  X.  24  ;  or,  which  is  equivalent,  as 
would  be  for  the  glory  of  God,  1  Cor.  x. 
31.  This  is  the  course  of  action  pre- 
scribed by  Christian  love  ;  but  very  dif- 
ferent would  be  the  course  that  proceeded 
from  self-love,  and  for  that  reason  sinful. 
The  subject  will  be  clearer,  if  we  examine 
more  closely  the  particular  case  under  the 
apostle's  consideration.  He  is  speaking  of 
partaking  of  certain  kinds  of  food,  more 
particularly  of  meat  offered  to  idols.  All 
this  belongs  to  the  province  of  things 
permitted,  and  in  a  religious  and  moral 
point  of  view  indiflerent,  on  which  Chris- 
tianity (unlike  Judaism)  laid  no  restric- 
tions. "  Meat  commendeth  us  not  to  God ; 
for  neither  if  we  eat  are  we  the  better  ; 
neither  if  we  eat  not  are  we  the  worse,"  1 
Cor.  viii.  8.  "  The  kingdom  of  God  is 
not  meat  and  drink,  but  righteousness  and 
peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,"  Rom. 
xiv.  17.  But  though  all  this  in  itself  has 
no  moral  character,  and  without  the  addi- 
tion of  other  marks  belongs  to  things  in- 
different, yet  like  every  thing  belonging  to 
human  nature,  it  is  not  excepted  from  the 
impression  of  Christian  principle,  for  it  is 
included  in  the  Pauline  maxim,  "  Whatso- 
ever ye  do,  whether  ye  eat  or  drink,  do  all 
to  the  glory  of  God ;"  and  Paul  himself 
adduces  instances  in  which  what  is  in  itself 
indifferent  may  be  either  a  matter  of  duty 
or  criminal.  An  individual  who,  though  not 
sufficiently  advanced  in  Christian  know- 
ledge to  attain  the  conviction  that  the  eat- 
ing of  meat  sacrificed  to  idols  is  in  itself 
indifferent,  is  yet  seduced  by  worldly  con- 
siderations to  partake  of  it,  acts  in  a  man- 
ner deserving  of  condemnation,  since  he 
does  not  act  according  to  his  convictions 
(oux  sx  ifKfTSug),  Rom.  xiv.  23.  And  who- 
ever eats  of  flesh  offered  to  idols,  following 
his  own  inclination,  and  taking  no  account 
of  the  scruples  of  his  weak  brother,  and 
thus  seduces  him  to  follow  his  example 
without  a  firm  conviction  of  its  rectitude, 
troubles  his  brother's  conscience,  and  acts 
himself  contrary  to  the  law  of  love, 
and  sins,  1  Cor.  viii.  12;  Rom.  xiv.  15. 
From  this  exposition  of  the  apostle's  views, 
it  appears  that  since  what  every  one  has 
to  do,  under  the  given  conditions  and 
relations  of  the  individual  standing-point  on 
which  the  Lord  has  placed  him,  is  defined 
by  Christian  principles,  no  one  can  ac- 
complish more  than  the  measure  of  his  in- 


Chap.  L] 


LOVE  THE  FRUIT  OF  FAITH. 


dividual  duty.  Indeed,  so  much  will  sinful- 
ness still  adhere  to  all  his  performances, 
that  even  the  most  advanced  Christian  will 
come  short  of  the  requirements  of  duty  ;  as 
Paul,  referring  to  himself,  acknowledges, 
Philipp.  iii,  12.  Yet  what  Paul  says  in 
reference  to  his  own  conduct  in  one  par- 
ticular instance,  may  seem  to  contradict 
what  has  just  been  remarked,  1  Cor.  ix. 
14,  15,  &c.  The  apostle  was  authorized, 
in  preaching  the  gospel,  to  receive  his  main- 
tenance from  the  Christian  communities  for 
whom  he  laboured  ;  but  he  waived  his 
claim  to  it,  and  supported  himself  by  the 
labour  of  his  own  hands.  He  did,  there- 
fore, more  than  his  duty  demanded,  since 
he  made  no  use  of  what  was  allowable. 
Certainly  he  would  not  have  hesitated  for  a 
moment  to  apply  to  himself  the  words  of 
Christ  in  Luke  xvii.  16,  in  reference  to  his 
conduct  in  this  particular  instance.  But 
he  held  it  to  be  his  duty,  under  all  circum- 
stances, so  to  act  as  would  most  contribute 
to  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  God  ; 
and  a  regard  to  that  object  induced  him  in 
this  instance  to  receive  no  maintenance 
from  the  church,  in  order  that  he  might 
avoid  all  appearance  of  self-interest.  Hence 
he  felt  an  inward  compulsion  to  act  thus  ; 
and  if  he  had  not  thus  acted  he  would  have 
violated  the  spirit  of  his  calling,  and  have 
been  dissatisfied  with  himself;  for  he  went 
so  far  as  to  say,  that  he  would  rather  die 
than  act  otherwise.  The  peculiar  circum- 
stances  of  his  ministry,  and  the  peculiar 
charism  bestowed  upon  him,  occasioned 
a  peculiar  modification  of  the  general  duty 
of  all  preachers  of  the  gospel.  What  on 
his  peculiar  standing-point  was  a  duty, 
might  be  contrary  to  duty  on  the  standing- 
point  of  others, — those  persons,  for  in- 
stance, to  whom  Providence  had  committed 
the  maintenance  of  a  family. 

The  fundamental  ideas  of  Christian 
morals  aie  in  general  to  be  deduced  from 
the  nature  of  faith  as  a  practical  principle. 
From  faith  spontaneously  proceeds  the  love 
that  refers  the  whole  life  to  God,  and  con- 
secrates it  to  his  service,  for  the  advance- 
ment of  his  kingdom ;  for  from  a  know- 
ledge of  the  love  of  God  manifested  in  the 
work  of  redemption,  love  is  kindled  to  him 
who  has  shown  such  superabounding  love. 
In  faith  as  Paul  conceived  it,  love  is  already 
contained  in  the  germ,  for  what  distin- 
guishes faith  in  his  view  from  superstition, 
^  34 


was  that  the  latter  as  it  arises  only  from  the 
dread  of  natural  evil,  only  desires  a  Re- 
deemer  from  such  evil  ;  faith,  on  the  con- 
trary, is  developed  from  the  feeling  of  un- 
happiness  in  sin  as  sin,  of  estrangement 
from  God,  and  of  longing  after  communion 
with  him,  which  presupposes  the  love  of 
God  in  the  heart,  though  checked  and  re- 
pressed. But  when  the  revelation  of  God's 
holy  love  in  the  work  of  redemption,  which 
faith  receives,  awakens  the  slumberin"  de- 
sire of  man,  or  meets  it  already  awakened, 
the  germ  of  love  deposited  in  the  heart  is 
set  free  from  its  confinement,  that  it  may 
expand  to  communion  with  its  oritnnal 
source.  Entering  into  communion  with 
the  Redeemer,  believers  are  penetrated  by 
the  love  of  God  to  them,  and  hence  they 
are  able  rightly  to  understand  the  extent  of 
God's  love.*  From  this  perception  of  God's 
love,  the  childlike  love  of  believers  is  con- 
tinually  inflamed  towards  him,  and  this 
love  operates  incessantly  for  the  renovation 
of  the  whole  life  after  the  image  of  Christ, 
and  for  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of 
God ;  it  forms  the  life  according  to  the 
heavenly  model  presented  to  it  by  faith. 
The  whole  Christian  life  appears  as  a  work 
of  faith,  and  thus  all  individual  good  worksf 
appear  as  necessary  immediate  expressions 
of  faith,  its  fruits,  the  signs  of  the  new 
creation  eflected  by  it.:]:     And  as  all  the 


*  Rom.  V.  5.  By  the  Holy  Spirit,  (he  love  of 
God  is  shed  abroad  in  their  hearts,  and  makes  it- 
self felt  there.  The  voice  of  God  iumself  in  their 
hearts  declares  that  tliey  arc  his  children ;  Rom. 
viii.  16.  Thus,  in  Eph.  iii.  18,  there  is  first  the 
wish  that  Christ  may  dwell  in  their  hearts  by 
faith,  whereupon  it  follows,  that  their' inner  lite 
may  be  dee()ly  rooted  in  the  love  of  God — the  love 
of  God  towards  the  redeemed,  is  the  clement  in 
which  their  whole  inward  life  and  consciousness 
rests— and  having  been  first  penetrated  by  the 
feeling  of  love,  they  can  then  rightly  understand 
its  extent. 

t  The  ipyj.  il^aS-^  are  to  be  distinguished  from 
the  i e,y A  YofAcv.  . 

}  The  a-a-Tifg/a  not  i^  t^ym,  as  if  men  could  gain 
salvation  by  works  performed  before  conversion  ; 
for  the  announcement  of  the  salvation  obtained  for 
men  by  redemption,  belongs  as  a  gift  of  unmerited 
grace  to  those  who  are  destitute  of  the  divine  life, 
and  thus  of  the  true  inclination  to  goodness, 
whether  they  are  still  sunk  in  gross  sensuality, 
or  arc  raised  to  an  outward  legal  morality;  and 
the  'n±  'iy^^-^  which  really  deserve  the  name^ 
prcsi'ipposcs  that  divine  lilb  which  proceeds  from 
faith  ;  indeed  the  new  creation  must  manifest  it- 
self by  corresponding  good  works  ;  is  designed  to 
produce  such.     Hence  the  contrast,  that  believers 


266 


RELATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  TO  THE  FUTURE.     [Book  VI. 


actions  of  the  believer  may  be  traced  back 
to  the  '■Hvork  of  faith, ''^  so  likewise  to  the 
"■labour  of  /ewe."*  Now  faith  and  love 
have  a  relation  on  one  side  to  sonnething 
which  i:^  apprehended  as  present  in  the  in- 
ward life:  faith  in  communion  with  the 
Redeemer  has  already  received  a  divine 
blessed  life;  believers  are  already  incor- 
porated with  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  have 
obtained  the  right  of  citizenship  in  it,  and 
by  partaking  of  the  Holy  Spirit  operating 
in  them  by  faith,  they  anticipate  the  divine 
power  and  blessedness  of  his  kingdom  ; 
they  have  the  foretaste  of  eternal  life  ;t 
they  already  possess  the  germs  and  first- 
fruits  of  the  New  Creation,  in  which  every 
thing  proceeds  from  a  divine  living  prin- 
ciple with  which  nothing  heterogeneous  is 
allowed  to  mingle — when  it  attains  its 
completion  after  the  resurrection.  But  it 
follows  from  this,  that  the  Christian  life 
cannot  be  conceived  of  without  a  reference 
to  the  future ;  as  in  the  divine  life  the  Fu- 
ture becomes  in  a  certain  sense  a  Present, 
so  the  Present  exists  only  in  reference  to 
the  Future,:};  for  it  contains  an  anticipation, 
the  germ  and  preparation  of  that  which 
will  attain  to  perfect  developement  and 
completion  only  in  the  Future.  With  the 
present  earthly  system  a  higher  order  of 
things  is  connected,  which  cannot  be  fully 
developed  in  believers,  and  whose  nature 
is  not  yet  wholly  manifest,  but  in  many 
respects  veiled  from  their  view.  The  de- 
velopement of  the  divine  life,  which  they 
have  received  through  faith,  is  now  only 
giving  signs  of  its  existence,  and  feebly  be- 
ginning to  expand.  The  consciousness  of 
this  divine  life  is  accompanied  with  a  con- 
sciousness of  the  obstacles  by  which  that 
life  is  fettered,  till  human  nature  is  tho- 
roughly pervaded  by  it  and  purified  from 
all  that  is  alien  ;  while  this  consciousness 
at  the  same  time  produces  a  longing  after 

arc  not  o-sitcdc-^svc/  s^  tgym,  but  Krurdiyn;  tTri  s§- 


10. 


"  1  Thess.  i.  3.     to  s, 

lys-'TTuc. 


eyoy  T)ic  TKrTia};,  o  ko'To;  tmc 


t  The  Holy  Spirit  as  the  a^gsi0m  in  relation  to 
the  whole  assemblage  of  heavenly  blessings ;  2 
Cor.  i.  22,  the  earnest  given  as  a  pledge  of  the 
payment  of  tiie  whole  sum. 

t  This  must  be  carefully  considered,  in  order 
rightly  to  understand  the  relation  of  the  present 
to  the  future  in  a  Christian  sense,  and  to  avoid  the 
delusion  of  the  pantheistic  deification  of  self,  whicli 
imposes  on  the  language  of  Paul  and  John  a  sense 
quite  foreign  to  the  truth. 


that  perfect  freedom  which  is  the  destiny 
of  the  children  of  God.  Though  it  is  al- 
ways presupposed  that  believers  have  al- 
ready attained  the  dignity  and  privileges  of 
the  children  of  God,  still  their  rights  relate 
to  something  future,  for  all  that  is  involved 
in  the  idea  of  adoption,  all  that  belongs  to 
the  dignity,  glory,  and  blessedness  of  the 
children  of  God,  is  very  far  from  being  re- 
alized on  earth.  For  this  reason,  it  is  said 
in  Romans  viii.  23,  that  Christians  who 
have  received  the  first-fruits  of  the  Spirit, 
groan  after  the  perfect  manifestation  of  the 
dignity  of  the  children  of  God,*  after  their 
redemption  from  all  that  checks  and  de- 
presses their  inward  life.  This  longing 
after  the  other  world  is  as  essential  a  fea- 
ture of  the  Christian  life  as  the  partial  and 
fragmentary  anticipation  of  the  future  in 
the  participation  of  the  divine  life  through 
faith.  Paul  uses  expressions  from  this 
standing»point  which  would  be  most  offen- 
sive to  that  deification  of  the  world  and 
self,  which  is  diametrically  and  entirely  op- 
posed to  Christianity.  "  We  should  be 
more  miserable  than  any  men  if  we  had 
hope  in  Christ  only  in  this  life,  with  no 
higher  future  existence  in  which  our  hopes 
might  be  fulfilled  ;  for  the  Christian  life 
v.'ould  be  then  a  life  full  of  delusive  wants 


*  The  vlo^ifta,  though,  in  Gal.  iv.  5,  this  is  at- 
tributed to  believing  as  something  present.  If  vs'e 
compare  this  passage  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Gala- 
tians  with  that  quoted  from  the  Romans,  we  shall 
discover  a  threefold  gradation  in  the  idea  of  adop- 
tion. Paul  first  considers  it  as  the  predicate  ap- 
plied  to  the  theocratic  nation  in  the  Old  Testament, 
to  whom  promises  were  given  of  an  inheritance 
(the  x.x>i^ovo/utsi)  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  Those 
persons  to  whom  the  law  and  the  prophets  were 
given,  are  certainly  children  and  heirs,  but  thpy 
have  not  yet  attained  to  the  actual  self-conscious 
appropriation  of  the  filial  relation,  and  the  exercise 
of  the  rights  grounded  upon  it.  Since  they  are 
in  a  state  of  minority,  are  standing  under  the 
guardianship  and  discipline  of  tiie  law,  and  tiieir 
father's  will  is  not  consciously  and  freely  become 
their  own,  their  relation  to  him  can  be  no  other 
than  that  of  outward  dependence  and  servitude. 
By  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  and  communion  with 
him  as  the  Son,  they  become  freed  from  this  de- 
pendence and  servitude,  and  attain  to  a  self-con- 
scious, mature,  and  free  filial  relation.  But  this 
relation  in  its  full  extent  includes  all  that  which 
is  founded  in  the  idea  of  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God, 
the  perfect  communion  of  his  holiness,  blessedness, 
and  glory;  licnce  a  progressive  developement  of 
this  relationship  takes  place,  until  the  appearance 
of  the  children  of  God  will  perfectly  correspond 
to  the  idea  of  a  child  of  God ;  which  is  the  third 
application  of  this  idea. 


Chap.  I.] 


FAITH,  HOPE,  AND  KNOWLEDGE. 


267 


that  would  never  be  satisfied,  a  pursuit 
after -unreal  phantoms,  the  offspring  of 
self-deceptive  desires."  Filled  with  divine 
assurance  of  his  convictions  and  experience, 
Paul  would  turn  away  with  abhorrence 
from  views  which  would  make  all  his  con- 
flicts and  efforts  appear  as  if  expended  on 
a  nonentity. 

If  the  soul  under  a  sense  of  the  burden 
which  weighs  down  the  higher  life  is  ab- 
sorbed in  such  longings  not  confined  to  one 
single  object,  and  words  fail  to  express  the 
deeply  felt  necessities  of  the  heart,  these 
silent  aspirations  rising  from  the  depth  of 
a  heart  yearning  after  true  and  complete 
freedom,  and  yet  resigned  to  the  will  of  its 
heavenly  Father,  constitute  prayer  accept- 
able to  God,  inspired  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
the  Spirit  of  adoption.  The  whole  condition 
of  such  a  soul  is  prayer.  The  Spirit  of 
God  himself  intercedes  with  inexpressible 
and  silent  groans  ;  Rom.  viii.  26.  Thus  in 
Coloss.  iii.  3,  it  is  said,  that  as  the  glory  of 
Christ  exalted  to  the  right  hand  of  God  is 
hid  from  the  world,  so  also  the  glory  of  the 
inner  life  of  believers  proceeding  from 
communion  with  him  is  still  hidden  with 
Christ  in  God,  and  its  appearance  does  not 
correspond  at  present  to  its  nature.  But 
when  Christ,  the  author  and  source  of  this 
life,  shall  manifest  himself  in  his  glory, 
then  shall  their  hidden  glory  be  manifest, 
and  correspond  in  appearance  to  its  origi- 
nal ;  Col.  iii.  4. 

From  the  relation  of  the  Christian  life  of 
faith  and  love  to  a  creation  that  is  to  be  per- 
fectly developed  and  completed  only  in  the 
future  state,  it  follows  that  Faith  and  Love 
cannot  subsist  without  Hope*  Faith  itself 
becomes  hope,  while  it  apprehends  salva- 
tion as  something  to  be  realized  in  the  fu- 
ture ;  Rom.  viii.  24.t    Faith  is  proved  and 


*  If  we  reflect,  how  all  the  ideas  relating  to  the 
dignity  and  blessedness  conferred  by  Christianity 
refer  alike  to  something  Present  and  something 
Future,  and  accordingly  admit  of  a  variously 
manifold  application,  it  will  be  easy  to  explain 
why,  in  Gal.  v.  5,  SiK-iio'jmy\  is  represented  in  re- 
ference to  its  perfect  realization  in  the  life  of  be- 
lievers as  an  object  of  expectation  and  hope ;  and 
it  belongs  also  to  the  contrast  between  the  .Jewish- 
legal  and  the  Christian  standing-point,  that  on  the 
former  it  was  supposed  that  StKrur^truw  might  be 
possessed  as  something  outwardly  perceptible  and 
apparent,  while  the  distinction  between  the  idea 
and  the  appearance  was  not  thought  of. 

t  If  i-KTrii  be  here  understood  subjectively,  «\7r<c 
would  be  placed  instead  of  ^/stt/c  as  laying  hold 
of  aam^tsi  i  for  mir'rt;  itself  can  exist  in  necessary 


strengthened  by  conflicts  and  suflerings;— 
by  the  opposition  which  it  has  to  overcome, 
it  developes  the  consciousness  of  its  in- 
dwelling divine  power,  and  of  those  divine 
results  which  are  not  yet  apparent  but 
stretch  into  eternity ;  and  thus  it  expands 
into  hope  for  the  future.*  The  conscious- 
ness of  the  love  of  God  contains  the  pledge 
for  the  certain  fulfilment  of  hope,  the  faith 
that  operates  by  love  could  not  persist  in 
the  efforts*,  which  so  many  obstacles  op- 
pose, in  conflict  with  the  inward  and  out- 
ward world,  if  the  prospect  were  not  grant- 
ed of  certainly  attaining  its  end.  Hence 
Perseverafice]  in  the  work  and  conflict  of 
faith  is  the  practical  side  of  hope.  'KXffjj 
and  uTofXovrj  appear  as  associated  ideas,:f 
and  the  latter  term  is  sometimes  used  in- 
stead of  sXiriff.§ 

We  must  here  examine  more  closely  the 
relation  of  knowledge  in  religion  to  these 
three  fundamental  principles  of  the  Chris- 
tian life,  as  laid  down  in  the  Pauline  theo- 
logy. Faith  presupposes  and  includes 
knowledge,  for  it  cannot  exist  without  a 
reference  of  the  disposition  to  something 
objective;  there  must  be  an  object  of  know- 
ledge to  operate  on  the  disposition.  But 
the  divine  cannot  be  known  from  without 
in  a  merely  abstract  logical  manner,  but 
only  by  .what  bears  aflinity  to  it  in  the  soul, 
by  the  sense  for  the  divine.  As  long  as 
man  is  opposed  to  the  divine  in  the  bias  of 
his  disposition,  he  cannot  know  it.  Hence 
Paul  says,  1  Cor.  ii.  14,  the  natural  man 
who  is  estranged  from  the  divine  life,  re- 
ceives not  what  proceeds  from  the  Spirit  of 
God,  for  it  appears  to  him  (on  account  of 
this  his  subjective  relation  to  the  divine)  as 
foolishness,  and  he  is  unable  to  know  it, 
because  it  can  be  rightly  understood  and 
appreciated  only  in  a  spiritual  manner, 
that  is,  by  means  of  the  7rvsZ[i.a  a/iov,  so 
that  a  participation  in  this  spirit  of  a  higher 

relation  to  the  future  only  as  twn.  But  if  ixtk 
be  understood  objectively,  then  it  will  signify  that 
<7a>T>igw  is  here  ()rcsented  as  the  object  of  hope, 
which  may  bo  atiirnied,  on  account  of  the  various 
meanings  attaciicd  to  the  former. 

*  Rom.  V.  4.  Perseverance  under  sufferings 
produces  a  confirmation  (of  faith),  and  confirma- 
tion  of  faith  produces  hope.  ,     ^^  •    • 

t  On  this  idea  and  its  relation  to  the  Christian 
idea  ot  Hope,  see  Sciileicrniachcr's  academical 
treatise  '■'^  uher  die  wissenschfiftlichc  Behandlung 
dcs  Tueendbegriffes,"  1820. 

t  I  Thcss.  i.  3.  (Jto^ovm  thc  ikttiSk. 

§  2  Thess.  i.  4. 


KNOWLEDGE  AND  HOPE. 


[Book  VI. 


life  is  presupposed.  Hence,  also,  we  are 
not  to  conceive  of  faith  as  something  pro- 
ceeding from  unassisted  human  nature, 
from  man  in  his  natural  state ;  but  the 
manner >in  which  faith  arises  in  the  dispo- 
sition, presupposes  the  entrance  of  the  di- 
vine into  the  conscience  and  inner  life. 
But  as  the  knowledge  of  divine  things  de- 
pends upon  a  participation  of  the  divine  life 
it  follows  that,  in  proportion  as  the  divine 
life  received  by  faith  progressively  deve- 
lopes,  as  the  matter  of  faith  is  vitalized  by 
inward  experience,  the  knowledge  of  this 
matter  enlarges  in  a  higher  degree,  and 
hence  this  wider  expansion  of  knowledge 
is  described  as  a  fruit  of  faith.*  And  since 
the  divine  life  of  faith  is  love,  since  faith  in 
the  Pauline  sense  cannot  be  conceived  of 
without  love,  it  is  evident  that  the  true  know- 
ledge of  divine  things  can  only  continue  to 
be  developed  according  to  the  measure  of  in- 
creasing love.  Hence  Paul  says  in  1  Cor.viii. 
2,  that  without  love  there  can  be  only  the  ap- 
pearance of  knowledge.  But  as  the  divine 
life  in  believers  is  constantly  subject  to  dis- 
turbing and  depressing  influences,  and  exists 
only  in  a  fragmentary  and  alloyed  state,  it 
follows  that  the  knowledge  arising  from  it 
will  never  be  otherwise  than  defective. 
This  may  also  be  inferred  from  what  we 
remarked  before  respecting  the  relation  of 
faith  to  the  higher  order  of  things  still  veiled 
from  human  sight,  with  which  faith  places 
us  in  vital  communion,  and  to  the  nature 
of  that  adoption  which  is  at  present  so  im- 
perfectly realized,  owing  to  the  opposition 
between  the  idea  of  it  and  its  actual  mani- 
festation. Hence  Paul  forms  a  contrast 
between  the  inadequate  knowledge  of  the 
matter  of  faith  in  the  present  life,  and  its 
perfect  immediate  intuition  in  eternity.  He 
illustrates  the  relation  of  the  two,  by  a 
comparison  of  the  knowledge  we  possess 
of  an  object  by  seeing  it  reflected  in  a  dim 
mirror,  with  the  knowledge  obtained  by  im- 
mediately beholding  it ;  by  comparing  the 
notions  of  children  (which  contain  a  cer- 
tain portion  of  truth,  though  not  developed 
with  clearness  and  certainty,  so  that  there 
is  a  continuity  of  knowledge  carried  on 
from  the  child  to  the  man),  with  the  ideas 
of  mature  manhood  ;|  by  contrasting  what 


is  fragmentary  and  isolated  with  what  is 
perfect ;  1  Cor.  xiii.  9-12.  Such  is  the 
knowledge  of  divine  things  as  they  are 
shadowed  forth  to  us  in  our  temporal  con- 
sciousness compared  with  the  intuition  of 
the  things  themselves.  Hence,  it  is  evi- 
dent, that  Paul  was  conscious  that  he  could 
speak  of  these  things  only  in- a  symbolical 
form,  which  veiled  and  contained  a  higher 
reality.  Therefore,  from  the  sense  of  the 
defectiveness  and  limitation  of  our  present 
knowledge  of  God  and  divine  things,  a 
longing  is  excited  after  that  perfect  know- 
ledge which  the  mind  of  man  allied  to  its 
Maker  and  filled  with  a  divine  life  requires. 
This  longing  naturally  merges  into  hope. 

We  are  now  led  to  inquire,  why  Paul, 
when  he  represents  faith,  hope,  and  love  as 
the  abiding,  unchangeable  foundations  of 
the  Christian  life  in  its  earthly  develope- 
ment,*  distinguishes  love  as  the  greatest  of 


*  Coloss.  i.  9  ;  Ephes.  i.  18.  In  the  last  pas- 
sage,  knowledge  is  represented  as  an  effect  of  the 
illumination  proceeding  from  faith. 

t  We  may  here  compare  Plato's  representation 


of  a  twofold  standing-point  of  knowledge  at  the 
beginning  of  the  seventh  book  of  his  Republic. 
As  if  a  person  were  confined  in  a  cavern  where 
the  light  only  feebly  glimmered,  and  he  saw  merely 
the  shadows  of  objects  by  that  faint  light ;  and 
afterwards  regaining  his  liberty,  became  acquaint- 
ed with  the  objects  themselves  as  they  appeared 
in  broad  daylight.  In  this  manner  Plato  contrasts 
two  standing-points  of  the  present  life ;  the  stand- 
ing-point of  the  multitude,  the  slaves  of  sense,  and 
the  standing-point  of  the  higher  intellectual  life, 
as  it  is  presented  by  Philosophy.  This  higher 
standing-point  of  Philosophy  might  be  allowed  in 
the  state  of  the  heathen  world ;  but  Christianity 
will  not  authorize  any  such  intellectual  aristocrati- 
cism.  This  would  become  a  beautiful  image  in  a 
Christian  sense,  if  applied  not  to  the  contrast  be- 
tween the  degrees  of  knowledge  in  this  life  and 
those  in  the  future,  but  to  that  between  the  views 
of  the  world  entertained  by  the  natural  man,  and 
those  which  the  divine  liglit  of  the  gospel  imparts 
to  all  who  receive  it.  We  may  here  compare  with 
Paul's  language,  the  beautiful  remarks  of  Gregory 
Nazianzen  :  S-scv  o,  t<  jtots  fj.it  i<TTt  tjiv  <fv^iv  nat 
Tuv  ovvtuv,  ovTi  T/c  iv^ev  uv^^ai-rav  TruTroTi,  outi  /uhv 
iugyi.  stXA'  it  /uiv  ive»o-u  TTori,  ^>tT(t<rd-a>  tcuto.  tC^^a-el 

Si    ij;    ijUOt    XO^/Of,    iTTilSslV  TO  ^lOilS'i;    TOUTO    Ketl    bilOV, 

Kiyce  ii  Tov  ytfjutigoy  vouv   te    K.a.t  Myoi.     tu  olKUcti 

VrgO(TfJt.l^ll,    Kit    «    ItKQlV    dvSXS"*)    WgOC    TO    a^^iTVTTOV,    OU 

vi/v  iX^t  Txv  ipariv,  kui  touto  ihai  /utct  Joml  to  ttclvu 

<pt\OfC^CUfAiVOV    i7rtyVCC<ri7^CLt    TTOTi  h/Ua(,    OCTOV    iyvoKr. 

f^i^ct,  TO  cTs  vuv  iha.1  ji^^x^la.  t;c  a^roggoji  Triv  to  ii; 
»iU*c  ipd-sivov  xa/  olov  juiynf^cu  ipceTO^  [aikpov  aTrdivya.3: 
fAJi.—Orat.  34. 

*  In  reference  to  understanding  this,  it  makes 
no  difference  whether  we  consider  the  vt/v/  in 
1  Cor.  xiii.  11,  as  an  illative  particle  or  one  of 
time,  for  in  cither  case,  what  Paul  here  says,  can 
relate  only  to  the  present  earthly  condition  of  the 
Christian  life.  According  to  Paul's  views,  hope 
necessarily  relates  to  something  si  ill  future,  not 
yet   realized ;   when  the  realization   takes  place, 


Chap.  L] 


TRUE  AND  FALSE  HUMILITY. 


these  three.  What  is  asserted  by  the  Catho- 
lics is  indeed  true,  that  love  alone  can  give 
faith  its  true  value,  since  it  makes  it  living, 
and  hence  forms  the  criterion  between  dead 
and  living  faith.*  It  is  equally  true  that 
love  forms  the  difference  between  genuine 
Christian  and  carnal  selfish  hope.f  But  in 
this  connexion  Paul  could  not  according  to 
his  own  association  of  ideas,  intend  to  say 
that  love  was  the  greatest,  for  love  in  its 
true  Christian  meaning  presupposes  faith — 
(love  in  a  general  sense  is  a  different  thing  ; 
that  love  which  proceeds  from  the  univer- 
sal sense  of  God  implanted  in  the  human 
mind,  and  from  the  general  manifestations 
of  the  love  of  God  in  the  creation  and  in 
the  heart  of  a  man  who  follows  the  divine 
guidance  ;) — and  faith  again  presupposes 
love,  and  that  which  Paul  distinguishes  by 
the  name  of  faith  stands  in  the  closest  con- 
nexion with  love.  What  the  Catholic 
church  understands  by  the  term  fides  in- 
formis,  Paul  would  not  esteem  worthy  of 
being  called  faith.  He  calls  love  the  great- 
est rather  for  this  reason,  that  it  is  the  only 
eternal  abiding  form  of  the  connexion  of 
the  human  spirit  with  the  divine;  love  alone 
endures  beyond  this  earthly  life ;  it  will 
never  give  place  to  the  developement  of  a 
higher  principle  but  will  expand  itself  in 
perpetuity.:}: 

Thus  these  three  fundamental  principles 
of  the  Christian  life,  Faitli,  Hojje,  and 
Love,  are  intimately  connected  with    one 


hope  ceases  to  exist;  Rom.  viii.  24.  And  faith 
and  the  perfect  knowledge  of  immediate  intuition 
are  ideas  that  reciprocally  exclude  one  another  ; 
2  Cor.  V.  7.  When  Billroth  in  his  late  Commen- 
tary  on  this  Epistle,  supposes  the  "^eve/'  to  mciin 
the  objects  of  these  graces  as  eternal  and  abiding, 
this  certainly  cannot  be  Paul's  idea,  for  they  are 
indeed  unchangeable,  and  the  same  for  all  the 
three  operations  of  the  Spirit;  but  these  three 
terms  refer  to  the  subjective  relation  in  which 
man  stands  to  divine  things,  and  this  relation 
under  the  form  of  faith  and  hope,  is  suited  only  to 
the  earthly  standing.point,  and  is  itself  transitory. 
Love  only  is  in  itself  the  ^svov. 

*  The  fides  informis  and  the  fides  formaia. 

t  The  TTviufA^irixif  and  the  crupx.iit>i  as  proceeding 
from  a  heathenish  and  from  a  Jewish  element. 

t  Augustin  beautifully  remarks  :  "  Fides  quare 
sit  necessaria,  quam  jam  vidcat  ?  Spes  nihilomi- 
nus,  quia  jam  tenet?  Caritati  vero  non  solum 
nihil  extrahetur,  sed  addetur  etiam  plurimum, 
nam  et  illam  singulareni  vcramque  pulcliritudi- 
nem  quum  viderit,  phis  aniabit,  ct  nisi  ingcnti 
amore  oculum  infixerit,  nee  ab  aspiciendo  uspiam 
declinaverit,  manere  in  ilia  bcatissima  visione  non 
poterit."     Soliloquia  I.  §  M. 


another;  and  since  every  thing  which  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  belongs  to  man's  moral 
nature  is  brought  under  their  control,  and 
receives  from  them  a  peculiar  character, 
they  form  a  foundation  on  which  to  erect 
the  whole  structure  of  Christian  morals. 

The  idea  of  raffEivotp^otfuvr)  is  inseparable 
from  these  principles.  Tiiis  quality  is 
connected  with  the  whole  system  of  the 
theocratic  yicws  developed  in  the  Old 
Testament,  and  marks  the  contrast  of  the 
Christian  and  Heathen  mode  of  contem- 
plating human  nature.  The  consciousness 
of  dependence  on  God  as  the  animating 
principle  of  life  in  all  its  relations,  the  in- 
nate weakness  of  all  created  beings,  and 
that  they  can  be  and  do  nothing  excepting 
through  God,  was  in  direct  opposition  to 
the  prevailing  sentiments  of  self-esteem  and 
self-confidence.*  But  on  the  legal  stand- 
ing-point, this  consciousness  was  either  only 
partial  as  far  as  self-righteousness  (which 
implied  a  desire  of  independence  in  refer- 
ence to  moral  developement  and  the  attain- 
ment of  salvation,)  counteracted  the  perfect 
acknowledgment  of  dependence  on  God  ; 
or,  where  the  feeling  of  internal  disunion 
had  been  developed  to  its  utmost  extent, 
and  the  feeling  of  estrangement  from  a 
holy  omnipotence  became  predominant, 
only  the  negative  element  of  humility  re- 
mained, the  consciousness  of  personal 
worthlessness  as  something  mortifying  to 
pride,  the  consciousness  of  an  impassable 
chasm  between  the  limited  and  sinful  crea- 
ture and  the  Almighty  Holy  Creator.  But 
when  to  this  feeling  is  added  faith  in  the 
Redeemer,  and  the  consciousness  of  having 
obtained  redemption,  the  positive  is  blended 
with  the  negative  element,  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  participation  of  the  divine  life 
and  of  the  high  dignity  of  adoption  be- 
stowed by  God.  If,  on  the  contrary,  the 
connexion  between  these  two  points,  which 
belong  to  the  essence  of  Christian  know- 
ledge and  of  the  Christian  disposition,  be 
dissolved,  and  the  negative  element  be  un- 
duly brought  forward,  a  false  self-humilia- 
tion is  produced,— a  self-abhorrence  with 
a  denial  of  the  dignity  founded  on  the  con- 
sciousness of  redemption, — a  sense  of  de- 
pression without  that  sense  of  exaltation, 
which  is  blended  with  it  in  the  conscious- 

»  See  Knapp's  excellent  remarks  on  this  oppo- 
sition in  his  Scriplis  varii  anrnmcnli,  ed.  IL  p. 
367. 


270 


TRUE  AND  FALSE  HUMILITY. 


[Book  VI- 


ness  of  redemption.  Such  a  false  humility, 
which  displays  itself  in  outward  gestures 
and  ceremonies,  Paul  combated  in  the  false 
teachers  of  the  Colossian  church ;  but  he 
classed  this  mock-humility  with  spiritual 
pride,  veiled  as  it  was  under  the  form  of 
an  ascetic  self-debasement.* 

With  the  consciousness  of  the  nothing- 
ness of  all  that  man  can  be  and  effect  by 
his  own  power,  Paul  combined  the  elevating 
consciousness  of  what  man  is  and  can  per- 
form through  the  Lord  ;  to  the  xara  davxa, 
£v    av&lw'Trw   xavxS.d'^ai    he    opposes  the  iv 

As  humility  first  acquires  its  true  cha- 
racter through  the  love  that  proceeds  from 
faith,  as  thi-ough  love  man's  whole  life  is 
pervaded  by  a  sense  of  his  dependence  on 
God,  and  the  human  will  becomes  an  organ 
of  the  divine,  so  also  Christian  love  cannot 
exist  without  an  abiding  consciousness  of 
the  difference  between  the  creature  and  the 
Creator,  the  redeemed  and  the  Redeemer, 
and  the  sense  of  dependence  which   that 
difference    involves.     It    is    the   sentiment  I 
which  Paul  expresses  in  the  interrogation,  I 
"  What    hast   thou,  which  thou    hast  not 
received  ?"  1  Cor.  iv.  7.     In  the  exercise  I 
of  his  ministry,  his  soul  was  pervaded  by  | 
a  consciousness  of  his  weakness  as  a  man  j 
(p.  107),  which  was  deepened  by  his  suf-  { 
ferings  and  conflicts,  though  accompanied 
by   the   conviction   that    he   could    do    all 
things   through  the   power    of  the  Lord  ; 
Acts  XX.    19.     Thus  that   state   of  mind 
was  produced  which  he  describes  as  jxsra 
(fiofSov  xai  r^ofi-ov.     This  was  far  l>om  being 
the   mark   of  a   slavish  fear,  but  only  of  j 
that  state  of  mind  which  resulted  from  a  ! 
sense  of  the  insufficiency  of  mere  human  j 

*  This  is  a  caricature  of  humility,  wliicli  has 
often  reappeared  in  the  history  of  the  church  ;  and 
thus  the  nature  of  genuine  Christian  humility  has  I 
been    frequently    mistaken    by    those   who    were  , 
strangers    to    the    Christian    standing-point,   and 
knew   not  how   to  distinguish   a   morbid  from  a  I 
healthy  state  of  the  spiritual  life.     An  individual  j 
of  this  class,  Spinoza,  justly   says  of  that  mock-  i 
humility,  which  alone  can  e.xist  where  the  natural  j 
feelings   are  not  overpowered  by  the  force  of  a  j 
divine    principle    of   life,  and    at  the   same  time 
transformed   into    sometliing  higher,    and    where  j 
man  has  not  risen  frorn  the  depths  of  self  abase-  ! 
ment  to  a  sense  of  his  true  dignity  :  "  Hi  affectus, 
nempe  humilitas  et  abjectio,  rarissimi  sunt.    Nam 
natura  humana,  in  se  considerata,  contra  eosdem 
quantum  potest,  nititur  et  ideo,  qui  maxime  cre- 
duntur  abjecti  et  humiles  esse,  maxime  plerumque 
ambitiosi  et  invidi  sunt."     Ethices,  pars  iii.  ^  29. 


power  for   the  discharge  of  his  apostolic 
vocation.* 

Taitsivocp^ocfvvri  bears  an  immediate  rela- 
tion to  God  alone,  and  according  to  the 
Pauline  views  can  be  transferred  to  no 
other  being ;  men  and  created  beings  in 
general  are  not  its  objects  ;  for  humility  is 
the  sense  of  dependence  on  the  Creator  as 
such,  and  places  the  whole  assemblage  of 
created  beings  on  a  level.  It  follows,  that 
a  man  who  is  thoroughly  imbued  with 
this  sentiment  does  not  make  any  fellow- 
creature  the  object  of  it,  but  as  far  as  his 
spiritual  life  is  concerned,  is  perfectly  in- 
dependent of  men,  while  sensible  of  his 
continual  dependence  on  God.  To  act  dif- 
ferently would  be  to  transfer  to  a  creature 
the  honour  due  to  the  Creator.  As  it  is 
opposed  to  every  slavish  feeling,  it  inspires 
j  the  soul  with  that  true  Christian  freedom 
which  Paul  so  admirably  developes  in  the 
First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  as  opposed 
I  to  every  species  of  a  slavish  deference  to 
men.  But  though  TWffsivo^p^odmri  does  not 
directly  affect  our  behaviour  to  our  fellow- 
men,  we  may  deduce  from  it  the  right  line 
of  Christian  conduct  towards  others.  He 
who  is  rightly  penetrated  with  the  feeling 
of  dependence  on  God  in  reference  to  his 
whole  existence  and  conduct,  and  with  the 
nothingness  of  every  thing  human  while 
living  only  for  one's  self,  will  not  pride  him- 
self in  his  abilities,  but  feel  that  they  are 
bestowed  upon  him  by  God  for  a  definite 
object,  and  must  be  used  in  dependence  on 
him  ;  in  his  intercourse  with  others,  he 
will  bear  in  mind  the  defects,  the  limits, 
and  imperfection  of  his  own  character  and 
abilities,  and  his  dependence  with  that  of 
all  other  men,  on  their  common  Lord. 
From  this  ram'Sivocppodwri  will  naturally 
arise  an  aversion  from  every  kind  of  self- 
exaltation  in  a  man's  conduct  towards 
others,  and  that  which  is  the  foundation  of 
moderation  in  the  Christian  character,  and 
hence  is  distiguished  by  no  particular  name 
in  Paul's  writings,  but  what  may  be  de- 
duced from  the  idea  of  TocTrsivotpgotfuvii,  as  in 
Phil.  ii.  3.  And  it  is  not  without  reason, 
that  kindness,  meekness,  and  long-suffering 
are  mentioned  in  connexion  with  Twrrsivo- 
(p^otfuvyj.     Eph.  iv.  2  ;  Col,  iii.  12. 

*  Thus  in  Philipp.  ii.  12,  he  deduces  "  working 
out  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,"  from  the 
consciousness  that  all  things  depend  on  the  power 
of  God,  who  works  "  to  will  and  to  do." 


Chap.  I.] 


THE  CARDINAL  VIRTUES. 


271 


In  order  to  preserve  the  purity  of  the 
divine  Ijfe  in  its  conflict  with  the  xotffxof 
and  the  tfa^^  from  within  and  from  without, 
to  prevent  unhappy  mixtures  of  the  human 
with  the  divine,  the  Cwqj^oo'uvr],  the  tfwcppoverv 
is  requisite,  the  self-government  and  con- 
quest over  the  world  that  proceeds  from 
love,  or  Christian  circumspection  and  sober-  j 
mindedness.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  repre-  j 
sented  as  a  spirit  of  cl/a*^)  and  of  tfcoqjpovisr- ' 
(xof,  2  Tim.  i.  7.*  The  latter  word,  as  its  \ 
etymology  imports,  signifies  that  quality,  ! 
by  which  the  Christian  life  is  preserved 
in  a  healthy  state,  and  kept  free  from  ^1  j 
noxious  influences.  Humility  which  guards 
the  boundary  between  the  divine  and  the 
human,  is  accompanied  by  the  (ppovsn/  s'lg 
Cwippovsrv,  which  acts  as  an  antidote  to  the 
intoxication  of  self-esteem,  and  promotes  a 
sober  valuation  of  one's  own  worth,  the 
consciousness  of  the  measure  of  ability, 
and  gifts  granted  to  each  one — the  position 
which  a  man  may  take  without  arrogating 
too  much  to  himself;  Rom.  xii.  3.  With 
this  is  connected  the  syp-nyopsvai  ■xm  vir](ps(v, 
by  means  of  which  the  sensual  and  the 
natural  are  prevented  from  interfering 
with  the  movements  of  the  divine  life,  and 
the  mind  is  kept  clear  of  all  enthusiastic 
tendencies.  Moreover,  since  faith  worl:- 
ing  by  love  ought  to  govern  the  whole  life, 
animate  it  with  a  new  spirit,  and  form  it 
for  the  service  of  God,  it  will  be  requisite 
for  this  end,  that  the  reason  enlightened 
by  this  spirit,  should  acquire  the  capability 
of  so  regulating  the  whole  life,  of  so  ma- 
naging and  applying  all  the  relations  of 
social  and  civil  life,  as  -will  be  suited  to 
realize  the  design  of  the  kingdom  of  God, 
according  to  the  place  assigned  to  each  in- 
dividual by  Providence.  This  is  expressed 
by  the  term  tfo^pia,  which  comprehends  the 
ideas  of  wisdom  and  prudence,!  of  which 

*  Titus  ii.  6, 12.  aceife^'jntv  here  means  the  exer- 
cise of  a  control  over  youthful  and  worldly  lusts.^ 

t  To  a-oti^  is  attributed  the  axgi/SIc  Tris^nr^tTHv, 
careful  examination  relative  to  one's  conduct  in 
social  life,  that  a  man  may  discern  on  every  occa- 
sion what  is  ag-reeable  to  the  will  of  the  Lord,  and, 
under  difficult  circumstances,  may  choose  the 
right  opportunity  for  accomplishing  what  is  good, 
the  {|«>ce«^£!r-9-«/  tov  Ka/g'.i-,  Eph.  v.  15.  2oc5)w 
would  be  shown  in  the  intercourse  of  Christians 
with  heathens,  in  avoiding  whatever  would  give 
them  offence,  and  so  regulating  the  conduct  ac- 
cording to  circumstances,  as  would  be  best  fitted 
to  overcome  their  prejudices  against  Christianity, 
and  recommend  it  to  their  regard. 


the  first  relates  to  the  choice  of  proper 
objects  of  pursuit ;  and  the  second  to  the 
choice  of  suitable  means  for  their  attain* 
ment,  and  both  are  blended  in  one  idea, 
when  every  thing  is  employed  as  means 
for  the  all-comprehensive  object  of  life,  the 
realization  of  the  kingdom  of  God,*  and 
when  Christian  wisdom  is  conceived  of  as 
so  shaping  and  controlling  the  life,  that  it 
may  contribute  as  a  wliole  and  in  all  its 
subordinate  *"elations  for  the  advancement 
of  the  divine  kingdom,  according  to  the 
position  of  each  individual ;  and  thus  what 
is  in  itself  an  object,  becomes  a  means  to 
a  higher  object.  Christian  prudence,  which 
emanates  from  the  clear  undisturbed  survey 
of  the  whole  life  by  wisdom,  is  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  what  is  not  founded  on 
such  a  basis,  but  would  proudly  assume  a 
separate  standing  as  capable  of  regulating 
the  conduct  independently  of  Christian 
wisdom.  The  prudence  which  subserves 
a  selfish  interest,  or  employs  means  which 
a  Christian  mind  cannot  approve,  or  one 
which  places  more  confidence  in  human 
means  than  in  the  power  and  guidance  of 
the  Divine  Spirit,  the  Cocpia  (Jjptpxixv;,  which, 
as  such,  is  opposed  to  the  simplicity  and 
purity  of  the  disposition  produced  by  the 
Spirit  of  God;  2  Cor.  i.  12.  Paul  re- 
quires  the  union  of  a  matured  understand- 
ing, and  a  childlike  disposition,  1  Cor.  xiv. 
20,  "  In  malice  be  ye  children,  in  under- 
standing be  yc  men,"  even  as  Christ  en- 
joined his  disciples  to  unite  the  wisdom 
of  the  serpent  and  the  harmlessness  of  the 
dove. 

Thus,  in  the  renovation  of  human  nature 
by  the  divine  principle  of  life— in  the  in- 
spiring of  the  whole  life  by  the  divine  prin- 
ciple of  believing  and  hoping  love,  we  find 
the  three  fundamental  virtues,  which  were 
regarded  by  the  ancients  in  the  develope- 
ment  of  morals  as  forming  the  grand  out- 
lines of  moral  character;  u*ofx.ovri  corre- 
sponds to  avo^fia,  and  includes  courage  in 
action,  the  ctvdPi^JtfSrai,  xgaraiouffSai,  1  Cor. 
xvi.  13,  and  'patieiicc,  (jiaxeo.^u/xia,  under 
suflerings  for  the  kingdom  of  God  ;— (this 
latter  idea,  from  its  connexion  with  the 
Christian  views  of  total  dependence  on  God, 
and  of  the  imitation  of  the  suflerings  of 
Christ,  who   by  his  suflerings  conquered 

•  From  this  point  of  view,  Cluist  rcprcsonU  all 
Christian  virtues  under  the  form  of  prudence. 
Sec  Lehen  Jesu,  20G,,  239. 


272 


IDEA  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


[Book  VL 


the  kingdom  of  evil,  stands  out  in  more 
direct  contrast  to  the  principles  of  ancient 
heathenism  ;)  (fo(pia  corresponds  to  tp^ovyicdg 
and  tfw^^otfuvii.  Of  the  cardinal  virtues 
only  Sixawdiivrj  is  wanting,  for  what  is  ge- 
nerally intended  by  Paul  under  this  name, 
does  not  naturally  belong  to  this  place, 
since  it  bears  no  correspondence  to  the 
more  confined  sense  of  righteousness,  but, 
according  to  the  Hellenist  phraseology, 
is  put  for  the  whole  of  moral  perfection 
founded  in  piety.  But  the  idea  of  Sixaw- 
tfuvr]  is  closely  connected  with  that  which 
essentially  distinguishes  the  moral  deve- 
lopement  of  the  ancients  from  Christianity, 
namely,  the  practice  of  considering  civil 
life  as  the  highest  form  of  human  deve- 
lopement  which  includes  all  others  in  it,  and 
the  state  as  the  condition  adapted  for  the 
complete  realization  of  the  highest  good.* 
As  now  by  realizing  the  idea  of  a  king- 
dom of  God,  morality  was  freed  from  this 
limitation,  was  exalted  and  widened  in  its 
application  to  all  mankind,  became  trans- 
formed into  a  divine  life  in  human  form  ; 
and  as  it  is  the  Love  of  God  which  mani- 
fests itself  as  the  holy  and  redeeming  cha- 
racteristic of  this  kingdom — it  follows  that, 
in  the  divine  life  of  this  kingdom,  love  oc- 
cupies the  place  of  righteousness  on  the 
standing-point  of  antiquity,  so  that,  as 
Aristotle  and  Plato  traced  back  all  the  car- 
dinal virtues  to  the  idea  of  righteousness, 
and  according  to  the  Grecian  proverb,! 
righteousness  included  in  itself  all  other 
virtues;  so  according  to  Paul4  love  is  the 
fulfilling  of  the  law,  includes  and  originates 
all  other  virtues,  and  is,  in  short,  the  sum 
and  substance  of  perfection.  And  in  1 
Cor.  xiii.  4,  5,  he  represents  all  the  pe- 
culiar acts  of  the  leading  Christian  virtues, 
as  so  many  modes  of  love.  Love  is  dis- 
creet, patient,  persevering,  always  chooses 
what  is  becoming,  is  all  things  to  all  men, 
and  thus  acts  with  true  sagacity.  The 
idea  of  righteousness  is  not  excluded,  for 
all  acts  of  the  love  may  be  conceived  as 
determined  by  a  regard  to  right ;  for  love 
is  not  capricious  but  conformable  to  law  ; 

*  The  opinion  of  those  who  attribute  to  the 
Slate  such  an  importance,  and  would  constitute 
it  a  perfect  model  for  the  realization  of  tiie  king- 
dom of  God,  is  derived  from  unchristian  premises, 
and  leads  to  unchristian  conclusions. 

t  Jv  (Te  J'/xa/ds-i/vM  (TLihXii^Jyiv  Tfas-''  ag6T>i  sv/.  Aristot. 
Eth.  Nicomach.  Lib.  v.  c.  3. 

i  a-uviiiTiJ.0^  T)it  tiKW'rnt!>i.    Colossians  iii.  14. 


it  acknowledges  and  respects  those  human 
relations  which  are  agreeable  to  the  will  of 
God,  and  gives  to  every  one  what  his  posi- 
tion in  society  demands.  In  Rom.  xiii. 
7,  Coloss.  iv.  1,  love  is  represented  as  the 
animating  principle  in  the  performance  of 
the  Sixatov  xcti  itfov,  which  may  therefore  be 
considered  as  only  one  mode  of  the  opera- 
tion of  love. 

Since  Paul  considered  faith  as  the  fun- 
damental principle  of  the  Christian  life,  it 
follovv^s,  that  the  immediate  relation  of  each 
individual  to  the  Redeemer  was  in  his  view 
of  primary  importance,  and  the  idea  of  fel- 
lowship, the  idea  of  the  church,  was  de- 
ducible  from  it.  Through  faith  each  one 
entered  for  himself  into  fellowship  with  the 
Redeemer,  partook  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as 
the  new  principle  of  life,  and  became  a 
child  of  God,  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
The  knowledge  of  God  has  been  rendered 
attainable  to  all  through  Christ,  for  in  him 
God  has  been  manifested  in  the  most  com- 
plete and  only  conceivable  manner  to  the 
human  mind,  and  communicated  to  our 
race  ;  and  as  the  founder  of  reconciliation, 
he  has  established  a  new  filial  relation  of 
man  to  God.  Through  his  mediation  the 
whole  Christian  life  becomes  acceptable  to 
God,  by  a  reference  to  him  who  is  always 
the  sole  worthy  object  of  the  divine  good 
pleasure,  and  from  whom  that  good  plea- 
sure is  extended  to  all  who  enter  into 
spiritual  fellowship  with  him.  To  this 
mediation,  which  forms  the  basis  of  Chris- 
tianity, the  foundation  of  the  whole  Chris- 
tian life  through  the  knowledge  of  the  re- 
demption received  from  Christ,  the  Pauline 
expressions  relate,  "  God  the  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ'''' — "  doing  all  in  the 
name  of  Christ  to  the  glory  of  God'''' — 
"  giving  thanks  to  God  through  Christ'''' — 
'•'■  praying  to  God'''' — '■'•in  the  nn.me  of 
Chrisf — "  through  Chrisf — in  which  con- 
nexion these  propositions  can  be  deprived 
of  their  strict  meaning  only  by  an  utter 
misconception  of  the  Pauline  sentiments. 
Although  the  high  priesthood  of  Christ  and 
the  universal  priesthood  of  all  believers 
are  expressions  not  found  in  Paul's  writings, 
yet  from  what  has  been  said,  the  ideas 
implied  in  them  enter  largely  into  his  re- 
ligious conceptions.  This  apostle  is  distin- 
guished by  an  immediate  reference  of  reli- 
gious knowledge  and  experience  to  Christ 
as  the    fountain-head,  from   whom  every 


Chap.  I.] 


IDEA  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


273 


thing  else  is  derived.  Hence,  he  could  treat 
of  the  nature  of  Christian  faith  in  the  eleven 
first  chapters  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
without  introducing  the  idea  of  the  church. 
But  the  consciousness  of  divine  life  received 
from  Christ,  is  necessarily  followed  by  the 
recognition  of  a  communion  which  em- 
braces all  mankind,  and  passes  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  earthly  existence,  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  spirit 
producing  and  animating  this  communion 
— the  consciousness  of  the  unity  of  the  di- 
vine life  shared  by  all  believers,  a  unity 
which  counterbalances  all  the  other  differ- 
ences existing  among  mankind,  as  had 
been  already  manifested  at  the  first  pro- 
mulgation of  Christianity,  when  the  most 
marked  contrarieties  arising  either  from 
religion,  national  peculiarities,  or  mental 
culture,  were  reconciled,  and  the  persons 
whom  they  had  kept  at  a  distance  from 
each  other,  became  united  in  vital  com- 
munion. To  the  extraordinary  influence 
of  Christianity  in  relation  to  these  contra- 
rieties, Paul  bears  witness  when  he  says, 
"  For  ye  are  all  the  children  of  God  by 
faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  For  as  many  of  you 
as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ,  have  put 
on  Christ."  There  was  in  this  respect  no 
difference  whether  a  member  of  the  church 
was  Jew  or  Greek,  slave  or  freeman,  male 
or  female,  for  all  were  in  communion  with 
Christ  as  one  person,  there  was  in  all  the 
one  life  of  Christ,  Gal.  iii.  26-28.*  The 
consciousness  of  communion  with  the  Re- 
deemer cannot  exist  without  the  recognition 
of  the  existence  of  the  community  of  be- 
lievers animated  by  one  spirit,  who  belong 
as  his  body  to  him  the  head,  under  whose 
continued  influence  alone  it  can  grow  to 
maturity,  and  in  which  all  believers  are 
members  one  of  another.  The  body  of 
Christ  is  the  church,  the  sxxX'otfia  Ssou  or 
X^itfT&u.f     This  communion  is  formed  and 


*  InCoIoss.  iii.  11,  Paul  notices  particularly  the 
contrast  between  the  civilized  and  uncivilized,  the 
Greek  beinir  the  most  striking  example  of  the 
former  class,  and  the  Scythian  of  the  latter.  His 
language  conveys  a  prophetic  intimation  that 
Christianity  would  reach  the  rudest  tribes,  and 
impart  a  new  divine  principle  of  life,  the  main- 
spring  of  all  sound  mental  culture. 

t  This  is  no  abstract  representation,  but  a  truly 
living  reality.  If  in  all  the  widely  spread  Chris- 
tian  communities,  amidst  all  the  diversity  of  hu- 
man  peculiarities  animated  by  the  same  spirit, 
only  the  consciousness  of  tliis  higher  unity  and 
communion  were  retained,  as  Paul  desired,  this 


developed  on  the  same  foundation  as  the 
Christian  life  or  the  temple  of  God  in  each 
individual,  namely,  faith  in  Jesus  as  the 
Redeemer,  1  Cor.  iii.  11.  Hence  the 
image  so  frequently  used  by  Paul  of  repre- 
senting the  church  as  a  building  roared  on 
this  foundation,  Ephes.  ii.  2U  ;  and  his  ap- 
plication of  tlie  term  oixooofxsrv,  to  designate 
whatever  contributes  to  the  furtherance  of 
the  Christian  life.  That  principle,  from , 
which  the  .formation  of  this  communion 
proceeded,  always  continues  to  be  the  bond 
of  its  union.  Paul,  in  treating  of  this  unity, 
adduces  as  marks  of  its  internal  formation, 
that  one  spirit  which  animated  this  one 
body,  the  one  object  of  heavenly  blessed- 
ness to  which  they  were  called,  the  one 
faith  in  one  God,  whom  through  Christ 
they  acknowledged  as  the  Father  of  all, 
with  whom  through  Christ  and  the  Spirit 
imparted  by  him,  they  were  connected 
most  intimately,  so  that  he  rules  over  them 
with  his  all-guiding,  all-protecting  might, 
pervades  them  all  with  his  efficacious 
power,  and  dwells  in  all  by  his  animating 
Spirit — and  the  one  Redeemer,  whom  they 
all  acknowledge  as  their  Lord,  and  to  whom 
they  were  dedicated  by  baptism.*  The 
chosen  people,  under  the  Old  Testament 
form  of  the  theocracy,  constituted  a  coutrast 
to  the  heathen  nations,  which  was  now 
transferred  with  a  more  spiritual  and  inter- 
nal character  to  the  community  of  believers. 
They  retained  the  predicate  of  a/ioi  and 
'/jyiatffxevoi  as  the  holy,  devoted  people,  in 
reference  to  the  objective  consecration 
founded  on  redemption,  and  their  objective 
contrariety  to  the  profane,  the  xotf/xog  ;  but 
yet  the  subjective  consecration  arising  from 
the  developement  of  the  divine  principle  of 
life,  was  necessarily  founded  on  the  former, 


would  be  the  most  glorious  appearance  of  the  one 
Cluistian  church,  in  which  tiie  kingdom  of  God 
represents  itself  on  earth  ;  and  no  outward  consti. 
tutioh,  no  system  of  episcopacy,  no  council,  still 
less  any  organization  by  tlie  State,  which  would 
substitute  something  foreign  to  its  nature,  could 
render  the  idea  of  a  Christian  church  more  real 
or  concrete,  (if  any  are  disposed  to  make  use  of 
scholastic  terms,  which,  so  applied,  contain  the 
germ  of  error,  and  rather  obscure  than  illustrate 
the  subject.)  Sec,  on  the  other  hand,  Rothc'a 
work  before  quoted,  pp.  2!)0,  310. 

*  We  cannot  supiK)sc  that  the  b  ^tt/it^*  re 
fers  to  unity  in  the  outward  institution  of  baptism, 
which  would  be  here  (piitc  irrelevant.  All  the 
marks  of  unity  manifestly  relate  to  the  same 
thing,  to  which  the  unity  of  faith  al.so  relates. 


274 


IDEA  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


[Book  VL 


and  inseparable  from  it — even  as  justifica- 
tion and  sanctification  are  connected  with 
one  another.  They  retained  also  the  pre- 
dicate xkrjToi,  as  those  who  were  called  by 
the  grace  of  God  to  a  participation  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  eternal  happiness; 
and  this  calling  is  not  to  be  considered 
merely  as  outward,  by  virtue  of  the  exter- 
nal publication  of  the  gospel,  but  agreeably 
to  its  design,  and  as  the  very  idea  im])orts, 
the  outward  is  united  with  the  inward,  the 
outward  publication  of  the  gospel  with  the 
efficacious  inward  call  of  the  Divine  Spirit, 
so  that  hence  the  idea  of  xKyitoi  coincides 
with  that  of  believers  who  really  belong  in 
heart  to  Christ.  In  general,  Paul  considers 
the  outward  and  the  inward,  the  idea  and 
the  appearance,  in  all  these  relations  as  in- 
timately connected,  the  confession  as  an 
expression  of  faith,  1  Cor.  xii.  3,— the 
being  in  Christ  as  a  reality,  the  being  a 
professed  Christian  as  a  sign  of  inward 
communion  with  the  Redeemer,  2  Cor.  v. 
17  ;  and  thus  also  the  church  as  the  out- 
ward exhibition  of  the  body  of  Christ,  the 
fellowship  truly  established  by  the  Spirit  of 
God.  The  language  in  which  he  addresses 
individual  churches,  is  conformable  to  these 
views. 

But  though  in  general  the  apostle  sets 
out  from  this  point  of  view,  yet  it  could  not 
escape  his  observation  that  not  all  who  re- 
presented themselves  as  outvvardly  mem- 
bers of  the  church,  were  really  members 
of  the  body  of  Christ.  This  distinction  he 
does  not  make  in  the  original  idea  of  the 
church,  since  it  is  not  naturally  deducible 
from  it,  but  must  be  considered  as  some- 
thing incongruous  and  morbid,  and  not  to 
be  known  excepting  by  observation,  un- 
less we  refer  it  to  the  inevitable  disorders 
in  the  developement  of  the  visible  church, 
owing  to  the  reaction  of  sin.  Certain  ex- 
periences of  this  kind  forced  the  distinction 
upon  him  ;  in  1  Cor.  vi.  9,  he  declares 
that  those  who  professed  Christianity  out- 
wardly, and  represented  themselves  as 
members  of  the  church,  but  whose  conduct 
was  at  variance  with  the  requirements  of 
Christianity,  could  have  no  part  in  the 
kingdom  of  God.  It  followed,  therefore, 
that  they  were  already  excluded  by  their 
disposition  from  that  kingdom,  from  that 
communion  of  the  faithful  and  redeemed 
which,  strictly  speaking,  constitutes  the 
church.     In  this  passage,  he  treats  of  cases 


in  which  the  foreign  elements  which  had 
mingled  with  the  outward  manifestation  of 
the  Church,  might  be  easily  detected  and 
expelled  by  the  judgment  of  the  Christian 
community  for  the  preservation  of  its 
purity  ;  for  such  marks  of  an  unchristian 
course  of  life  are  hez'e  mentioned,  as  are 
notorious  and  apparent  to  every  one.  But 
an  unchristian  disposition,  a  deficiency  of 
faith  working  by  love,  might  exist,  without 
being  manifested  by  outward  signs  which 
would  be  as  easily  understood  as  in  the 
former  case ;  and  here  the  separation  of 
the  elements  corresponding  to  the  idea  of 
the  exxkridia  from  those  that  were  incon- 
gruous, could  not  be  so  accurately  made. 
We  learn  this  from  Paul  himself,  in  2  Tim. 
ii.  19-20,  where  he  contrasts  with  the 
apostates  from  Christian  truth,  those  who 
constituted  the  firm  foundation  of  God's 
house,  and  who  wore  the  impress  of  this 
seal,  "  The  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are 
his,"  and  "let  every  one  that  nameth  the 
name  of  Christ  depart  from  iniquity."  "  In 
a  great  house  there  are  not  only  vessels  of 
gold  and  vessels  of  silver,  but  also  of  wood 
and  of  earth  ;  and  some  to  honour,  and 
some  to  dishonour."  The  great  house  is 
here  the  visible  church ;  in  it  there  are 
those  who  are  members  only  in  appearance 
by  an  external  superficial  union,  without 
really  belonging  to  it  by  their  disposition, 
and  though  reckoned  by  the  Lord  to  be 
his,  they  are  "  the  vessels  to  dishonour," 
and  are  thus  distinguished  from  those  who 
are  united  in  heart  to  the  church,  "  the 
vessels  to  honour,"  who,  in  order  that  they 
may  be  preserved  as  such,  avoid  all  sin, 
and  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  without 
hypocrisy.  He  here  intimates  that  the  line 
of  distinction  between  the  genuine  and 
spurious  members  of  the  Church  can  be 
drawn  only  by  God,  who  knows  the  state 
of  the  heart.  Accordingly,  in  the  applica- 
tion of  the  idea  of  the  visible  church,  the  dis- 
tinction arises  between  the  collective  body  of 
those  in  whom  the  appearance  corresponds 
to  what  is  internal  and  invisible,  and  those 
who  belong  to  the  church  in  appearance, 
without  having  internally  any  part  in  it. 

Since  the  sxxXy](ria  as  the  body  of  Christ 
not  merely  lays  claim  to  a  part  of  the  life 
of  its  members,  but  must  embrace  the  whole 
as  belonging  to  the  Redeemer,  and  ani- 
mated by  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  source  of  life 
to  the  Church,  it  follows  that  the  care  for 


Chap.  I.] 


BAPTISM. 


275 


the  promotion  of  the  good  of  the  whole  is 
committed  not  merely  to  certain  olHcers 
and  persons,  but  all  the  members  arc  bound 
together  as  organs  of  that  Spirit  by  whom 
Christ  as  the  governing  head  animates 
each  individual  member,  and  thus  con- 
nected, are  to  co-operate  for  the  same  ob- 
ject;  Eph.  iv.  16.  Thus,  accordingly, 
it  is  the  duty  of  each  one  to  consider  the 
standing-point  on  which  God  has  placed 
him  by  his  natural  character,  his  peculiar 
training  and  his  social  reljitions,  as  that 
which  determines  the  mode  in  which  he 
may  most  effectually  labour  for  this  end. 
As  all  natural  abilities  are  to  be  consecrated 
as  forms  of  manifestation  for  the  divine 
life,  so  the  Holy  Spirit,  while  animating 
the  whole,  appropriates  each  individual 
character,  and  gives  to  each  one  his  special 
gifts  by  which  he  is  ordained  on  his  own 
standing-point  to  promote  the  general  good. 
Here  we  have  the  idea  of  charism,  which 
has  been  already  explained.  Without  the 
Holy  Spirit  and  the  charisms  as  the  neces- 
sary manifestations  and  signs  of  his  con- 
tinued efficacious  presence  in  the  collective 
body  of  believers,  the  church  (which  is  the 
continued  revelation  of  the  divine  life  in 
human  form  proceeding  from  the  glorified 
Saviour)  cannot  exist ;  1  Cor,  xii.  By  the 
spirit  of  love  animating  the  whole,  the 
charisms  of  all  the  individual  members, 
forming  reciprocal  complements  to  each 
other,  are  conducted  to  the  promotion  of 
one  object,  the  perfecting  of  the  body  of 
Christ ;  as  Paul  has  so  admirably  repre- 
sented in  1  Cor,  xii. 

Since  the  church  is  no  other  than  the 
outward  visible  representation  of  the  inward 
communion  of  believers  with  the  Redeemer 
and  one  another,  the  institution  of  outward 
visible  rites  or  signs  corresponds  to  these 
two  elements  of  it,  (both  as  visible  and  in- 
visible ;)  these  rites.  Baptism  and  the  Sup- 
per, are  designed  to  represent  the  facts 
which  form  the  basis  of  this  communion. 
Baptism  denotes  the  confession  of  depen- 
dence on  Christ  and  the  entrance  into  com- 
munion with  him  ;  and  hence  the  appropria- 
tion of  all  which  Christ  promises  to  those 
who  stand  in  such  a  relation  to  him ;  it  is 
the  putting  on  Christ,  in  whose  name  bap- 
tism is  administered,*  an  expression  which 


*  On  the  meaning  of  the  formula,  "  to  baptize 
in  the  name  of  any  one,"  see  the  remarks  of  Dr. 
Bindseil   in  the  "  Studicn   und   Kritiken,"   1832, 


includes  in  it  all  we  have  said ;  Gal.  iti.  27. 
As  communion  with  Christ  and  the  whole; 
Christian  life  has  a  special  reference  to  the 
appropriation  of  those  two  great  events,  his 
redeeming  sufferings  and  his  resurrection^ 
Paul,  alluding  to  the  form  in  which  baptism 
was  then  administered,  and  by  this  illus- 
trating the  idea  of  baptism,  explains  the 
outward  act  by  a  reference  to  these  two 
events.  (See  p.  101.)  The  twofold  re-  > 
lation  of  rtian  to  the  former  standing, 
point  of  life  which  he  had  renounced,  and 
to  that  new  one  which  he  had  embraced » 
is  here  signified — entering  into  the  com- 
munion of  the  death  of  Christ,  into  a  be- 
lieving appropriation  of  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion accomplished  by  his  death,  dying  with 
him  in  spirit,  to  the  world  in  which  man 
has  hitherto  lived ;  mortifying  self,  as  it. 
heretofore  existed,  and  by  faith  in  his  resur- 
rection as  a  pledge  of  resurrection  to  an 
eternal  divine  life  in  a  transformed  per- 
sonality, rising  to  a  new  life  devoted  no. 
longer  to  the  world  but  to  him  alone ; 
Rom.  vi,  4.  In  accordance  with  this  train 
of  thought,  Paul  terins  baptism,  a  baptism 
into  the  death  of  Christ.  And  for  the  same 
reason,  he  could  also  call  it  a  baptism  into 
the  resurrection  of  Christ.  But  this  latter 
reference  presupposes  the  former,  in  which 
it  is  naturally  joined.  From  communion 
with  Christ  as  tlic  Son  of  God,  the  new  re- 
lation follows  of  sonship  to  God,  of  filial 
communion  with  God,  Gal.  iii.  26  ;  and 
the  participation  of  the  spirit  of  a  new  di- 
vine life  communicated  by  Christ,  the  Holy 
Spirit.  It  is  Christ  who  imparts  the  truo 
baptism  of  the  Spirit,  of  which  water-bap-, 
tism  is  only  the  symbol,  and  this  immer- 
sion in  the  Spirit  makes  the  great  difference 
between  Christian  baptism  and  that  of  .fohnv 
Therefore  baptism  in  the  name  of  Christ  is 
equally  baptism  in  the  name  of  the  Father 
and  of  the  Holy  S|)irit.  Tlic  single  refer- 
ence cannot  be  thought  of  without  the 
threefold.  In  virtue  of  the  connexion  of 
ideas  before  noticed,  entrance  into  com-^ 
munion  with  Christ  is  indissolubly  con^ 
nected  with  entrance  into  communion 
with  the  body  of  which   Ho  is  the   head. 


Part  ii.  Paul  in  Gal.  ill.  27i  might  have  said. 
Ail  of  you  who  have  believed  in  Christ.  But  ho 
said  instead  of  this,  "  As  many  of  you  as  have 
been  baptized  into  Christ,"  since  he  viewed  bap, 
tism  as  the  objcetive  sign  and  seal  of  the  relation 
to  Christ  into  wliich  men  entered  by  faith." 


276 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


[Book  VI. 


the  whole  assemblage  of  believers.  "  By 
one  Spirit  we  are  all  baptized  into  one 
body  ;"  1  Cor.  xii.  13.  As  entrance  into 
communion  with  the  Redeemer  at  baptism 
implies,  a  cessation  from  communion  with 
sin — the  putting  on  of  Christ  implies  the 
putting  off  of  the  old  man — the  rising  with, 
Christ  implies  the  dying  with  Christ — the 
transformation  by  the  new  Spirit  of  holi- 
ness implies  the  forgiveness  of  sins — en- 
trance into  communion  with  the  body  of 
Christ  implies  a  departure  from  communion 
with  a  sinful  world ;  so  the  distinction 
arises  of  a  positive  and  negative  aspect  of 
baptism.  Hence  the  washing  away  of  sin, 
sanctification  and  justification,  are  classed 
together  at  baptism;  1  Cor.  vi.  11.* 
What  we  have  remarked  respecting  Paul's 
idea  of  s->ixXrj(fia,  the  relation  of  the  inward 
to  the  outward,  the  ideal  to  the  visible,  will 
also  apply  to  baptism.  As  Paul,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  chui'ch,  presupposes  that  the  out- 
ward church  is  the  visible  community  of 
the  redeemed  ;  so  he  speaks  of  baptism  on 
the  supposition  that  it  corresponded  to  its 
idea,  that  all  that  was  inward,  whatever 
belonged  to  the  holy  rite  and  its  complete 
observance,  accompanied  the  outward ; 
hence  he  could  assert  of  outward  baptism 
whatever  was  involved  in  a  believing  ap- 
propriation of  the  divine  facts  which  it 
symbolized  ;  whatever  was  realized  when 
baptism  fully  corresponded  to  its  original 
design.  'I'hus  he  says,  that  all  those  who 
had  been  baptized  into  Christ,  had  entered 
into  vital  communion  with  him.  Gal.  iii. 
27,  language  which  was  applicable  only  to 
those  in  whom  the  inward  and  the  outward 
coalesced.  Hence  also  he  calls  baptism 
the  bath  of  regeneration  and  of  renewal  by 
the  Holy  Spirit ;  Tit.  iii.  5.  And  hence 
he  says,  that  Christ  by  baptism  has  puri- 
fied the  whole  church  as  a  preparation  for 
that  perfect  purity  which  it  will  exhibit,  in 
that  consummation  to  which  the  Saviour 
intends  to  bring  his  redeemed  ;  Eph.v.  26. 
Relative  to  the  Holy  Supper,  it  appears 
from  Paul's  language  in  1  Cor.  xi.  24,  that 
he  considered  it  as  a  feast  of  commemora- 
tion on  account  of  Christ's  offering  up  his 
lifef  for  the  salvation  of  men,  and  all  the 


benefits  accruing  thereby  to  mankind.  Ac- 
cording to  his  explanation  of  the  words  of 
the  institution,  1  Cor.  xii.  26,  believers, 
when  they  celebrate  together  the  Last  Sup- 
per of  Christ  with  his  disciples,  are  grate- 
fully to  acknowledge  what  they  owe  to  the 
sufferings  of  Christ  till  his  second  coming, 
till  they  are  favoured  with  the  visible  pre- 
sence of  the  Saviour,  and  the  perfect  en- 
joyment of  all  that  his  redeeming  suffer- 
ings have  gained  for  mankind  ;  they  are  to 
consider  it  as  a  pledge  of  their  constant 
communion  with  him,  till  that  communion 
is  consummated  in  his  immediate  presence. 
Christ  further  designed,  as  Paul  intimates, 
to  remind  his  disciples  of  the  new  relation 
or  covenant  established  by  his  sacrifice  be- 
tween God  and  man,  which  is  naturally 
connected  with  what  has  been  already  men- 
tioned ;  for  as  the  work  of  redemption  ac- 
complished by  Christ's  sufferings  is  the 
foundation  of  this  new^  relation,  which  su- 
persedes the  ancient  legal  economy,  its 
connexion  with  this  ordinance  is  self-evi- 
dent. And  as  in  the  institution  of  the  Sup- 
per there  are  several  allusions  to  the  usages 
practised  at  the  passover,  a  natural  point 
of  comparison  is  here  presented  between 
the  establishment  of  the  earthly  national 
theocracy,  which  was  accomplished  by  the 
release  of  the  Jews  from  earthly  bondage 
and  their  formation  into  an  independent  peo- 
ple,— and  the  establishment  of  an  universal 
theocracy  in  a  spiritual  form,  which  con- 
sisted in  releasing  its  members  from  the 
spiritual  bondage  of  sin,  and  their  forma- 
tion into  an  internally  independent  commu- 
nity or  church  of  God.  If  this  subject  is 
viewed  in  the  Pauline  spirit,  it  will  be  evi- 
dent, that  all  this  can  be  properly  fulfilled 
only  in  vital  communion  with  the  Redeem- 
er, apart  from  which  nothing  in  the  Chris- 
tian life  has  its  proper  significance ;  and 
that  the  commemoration  of  Christ's  re- 
deeming sufferings  can  never  be  adequately 
performed  except  in  vital  communion  with 
him.  The  solemn  remembrance  of  Christ's 
sufferings  is  the  leading  idea  in  this  holy 
ordinance,  though  the  consciousness  of 
communion  with  him  is  necessarily  con- 
nected   with    it.      And    communion    with 


*  As  Paul  here  joins  the  iv  t^  'ovofjt.a.Tt  rou  kv^icu 
and  h  tw  Trvev/uxTt  to-j  ■9'sou,  it  may  be  inferred 
that  he  is  here  speaking  of  subjective  sanctifica- 
tion, by  the  communication  of  a  divine  principle 
of  life,  as  well  as  of  objective  justification. 

t  That  this  was  the  leading  reference,  I  agree 


with  what  Liickc  has  stated  in  his  essay,  "  De 
duplicis  in  sacra  ccena  symholi  actusrjue  sensu  ac 
ratione"  1837.  Yet  other  references  appear  to 
me  not  to  be  excluded,  but  to  be  originally  given 
with  it,  and  to  be  naturally  founded  upon  it. 


Chap.  I.] 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


277 


Christ  necessarily  presupposes  his  redeem- 
ing sufferings,  and  their  personal  appropria- 
tion. Baptism  also  introduces  believers  into 
his  communion  as  baptism  into  the  death  of 
Christ. 

With  respect  to  the  manner  in  which 
Paul  conceived  the  relation  to  exist  of  the 
outward  signs  to  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  we  must  not  forget  that  the  latter 
are  considered  merely  as  being  given  for 
the  salvation  of  mankind.  Under  this  view 
the  form  in  which  he  quotes  Christ's  words 
is  important.  He  says,  '^  This  cup  is  the 
xaivT)  5(aSr-/ixr),  which  was  established  by  the 
shedding  of  my  blood."  This  can  only 
mean  :  The  cup  represents  to  you  in  a  sen- 
sible manner  the  establishment  of  this  new 
relation.  And  by  analogy  the  first  touto 
£rfTi  must  be  interpreted  "  It  represents  my 
body."*  Though  he  afterwards  says  that 
whoever  eats  or  drinks  in  an  unworthy 
manner,  that  is,  with  a  profane  disposition, 
is  not  one  who  is  interested  in  or  recollects 
the  design  of  the  holy  ordinance,  so  that, 
as  Paul  himself  explains  it  in  v.  29,  he 
does  not  distinguish  what  is  intended  to 
represent  the  body  of  Christ  from  common 
food — that  such  a  one  sins  against  the  body 
and  blood  of  the  Lord.  But  from  these 
words  we  cannot  determine  the  relation  in 
which  the  bread  and  wine  were  considered 
by  Paul  to  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ, 
for  the  sinning  of  which  he  speaks,  as  the 
connexion  shows,  consists  only  in  the  rela- 
tion of  the  communicant's  disposition  to 
the  holy  design  of  the  ordinance.  On  the 
supposition  that  only  a  symbolically  reli- 
gious meaning  was  attached  to  the  Supper, 


*  Those  who  advocate  the  metaphorical  inter- 
pretation of  the  expressions  used  in  the  institution 
of  the  Supper,  are  very  unjustly  charged  with 
doing  violence  to  the  words,  by  departing  from 
the  literal  meaning.  If  the  literal  interpretation 
of  the  circumstances  and  relations  under  which 
any  thing  is  said,  be  contrary  to  the  connexion 
and  design  of  the  discourse,  this  literal  interpreta- 
tion  is  unnatural  and  forced.  And  this  is  cer- 
tainly the  case  in  the  interpretation  of  these 
words  of  our  Lord,  for  since  ("hrist  was  still  sen- 
sibly present  among  his  disciples  when  he  said 
that  this  bread  was  his  body,  this  wine  was  his 
blood  they  could  understand  him  as  speaking 
only  symbolically,  if  he  added  no  further  explana- 
tion. Moreover,  they  were  accustomed  to  similar 
symbolical  expressions  in  their  intercourse  with 
him;  and  this  very  symbol  receives  its  natural 
interpretation  from  another  of  Christ's  discourses, 
(see  the  chapter  on  John's  doctrine  ;  also  Lcben 
Jesu,  p.  644,  and  Lucke's  Essay.) 


this  language  might  be  used  respecting 
those  who  partook  of  it  merely  as  a  com- 
mon meal.  And  what  he  afterwards  says, 
that  whoever  jiartook  of  the  Supper  un- 
worthily, partook  of  it  to  his  condemnation, 
is  by  no  means  decisive,  for  this  relates 
only  to  the  religious  state  of  the  individual. 
Whoever  partook  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
with  a  profane  disposition,  without  being 
penetrated  with  a  sense  of  the  holy  signi- 
ficance of  the  rite,  by  such  vain  conduct 
passed  the  sentence  of  his  own  condemna- 
tion, and  exposed  himself  to  punishment. 
Accordingly,  in  the  evils  which  at  that 
time  atfectcd  the  church,  the  apostle  beheld 
the  marks  of  the  divine  displeasure. 

In  the  10th  chapter  of  the  same  Epistle, 
the  apostle  speaks  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
and  declares  to  the  Corinthians  that  it  was 
unlawful  to  unite  a  participation  in  the 
heathen  sacrifices  with  Christian  commu- 
nion in  the  Holy  Supper.  He  points  out 
that,  by  participating  in  the  heathen  sacri- 
fices, they  would  relapse  into  idolatry. 
These  sacrifices  bore  the  same  relation  to 
the  heathen  worship  as  the  Jewish  sacri- 
fices to  the  Jewish  cultus,  and  as  the  Lord's 
Supper  to  the  social  acts  of  Christian  wor- 
ship. And  in  accordance  with  this  lact  he 
says,  "  The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless 
is  it  not.  the  communion  of  the  blood  of 
Christ?  The  bread  which  we  break  is  it 
not  the  communion  of  the  body  of  Christ ;" 
this  can  only  mean  that  it  marks,  it  repre- 
sents this  communion,  it  is  the  means  of 
appropriating  this  communion  ;  for  the  rite 
is  here  viewed  in  its  totality  corresponding 
to  the  idea,  in  the  congruity  of  the  inward 
with  the  outward,  in  the  same  sense  as 
when  Paul  says  that  as  many  as  have  been 
baptized  into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ,* 
As  to  the  two  other  points  with  which  the 
Lord's  Supper  is  here  compared  in  its  re- 
lation to  Christianity,  the  essential  is  only 
the  communion  marked  by  it  for  the  con- 
science ;  respecting  the  kind  of  communion 
nothing  more  can  be  ascertained  from  these 
words. 

Since  the  Supper  represents  the  com- 
munion with  Christ,  a  reference  is  at  tlic 
same  time  involved  to  the  communion 
founded  upon  it  of  believers  with  one  ano- 
ther as  members  of  the  one  body  of  Christ. 


*  The  older  Fathers  of  the  church  not  illogically 
inferred,  that  there  was  a  Ijodily  participation  of 
Christ  at  Baptism  as  well  as  at  the  Supper. 


278 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 


[Book  VI. 


With  this  view  Paul  says,  1  Cor.  x.  17, 
"  For  we  being  many  are  one  loaf  and  one 
body,  for  we  are  all  partakers  of  that  one 
loaf;"  that  is,  as  we  all  partake  of  one 
loaf,  and  this  loaf  represents  to  us  the  body 
of  Christ,  so  it  also  signifies  that  we  are  all 
related  to  one  another  as  members  of  the 
one  body  of  Christ.* 

The  idea  of  the  church  of  Christ  is 
closely  connected  in  the  views  of  Paul  with 
that  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  former 
is  the  particular  idea,  which  may  be  referred 
to  the  latter  as  the  more  general  and  com- 
prehensive one.  The  idea  of  the  church 
is  subordinate  to  that  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  because  by  the  latter  is  denoted  either 
the  whole  of  a  series  of  historical  deve- 
lopements,  or  a  great  assemblage  of  co- 
existent spiritual  creations.  The  first  mean- 
ing leads  us  to  the  original  form  of  the 
idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  by  which  the 
Christian  dispensation  was  introduced  and 
to  which  it  was  annexed.  The  universal 
kingdom  of  God  formed  from  within,  which 
is  to  embrace  the  whole  human  race,  or 
the  union  of  all  mankind  in  one  community 
animated  by  one  common  principle  of  re- 
ligion, was  prepared  and  typified  by  the  es- 
tablishment and  developement  of  a  nation- 
ality, distinguished  by  religion  as  the  foun- 
dation and  centre  of  all  its  social  institu- 
tions, the  particular  theocracy  of  the  Jews. 
The  kingdom  of  God  was  not  first  founded 
by  Christianity  as  something  entirely  new, 
but  the  original  kingdom  of  God,  of  which 
the  groundwork  already  existed,  was  re- 
leased from  its  limitation  to  a  particular 
people  and  its  symbolical  garb ;  it  was 
transformed  from  being  a  sensuous  and  ex- 
ternal economy  to  one  that  was  spiritual 
and  internal ;  and  no  longer  national,  it 
assumed  a  form  that  was  destined  to  em- 
brace the  whole  of  mankind  ;  and  thus  it 
came  to  pass,  that  faith  in  that  Redeemer, 
whom  to  prefigure  and  to  prepare  for  was 
the  highest  office  of  Judaism,  was  the  me- 
dium for  all  men  of  participating  in  the 
kingdom  of  God.  The  apostle  every  where 
represents,  that  those  who  had  hitherto 
lived  excluded  from  all  historical  connex 


*  In  1  Cor.  xii.  13,  there  may  be  an  allusion  to 
the  Supper  in  the  words  [ik]  iv  7rnv/uA  iwoTKr^n/j. 
and  in  this  case  to  the  participation  in  the  iv 
Trviu/jLdL  proceeding  from  spiritual  communion  with 
the  Redeemer ;  this  may  be  also  the  case  in  1 
Cor.  X.  34. 


ion  with  the  developement  of  God's  king- 
dom among  mankind,  had  become,  by  faith 
in  the  Redeemer,  fellow-citizens  of  the 
saints,  members  of  God's  household,  built 
on  the  foundation  laid  by  apostles  and 
prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the 
chief  corner-stone;  Eph.  ii.  19-20.  The 
same  fact  is  represented  by  another  image 
in  Rom.  xi.  18.  Christianity  allied  itself 
to  the  expectation  of  a  restoration  and  glo- 
rification of  the  theocracy,  which  was  pre- 
ceded by  an  increasing  sense  of  its  fallen 
state  among  the  Jews.  Those  who  clung 
to  a  national  and  external  theocracy,  looked 
forward  to  this  glorification  as  something 
external,  sensuous,  and  national.  The  Mes- 
siah, they  imagined,  would  exalt  by  a  di- 
vine miraculous  power  the  depressed  theo- 
cracy of  the  Jews,  to  a  visible  glory  such 
as  it  had  never  before  possessed,  and  es- 
tablish a  new,  exalted,  unchangeable  order 
of  things,  in  place  of  the  transitory  earthly 
institutions  which  had  hitherto  existed. 
Thus  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah  would 
appear  as  the  perfected  form  of  the  theo- 
cracy, as  the  final  stage  in  the  terrestrial 
developement  of  mankind,  exceeding  in 
glory  every  thing  which  a  rude  fancy  could 
depict  under  sensible  images,  a  kingdom  in 
which  the  Messiah  would  reign  sensibly 
present  as  God's  vicegerent,  and  order  all 
circumstances  according  to  his  will.  From 
this  point  of  view,  therefore,  the  reign  of 
the  Messiah  would  appear  as  belonging  en- 
tirely to  the  future ;  the  present  condition 
of  the  world  (the  atc^v  ovTog,  or  a/wv  irmrt^og), 
with  all  its  evils  and  defects,  would  be  set 
in  opposition  to  that  future  golden  age  (the 
aicjv  jxsXXwv),  from  which  all  wickedness  and 
evil  would  be  banished.  But  in  accordance 
with  a  change  in  the  idea  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  a  different  construction  was  put  on 
this  opposition  by  Christianity  ;  it  was 
transformed  from  the  external  to  the  inter- 
nal, and  withdrawn  from  the  Future  to  the 
Present.  By  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  the 
kingdom  of  God  or  of  the  Messiah  is  al- 
ready founded  in  the  hearts  of  men,  and 
thence  developing  itself  outwards,  is  des- 
tined to  bring  under  its  control  all  that  be- 
longs to  man.  And  so  that  higher  order 
of  things,  which  from  the  Jewish  standing- 
point  was  placed  in  the  future,  has  already 
commenced  with  the  divine  life  received  by 
faith,  and  is  realized  in  principle.  In  spirit 
and  disposition  they  have  already  quitted 


Chap.  I.] 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 


279 


the  world  in  which  evil  reigns  ;  redemption 
brings  with  it  deliverance  Irom  this  world 
of  evil,*  and  believers,  who  already  parti- 
cipate in  the  spirit,  the  laws,  the  powers, 
and  the  blessedness  of  that  higher  world, 
constitute  an  opposition  to  the  aiwv  oItos,  the 
diwv  <irovr,^og.  Such  is  the  idea  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  presented  by  the  apostle  as 
realized  according  to  the  spirit  on  earth, 
the  kingdom  of  Christ,  coincides  with  the 
idea  of  the  church  existing  in  the  hearts 
of  men,  the  invisible  church,t  the  totality 
of  the  operations  of  Christianity  on  man- 
kind ; — and  the  idea  of  the  aii^v  ourog  is  that 
of  the  ungodly  spirit  of  the  present  world 
maintaining  an  incessant  conflict  with  Chris- 
tianity. 

But  as  we  have  already  remarked  in  re- 
ference to  the  Christian  life  generally,  as 
founded  on  the  necessary  connexion  of  the 
ideas  of  '^ridris  and  sXtfic:,  the  Pauline  con- 
ception of  the  kingdom  of  God  necessarily 
contains  a  reference  to  the  future ;  for  as 
the  Christian  life  of  the  individual  is  deve- 


*  Deliverance  from  the  tviTrai^  aim  Trovyi^oi,  ne- 
cessarily accompanies  redemption  from  sin.  Sec 
Gal.  i.  4. 

t  This  is  the  «  uva;  'Ugst/a-a^x^M,  the  mother  of  be- 
lievers; Gal.  iv.  2(3.  Rothe  disputes  this  interpre- 
tation (see  his  work  before  quoted,  p.  -90),  but 
without  reason.  He  is  indeed  so  far  right,  that 
primarily  something  future  is  designated  by  it,  as 
appears  from  its  being  contrasted  with  "  the  .Jeru- 
salem whicii  now  is ;"  but  this  future  heavenly 
Jerusalem,  which  at  a  future  time  is  to  be  re- 
vealed in  its  glory,  is  already,  in  a  sense,  present 
to  believers,  for  in  faith  and  spirit  and  inward  life 
they  belong  to  it ;  while  the  earthly  Jerusalem  is 
already  passed  away,  they  are  dead  to  it,  and  are 
separated  from  it.  From  this  it  follows,  that  the 
heavenly  Jerusalem  stands  to  them  in  the  relation 
of  a  mother;  the  participation  of  the  divine  life  by 
which  they  are  regenerated,  constitutes  them  the 
invisible  church.  The  perfect  developemcnt  of 
this  life  belongs  to  the  future  ;  their  life  is  now  a 
hidden  one  ;  the  manifestation  of  it  docs  not  fully 
correspond  to  its  real  nature.  Though  the  idea 
of  the  invisible  church  is  not  expressed  in  this 
distinct  form  by  Paul,  yet  in  spirit  and  meaning 
it  is  conveyed  in  the  above  expression,  as  well  as 
in  the  distinction  which  he  makes  in  2  Tim.  ii. 
19,20;  and  when  he  forms  his  idea  of  tlie  body 
of  Christ  according  to  this  distinction,  it  entirely 
coincides  with  that  of  the  invisible  church.  Hence, 
also,  this  idea  was  strikingly  developed  by  the 
reformation  which  proceeded  from  the  Pauline 
scheme  of  doctrine.  And  it  is  important  to  main- 
tain  it  firmly  against  ecclesiastical  sectarianism, 
against  the  secularization  of  the  clmrcli,  \yhetlier 
under  the  form  of  Hierarchy,  of  Romanism,  or, 
what  is  still  worse,  the  subordination  of  religion 
to  political  objects,  the  supremacy  of  tlic  State  in 
matters  of  religion,  Byzantinism. 


loped  progressively  by  inward  and  out- 
ward conflicts,  while  aiming  at  that  per- 
fection which  is  never  attained  in  this 
earthly  existence,  the  same  thing  is  also 
true  of  the  manifestation  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  on  earth,  which  comprehends  tlic  to- 
tality of  the  Christian  life  dilfuscd  through 
the  human  race.  'I'he  knowledge  ol'  the 
manifestation  of  the  kingdom  oi'  God  is 
necessarily  accompanied  by  a  recognition^ 
of  this  mffnifcstation  as  still  very  obscure 
and  imperfect,  and  by  no  means  corre- 
sponding to  its  idea  and  real  nature.  Hence 
the  idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  its 
realization,  can  only  be  understood  if  we 
view  it  as  now  presenting  the  tendency 
and  germ  of  what  will  receive  its  accom- 
plishment in  future,  and  this  accomplish- 
ment Paul  represents  not  as  something 
which  will  spontaneously  arise  from  the 
natural  developement  of  the  church,  but  as 
produced,  like  the  founding  of  the  kingdom 
of  Christ,  by  an  immediate  intervention  of 
Christ,  Hence  various  applications  of  this 
term  have  been  made.  Sometimes  it  de- 
notes the  present  foi-m  assumed  by  the 
kingdom  of  God  among  mankind,  the  in- 
ternal kingdom,  which  is  established  in  the 
heart  by  the  gospel  ;  sometimes  the  future 
consummation,  the  perfected  form  of  the 
victorious  and  all-transforming  kingdom 
of  God  ;  at  other  times,  the  present  in  its 
union  with  the  future  and  in  reference  to 
it.  The  conception  of  the  idea  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  in  the  first  sense,  is  found  in 
1  Cor,  iv.  20.  The  kingdom  of  God  does 
not  consist,  the  participation  of  it  is  not 
shown,  in  what  we  eat  or  drink,  but  in  the 
power  of  the  life ;  not  in  ostentatious  dis- 
course, as  in  the  Corinthian  church,  but 
in  the  power  of  the  disposition  ;  Rom.  xiv. 
7.  The  kingdom  of  God  is  not  meats  and 
drinks — its  blessings  arc  not  external  and 
sensible,  but  internal,  by  possessing  which 
we.  prove  our  participation  of  if,  such  as 
justification,  peace  in  the  inner  man,  and 
a  sense  of  the  blessedness  of  the  divine 
life.*     The  reference  to  the  future  is  in- 


*  The  connexion  of  this  pa.ssagc,  Romans  xiv. 
16,  appears  to  me  to  be  this  :  Give  no  occasion,  for 
the  good  wiiich  you  possess  as  citizens  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  (more  particularly  in  the  pri'scnt  in- 
stance,  Christian  freedom,)  to  be  spoken  ill  of  by 
olhcrs:  for  it  is  not  of  such  a  kind  that  you  need 
be  afraid  of  losing  it;  even  if  you  do  not  avail 
yourselves  of  yonr  Christian  freedom,  if  yon  neither 
eit  nor  drink"  wiiat  you  are  jiistified  in  p.irtiiking 


eso 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 


[Book  VI. 


troduced,  where  he  speaks  of  the  (fuii^a- 
tfiXsusiv  of  believers  with  Christ ;  and  where 
he  says,  that  those  who,  although  they 
have  received  outward  baptism  and  made 
an  outward  profession  of  Christianity,  yet 
contradict  it  by  the  course  of  their  lives, 
shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  1 
Cor,  vi.  10.  The  passage  in  1  Thess.  ii.  12; 
where  Christians  are  called  upon  to  con- 
duct themselves  in  a  manner  worthy  of 
that  God  who  had  called  them  to  his  king- 
dom  and  glory,  has  certainly  a  reference 
to  the  future,  as  far  as  the  So^a  of  this 
kingdom  has  not  yet  appeared  ;  in  2  Thess. 
i.  5,  the  apostle  says  that  Christians,  as 
they  already  belong  to  this  kingdom,  fight 
and  suffer  on  its  behalf,  and  therefore  will 
enjoy  a  share  in  its  consummation. 

But  it  is  not  merely  in  reference  to  the 
series  of  events  which  are  advancing  to 
their  completion  that  the  external  form  of 
the  kingdom  of  God  is  presented  as  part 
of  a  great  whole ;  there  is  another  con- 
sideration which  is  naturally  connected 
with  this  view.  As  the  church  is  a  semi- 
nary for  the  heavenly  community  in  which 
its  members  are  training  for  their  perfect 
developement,  it  appears  even  here  below 
as  a  part  of  a  divine  kingdom  not  confined 
to  the  human  race,  but  comprehending  also 
a  higher  spiritual  world,  where  that  arche- 
type to  the  realization  of  which  mankind 
are  now  tending,  is  already  realized.  The 
knowledge  of  God,  according  to  the  com- 
prehensive views  of  Christianity,  is  repre- 
sented not  merely  as  the  common  vitaliz- 
ing principle  of  the  human  race,  but  as  a 
bond  by  which  mankind  are  united  with 
all  the  orders  of  beings  in  a  higher  spiritual 
world,  in  one  divine  community,  accord- 
ing to  that  universal  idea  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  which  is  presented  in  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  Thus  Paul  represents,  "  God  the 
Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  not  merely 
as  the  common  father  of  mankind,  but  also 
as  Him  after  whom  the  whole  community 
in  heaven  and  on  earth  are  named  ;"  Eph. 
iii.  15.  By  sin  men  were  estranged,  not 
only  from  God,  but  from  that  higher 
spiritual    world   in  which  the  kingdom  of 

of  as  Christians,  as  free  citizens  of  the  king-dom 
of  God.  Your  good  is  one  that  is  situated  within 
you,  not  dependent  on  tiiese  outward  things,  for 
the  goods  of  God's  kingdom  are  not  outward,  or 
objects  of  sense,  they  arc  within  you,  they  consist 
in  what  is  godlike,  as  the  apostle  proceeds  to 
specify. 


God  is  already  realized.  As  Christ,  when 
he  reconciled  men  to  God,  united  them  to 
one  another  in  a  divine  community,  broke 
down  the  wall  of  partition  (Eph.  ii.  14) 
which  separated  them,  and  joined  Jews  and 
Gentiles  in  one  body,  which  is  animated 
by  himself  as  their  head  ;  so  also  while 
men  are  brought  back  to  communion  with 
God,  they  are  connected  with  all  those 
who  have  already  attained  that  degree  of 
perfection  in  the  kingdom  of  God  to  which 
the  church  on  earth  is  aspiring.  In  this 
respect  Paul  says,  that  Christ,  in  making 
peace,  has  united  all  things  in  heaven  and 
on  earth  in  one  divine  kingdom ;  Coloss. 
i,  20.* 

Accordingly,  Christ  is  considered  by  the 
apostle  as  in  a  twofold  sense  the  head  of 
the  church  of  God.  He  distinguishes  the 
divine  and  the  human  in  the  Saviour,  and, 
according  to  this  twofold  reference,  exhi- 
bits him  in  a  twofold  though  vitally  con- 
nected relation  to  the  creation  and  to  the 
universal  church  of  God.  Paul  and  John, 
for  the  purpose  of  designating  the  indwell- 
ing divinity  of  the  Redeemer,  employed 
the  idea  already  formed  among  the  Jewish 
theologians  of  a  mediating  divine  principle 
of  revelation,  through  which  the  whole 
creation  is  connected  with  the  hidden  in- 
conceivable essence  of  God.  A  primeval 
self-revelation  of  the  hidden  God,  ante- 
cedent to  all  created  life,  the  Word  by 
which  that  hidden  essence  reveals  itself, 
(as  man  reveals  the  secrets  of  his  mind 
by  speech),  as  hypostasized  in  a  spirit  in 
v/hich  the  essence  of  Deity  is  represented 
in  the  most  perfect  manner  ;  this  consti- 
tutes a  universal  revelation  of  the  divine 
essence  in  distinction  from  the  partial,  in- 
dividualized revelations  of  God  in  the  va- 
riety of  created  beings.  This  is  a  designa- 
tion of  the  idea  of  a  self- revelation  of  God, 
(corresponding  to  the  oriental  cast  of  mind 
which  is  more  addicted  to  symbols  and 
images  than  to  purely  intellectual  notions), 
which  the  whole  creation  presupposes,  in 
which  it  has  its  root,  and  without  which 
no  sentiment  respecting  God  could  arise  in 
the  human  soul.  We  are  by  no  means 
justified  in  deducing  this  idea  from  Alexan- 
drian Platonism,  though  a  certain  mode 
of  expressing   it,  may   be   traced   to   that 


*  The  passage  in  Coloss.  i.  20,  has  some  pecu- 
liar  difficulties.     See  below. 


Chap.  I.] 


IDEA  OF  THE  LOGOS. 


281 


source,*  On  the  contrary,  this  idea,  which 
found  a  point  of  junction  in  the  theophanies 
of  the  Old  Testament,  and  in  the  theory  of 
revelation  lying  at  their  base,  formed  a 
natural  transition  from  the  legal  Judaism, 
which  placed  an  infinite  chasm  between 
God  and  man,  to  the  gospel  by  which  this 
chasm  was  taken  away,  since  it  revealed 
God  communicating  himself  to  mankind, 
and  establishing  a  vital  communion  be- 
tween himself  and  them.  The  ideas  of  a 
divine  utterance,  which  prescribed  its  mode 
of  being  to  the  creation — of  a  word  by 
which  God  operates  and  reveals  himself 
in  the  world — of  an  angel  representing 
God  and  speaking  in  his  name — of  a  divine 
wisdom  presupposed  through  the  universe 
— were  so  many  connecting  links  for  a 
contemplation  which  ascended  from  a  reve- 
lation of  God  in  the  world,  to  his  most  ab- 
solute self-revelation.  And  it  was  a  result 
of  this  mode  of  contemplation,  that  the 
appearance  of  Him  who  was  to  effect  the 
realization  of  the  idea  of  the  theocracy  and 
was  its  end,  to  whom  all  its  preceding  de- 
velopement  had  pointed  as  the  most  perfect 
self- revelation  and  communication  of  God 
in  human  nature,  was  acknowledged  as  the 
human  appearance  of  the  Word,  from  whom 
the  whole  creation  and  all  the  early  revela- 
tions of  God,  the  whole  developement  of 
the  theocracy,  proceeded.  When  the  idea 
of  the  Messiah  was  freed  from  its  popular 
theocratic  garb,  it  would  assume  that  higher 
element  of  the  idea  of  a  communication  of 
the  Divine  Being  in  the  form  of  human 
nature. 

Certainly  it  could  be  nothing  merely  ac- 
cidental which  induced  men  so  differently 
constituted  and  trained  as  Paul  and  John, 
to  connect  such  an  idea  with  the  doctrine 
of  the  person  of  Christ,  but  the  result  of  a 
higher  necessity,  which  is  founded  in  the 
nature  of  Christianity,  in  the  power  of  the 
impression  which  the  life  of  Christ  had 
made  on  the  minds  of  men,  in  the  reci- 
procal relation  between  the  appearance  of 
Christ  and  the  archetype,  that  represents 
itself  as  an  inward  revelation  of  God  in 
the  depths  of  the  higher  self-consciousness. 


«  In  Philo  himself,  those  descriptions  of  the 
idea  of  the  Logos,  in  which  the  Platonic  clement 
which  forms  their  basis  may  be  easily  perceived, 
are  to  be  distinjrnished  from  those  which  were 
manifet^tly  deduced  from  a  different  tradition,  and 
afterwards  clothed  in  a  Platonic  dress. 

86 


And  all  this  has  found  its  point  of  con- 
nexion and  its  verification,  in  the  manner 
in  which  Christ,  the  unerring  witness,  e.\. 
pressed  his  consciousness  of  the  indwell- 
ing of  the  divine  essence  in  him.*  Had 
this  doctrine,  when  it  was  first  promul- 
gated by  Paul,  been  altogether  new  and 
peculiar  to  himself,  it  must  have  excited 
much  opposition,  as  contradicting  the  com- 
mon monotheistic  belief  of  tiie  Jews,  even 
among  the  .apostles,  to  whom,  from  their 
previous  habits,  such  a  speculative  or  theo- 
sophic  element  must  have  remained  un- 
known, unless  it  had  found  a  point  of  con- 
nexion in  the  lessons  received  from  Christ 
and  in  their  Christian  knowledge.  What 
opposition  had  Paul  to  encounter — though 
Peter  had  already  prepared  his  way — 
when  he  asserted  the  validity  of  the  gospel 
apart  from  the  observance  of  the  ceremo- 
nial  law  !  But  tlds  doctrine  of  Christ  was 
equally    opposed    to    common"  Judaism, f 


*  Though  in  the  three  first  evanjrclists,  owing- 
to  their  peculiar  character,  in  wliicli  the  purely 
human  predominates,  such  expressions  of  Christ 
are  less  frequent,  yet  even  here  we  find  some 
which  declare  or  imply  the  idea  of  a  Son  of  God 
in  the  sense  of  Paul  and  John;  Matlh.  xi.  27; 
xxii.  44;  xxviii.  18,  20.  See  the  excellent  re- 
marks of  Baumgarten-Crusius,  in  his  Outlines  of 
Biblical  Theology,  p.  378.  The  whole  character 
of  the  Christ  of  the  first  Gospels,  and  several  sin- 
gle expressions  of  divine  confidence,  corrcs|)ond 
only  to  the  Son  of  God  as  he  is  represented  hy 
Paul  and  John.  And  the  predicates  o  vU;  n^  uv- 
■v^sTTcu  (the  Messiah  appearing  as  man,  wlio  real- 
ized  the  archetype  of  humanity,  human  niituro 
exalted  to  the  highest  dignity),  and  the  vi.i:  tcu 
Bi'yj  (which,  as  used  by  Christ,  denoted  somctliing- 
difterent  from  the  common  Jewish  idea  of  Iho 
Messiah),  apjilicd  by  Christ  to  himself,  have  a  re- 
ciprocal  relation  to  one  ani<thcr,  and  imply  the 
distinction  as  well  as  the  conjunction  and  unity 
of  the  divine  and  human  in  him ;  see  LebenJesu, 
p.  1 13. 

t  Paul  himself,  in  opposition  to  the  common 
Jewish  idea  of  a  Messiah  belonging,  as  a  dcsccn- 
dant  of  David,  peculiarly  to  the  Jewish  nation, 
who  would  never  break  through  the  forms  of  their 
tlieotracy,  in  Rom.  i.  3,  4,  describes  Jesus  as  the 
Son  of  God,  who,  by  natural  descent,  belonged  to 
the  posterity  of  David,  but  evinced  himself  to  be 
the  Son  of  God  in  a  powerful  maimer  by  his  re- 
surrection  through  the  Holy  Spirit ;  that  is,  after 
his  resurrection,  he  divested  himself  of  all  those 
peculiar,  earthly,  national  rclation-s  in  which  ho 
appeared  to  stand  ns  a  native  Jew  of  the  family  of 
David.  With  respect  to  his  interior  nature,  though 
before  veiled  under  a  terrestrial  form-,  he  manifcsied 
and  declared  himself,  through  the  divine  life  th 
proceeded  from  him,  to  be  the  Son  of  (."od,  IkKj 
inn-  to  all  mankind,  and  exalted  above  all| 
eartlily  relations.    Compare  2  Cor.  v.  16. 


fc  tha^ 


282 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 


[Book  VI. 


which,    when    it    afterwards  appeared    in 
a   Christian   form,   directed   its   opposition 
against  Christianity  (which  appeared  as  a 
new   independent   creation    affecting    botli 
doctrine  and  practice)  principally  on  this 
point.  '  Certainly  tliis  Judaism  can  appear 
to  no  impartial  observer  of  historical  deve- 
lopement,  as  a  reaction  of  the  orignal  ele-" 
ments   of  the  doctrine    of  Christ  against 
foreign  adulterations,  but  rather  a  reaction 
of  the  Jewish  spirit  against  the  spirit  of 
Christianity,   which    had   broken    through 
the  Jewish  forms  in  which  it  was  at  first 
enveloped,  and    had  developed  itself  into 
the   new   creation   designed   by   its  divine 
Founder.     Thus,  too,  the  doctrine  of  the 
Son  of  God,  as  the  Son  of  Man  in   the 
sense  of  John  and  Paul,  was  not  a  mere 
isolated  element  accidentally  mingled  with 
Christianity,   but  it    is    closely   connected 
with  the  whole  nature  of  its  doctrines  and 
morals.     God  is  no  more  a  God  at  an  in- 
finite distance,  but  revealed  in  man ;  a  di- 
vine life  in  human  form.     But  this  peculiar 
principle  of  Christian  morals,  the  idea  of 
the  pure  humanity  transformed  by  a  divine 
life,  obtains   its  true   significance  only  in 
connexion  with  the  doctrine  of  the  histori- 
cal Christ,  as  the  God-man,  the  Redeemer 
of  sinful  humanity  which  from  him  must 
first  receive  the  divine  life,  and  persevere 
in  constant  unreserved  dependence  on  him. 
The  self-idolatry  of  pantheism,  which  de- 
nies equally  the  God  and  the  Christ  of  the 
gospel,    rests    upon    an    entirely    different 
basis,  and  is  essentially  opposed  to  it.    On 
the  Christian  standing-point,  the  elements 
of  the  inward  life  are  a  consciousness  of 
dependence  on  One   Being,   of  a  state  of 
pupilage  in   relation   to  him,   a  surrender 
of  the  soul  to  him  ;   with  a  sense  of  want, 
in   order   to  receive  from  him   what  man 
cannot  derive  from  himself,  the  key-tone 
of  humility  ;  on    the    anti-christian  stand- 
ing-point   of  pantheistic   self-idolatry,  the 
consciousness  of  self-sufficiency  arises  from 
the  supposed  union  with  God  which  it  pro- 
fesses.    Hence  we   see  how  enormous  a 
falsehood   it  is,    when  men  make  use   of 
Christian  phrases  for  conveying  sentiments 
utterly    at    variance    with     their     genuine 
meaning,  as  they  have  often   been  of  late 
years. 

Since  Paul  contemplated  the  Redeemer 
equally  on  the  side  of  his  divine  pre-exis- 
tence,  and  on  that  of  his  human  appearance, 


he    united    under   one  point  of  view  the 
reference  to  the  universe  of  created  beings 
in  general,  and  to  the  new  spiritual  crea- 
tion in  particular,  which  was   introduced 
among  mankind  by  the  gospel ;  or  in  other 
words,  the  universal  kingdom  of  God,  which 
embraces    the  whole  spiritual  world,  and 
that  particular  kingdom  established  in  the 
form  of  a  church  on  earth.     Paul  was  led 
to  exhibit  this  twofold  reference  in  its  unity 
in  his  Epistle  to  the  Colossians,  for   the 
purpose   of  combating  the  pretensions  of 
certain  notions,  then  in  vogue  respecting 
spirits.     He  who  is  the  image  of  the  hidden 
incomprehensible   God,  he  in   Avhom  that 
God  revealed  himself  before  all  created  ex- 
istence, he  who  carries  in  himself  the  arche- 
types of  all  existences,*  in  whom  all  earthly 
and  heavenly  beings,  all  invisible  as  well 
as  visible  powers,  have  been  created,  by 
whom  andf  in  reference  to  whom  all  things 
are   created,  who  is   before  all,:}:  and   in 
whom  (in  connexion  with  whom)  all  beings 
continue  to  exist, — the  same  being,  there- 
fore, who  is  the  head  of  all,  of  the  whole 
all-comprehending  kingdom  of  God,  is  also 
the  head  of  the  Church  which  belongs  to 
him  as  his  body  (by  virtue  of  his  entering 
into  communion   corporeally  with  human 
nature) ;  since  he,  as  the  first  born  from 
the  dead,  has  become  the  first-fruits  of  the 
new  creation  among  mankind,  that  he  may 
be  the  first  of  every  order  of  beings  ;  as  he 
is  the  nr ^uroToxo;  ifad-^g  xridsug,  so  also  the 
cr^wToroxos  Trjs  xaiv^s  xridsug.^     According 
to  his  divine  being  deduced  from  the  origi- 


*  Col.  i,  16,  the  b  aura  must  be  distinguished 
from  the  Ji'  autov  ;  the  former  indicates  that  tlie 
Logos  is  the  ideal  ground  of  all  existence ;  the 
latter  that  he  is  the  instrument  of  revealing  the 
divine  idea. 

+  Inasmuch  as  the  revelation  and  glory  of  God 
in  the  creation  can  be  effected  only  ihrough  him, 
in  whom  alone  God  reveals  himself,  through  him 
every  thing  refers  itself  to  God. 

t  The  iTTi  denotes  the  divine  existence,  but  also 
with  a  particular  reference  to  the  ss-t/  in  v.  18. 

§  It  cannot  be  urged  against  this  interpretation, 
that  if  Paul  had  intended  to  mark  the  reference  to 
the  divine  and  human,  he  would  have  pointedly 
marked  the  distinction  of  the  x.ula.  o-tg,"-^  and  >ca7« 
TTvrJ/jL'j,  for  when  Paul  uses  such  marks  he  wishes 
to  render  the  antithesis  prominent;  but  here  it  is 
his  main  design,  along  with  the  distinction,  to 
mark  the  unity  of  the  subject,  and  therefore  it 
would  have  been  contrary  to  his  intention  to  have 
marked  the  contrast  more  sharply.  In  the  former 
passage  (Rom.  i.  3,  4)  the  dialectic  element  pre- 
dominates, but  here  the  soaring  of  inspiration. 


Chap.  I.] 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  EVIL. 


nal  of  the  divine  essence  before  the  whole 
creation,  he  forms  the  medium  for  the 
origination  of  all  created  existence;  as  the 
Risen  One  before  all  others  in  glorified 
human  nature,  he  forms  the  medium  for  the 
new  spiritual  creation  which  proceeds  from 
him  among  mankind.  This  combination 
of  reference  to  the  twofold  creation  which 
finds  its  point  of  union  in  Christ  as  the  God- 
man  Redeemer,  is  also  made  in  the  expres- 
sions by  which  Paul  distinguishes  the 
nature  of  Christian  faith  from  heathenism; 
1  Cor  viii.  6 ; — one  God  the  Father,  from 
whom  all  existence  proceeds,  and  to  whose 
glory  we  as  redeemed  are  conscious  that 
we  exist ;  and  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ  (the 
mediator  in  our  knowledge  of  God  as 
Christians),  through  whom  all  things  were 
created,  and  through  whom,  by  means  of 
the  new  creation,  our  destiny  will  be  real- 
ized, so  that  our  life  and  conduct  will  be 
referred  to  God,  and  be  subservient  to  his 
glory.* 

The  idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God  has  also 
in  Paul's  writings  an  essential  reference  to 
a  kingdom  of  evil.  Although  evil  carries 
with  it  only  division  and  internal  contradic- 
tion, and  forms  no  unity,  and  therefore  we 
cannot  speak  of  a  kingdom  of  evil  that  is 
constituted  for  one  precise  object,  yet  the 
opposition  against  the  kingdom  of  God  im- 
parts a  unity  to  all  the  diversified  mani- 
festations of  evil.  As  the  kingdom  of  God, 
according  to  the  Pauline  views,  in  its  most 
extensive  sense,  passes  beyond  the  boun- 
daries of  earthly  existence,  and  embraces 
the  totality  of  the  developement  of  the  di- 
vine life  in  all  those  beings  who  are  destined 
to  exhibit  a  conscious  revelation  of  their 
Maker,  so  likewise  the  opposition  against 
the  kingdom  of  God  is  represented  by  the 


*  It  is  connected  with  the  Pauline  mode  of  con- 
ception here  developed,  that  while  he  ascribes  a 
truly  divine  yet  derived  being  to  Christ,  ho  is  wont 
to  mark  Him  to  whom  he  ascribes  the  divine  ori- 
ginal being,  God  the  Father,  simply  as  o  S-«5c.  Nor 
is  it  at  variance  with  this,  that,  as  he  ascribes  to 
him  a  Ctt-jl^x^iv  sv  /uo^p^i  biou  an  ei'vai  It-j.  Stu,  Phil. 
ii.  6,  he  could  also  designate  him  in  that  difficult 
passage,  Rom.  ix.  5,  as  ^ioi,  as  elevated  above  all 
according  to  his  divine  nature.  But  in  the  pas- 
sage  Titus  ii.  13,  I  cannot  but  consider  the  Great 
God  and  the  Saviour  as  two  difFerent  subjecis.  "  It 
is  Christ  our  Saviour  by  whom  the  glory  of  the 
Great  God  is  revealed."  The  expression  "  the 
Great  God  hath  given  himself  for  us,"  would  be 
altogether  unpiuline.  Compare  the  remarks  of 
that  unprejudiced  critic  Winer,  in  his  Grammar, 
p.  115,  3d  edit.  [p.  122,  4th  edit.] 


apostle  as  of  vast  extent  and  diversified  re- 
lations. He  considers  the  prevalence  of 
sin  in  mankind  to  stand  in  connexion  with 
the  prevalence  of  evil  in  the  higher  spiritual 
world  ;  the  principle  of  sin  is'every  where 
the  same, — the  selfishness  striving  against 
the  divine  will  in  those  rational  beings  who 
were  designed  to  subordinate  their  will  to 
God's  with  consciousness  and  freedom. 
All  other  evil  is  traced  by  Paul  to  the  out-  - 
break  of  tliis  opposition  in  the  rational 
creation  as  its  primary  source.  As  all  sin 
among  mankind  is  deduced  from  the  origi- 
nal sin  at  the  beginning  of  the  race,  and  is 
considered  as  its  effect,  so  all  evil  generally 
is  viewed  in  connexion  with  that  first  evil, 
and  as  the  operation  of  the  same  funda- 
mental tendency.  This  is  of  importance 
in  relation  to  the  whole  doctrine  of  sin. 
Had  Paul,  according  to  the  views  ascribed 
to  him  by  some,  considered  eyil  as  only 
something  necessarily  grounded  in  human 
nature,  and  the  first  man  as  in  this  respect 
a  type  of  all  mankind,  the  idea  of  an  evil 
extraneous  to  mankind  in  a  world  of  higher 
intelligences,  could  have  found  in  his  mind 
no  point  of  connexion.  But  it  constitutes 
the  importance  of  this  doctrince  in  relation 
to  Christian  Theism,  that  the  reality  and 
inexplicability  of  sin  as  an  act  of  the  will, 
is  thereby,  firmly  established,  in  opposition 
to  all  attempts  at  explaining  it,  which  go 
to  deny  the  very  existence  of  a  Will,  and 
deduce  evil  from  a  necessity  which  classes 
moral  developeme.nt  with  the  chain  of 
causes  and  effects  in  nature.*  Thus  the 
apostle  recognises  in  all  the  ungodliness  of 
men,  whether  it  assumes  a  theoretical  or 
practical  form,  the  power  of  a  principle  of 
darkness — a  spirit  which  is  active  in  unbe- 
lievers.f  The  aiwv  outoj  and  the  xotffiof 
ovroi  are  the  terms  used  to  express  the 
totality  of  every  thing  which  opposes  the 
kingdom  of  God,  the  collective  assemblage 
of  the  ungodly,  the  kingdom  of  this  spirit 


*  This  has  been  recognised  in  the  light  of  an 
ethico-religious  idealism  by  a  Kant,  whose  earnest 
moral  spirit  (on  thi^  point  at  least)  approaches 
much  nearer  to  biblical  Christianity,  than  the 
modern  pantheistic  idolatry  of  the  understanding, 
and  the  logical  monism  of  those  who  fancy  they 
can  reconcile,  by  dint  of  logic,  the  contrafirtics 
in  human  nature  which  only  admit  of  a  practical 
settlement.  See  Kant's  /?p/igion  innerhalb  der 
Granzen  der  hlossen   Vcrnunfl. 

t  Epii.  ii.  2.  Tou  wiv/uta.TO(  Tcu  lut  iK«{yci;»T6c  if 
To7f  v'ulc  tJJc  UTuBilaC 


284 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  EVIL, 


[Book  VI. 


which    is   the   representative    of   evil    in 
a;enoral.* 


*  Paul  must  naturally  liave  regarded  heathenism 
in  itself  (as  a  suppression  by  sin  of  the  knowledge 
of  God)  as  belonging  to  the  kingdom  of  the  evil 
spirit.  But  though  ihe  opinion  that  the  apnsllc 
adopted  tiie  notion  of  the  Jews,  that  the  heathen 
gods  were  evil  spirits  who  influenced  men  to  pay 
them  religious  homage,  has  met  with  several  ad- 
vocates  in  modern  limes,  much  may  be  urged 
against  it.  When  Paul  speaks  of  the  origin  of 
idolatry  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  it  would  have  been  a  most  natural  ojipor- 
tunity  for  saying,  that  men  through  sin  were 
grown  up  to  the  influence  of  evil  spirits,  and  were 
scduceti  by  them  to  transfer  to  them  the  homage 
that  was  due  to  the  living  God.  It  would  have 
marked  more  strongly  the  detestable  quality  of 
idolatry,  and  the  predominance  of  unnatural  lusts, 
to  which  he  there  refers,  if  he  could  have  traced 
them  to  the  influence  of  evil  spirits,  to  whom  men 
had  subjected  themselves,  esteeming  tliem  to  be 
divinities.  But  we  find  nothing  of  ail  this  ;  Paul 
speaksmerely  of  the  transference  to  earthly  things 
of  the  homage  due  to  God,  and  he  deduces  all  the 
enormities  he  specifies  only  from  tlic  moral  and 
intellectual  course  of  developement  among  men 
left  to  themselves.  In  Gal.  iv.  S,  when  he  says  of 
tliose  who  had  before  been  heathens,  that  tliey  had 
served  what  was  no  god,  as  if  it  were  God,  it  is 
noways  implied  that  they  considered  other  real 
beings  or  evil  spirits  to  be  gods;  but  only  that 
thev  liad  made  themselves  slaves  of  the  (7Tc_;^«is 
Tou  Kc^fjL'^v,  instead  of  serving  God  alone,  as  be- 
came  the  dignity  of  human  nature.  Tl:e  orTcxa^t 
Tiu  x.z7fji.iv  are  the  objects  to  which  they  ascribed 
divine  power.  In  reference  to  the  Corinthian 
church,  I  cannot  retract  the  opinion  I  expressed 
above,  p.  143.  I  cannot  so  understand  the  passage 
in  1  Cor.  viii.  7,  as  if  the  persons  indicated  by  Paul 
were  Christians  who  could  not  altogether  free 
themselves  from  faith  in  the  reality  of  the  heathen 
divinities  as  such;  for,  according  to  the  relation 
in  which  Christianity  at  that  time  stood  to  hea- 
thenism, it  is  utterly  inconceivable  that,  among 
those  who  became  Christians,  such  a  mixture 
could  be  formed  of  their  earlier  polytheistic  views 
with  Christian  monotheism.  Still,  if  they  could 
not  free  themselves  from  belief  in  the  reality  of 
beings  who  had  formerly  exercised  so  great  an 
influence  over  their  minds,  those  whom  they  once 
held  to  be  divinities  must  have  appeared  to  them 
as  evil  spirits,  in  consequence  of  the  total  revolu- 
tion in  their  modes  of  tliinking.  But  if  this  be 
assumed,  Paul  could  not  at  the  same  time  hold  as 
correct  that  view  which  he  attributes  to  the  weak 
as  erroneous.  He  declares,  moreover,  that  the 
views  of  the  liberal  party  in  the  Corinthian  church 
were  correct  in  theory,  but  they  proceeded  on  the 
supposition  that  the  heathen  divinities  were  only 
imaginary  beings,  and  that  for  this  reason  the 
eating  of  the  meat  offered  to  them  was  a  matter 
of  perfect  indifference.  In  1  Cor.  viii.  5,  he  con- 
trasts only  two  subjective  standing-points  in  reli- 
gion, without  spciking  of  the  relation  to  the 
oSjectivc.  The  passage  in  1  Cor.  x.  20,  is  the 
strongest  in  favour  of  the  view  which  we  are  here 
opposing.     But  we  must  determine  the  meaning 


Jesus  appeared  in  humanity  to  annihi- 
late the  empire  of  sin  and  of  Satan.  All 
the  powers  of  evil  arrayed  themselves 
against  the  Holy  One  of  God ;  his  death, 
in  which  was  manifested  the  mighty  power 
of  the  kingdom  of  darkness  among  man- 
kind, seemed  to  be  their  most  splendid 
triumph,  for  here  the  mightiest  opponent 
of  this  kingdom  succumbed  to  their  ma- 
chinations. But  the  relation  was  reversed, 
and  since  the  sufferings  of  Christ  were  the 
completion  of  his  work  of  redemption, 
since  Christ  by  his  resurrection  and  ascen- 
sion to  heaven  manifested  the  victorious 
power  of  the  redemption  he  had  completed, 
since  now  as  the  Glorified  One,  with  the 
power  of  a  divine  life  that  overcame  all  op- 
position, he  continued  to  work  in  and  by 
those  whom  he  had  redeemed  from  the 
power  of  sin  and  Satan, — it  was  precisely 
by  that  event  which  appeared  as  a  victory 
of  the  kingdom  of  darkness  that  its  power 
was  destroyed.  In  this  connexion  Paul 
says,  in  Coloss.  ii.  15,  that  Christ  by  his 
redeeming  sufferings  had  gained  a  triumph 
over  the  powers  that  opposed  the  kingdoin 
of  God,  and  had  put  them  openly  to  shame, 
just  as  the  chiefs  of  vanquished  nations  are 
led  in  a  triumphal  procession  as  signs  of 
the  destruction  of  the  hostile  force, — thus 
the  power  of  evil  now  appeared  annihilated. 
And  a  similar  image  in  Eph.  iv.  8,  repre- 
sents Christ,  after  he  had  made  prisoners 
of  the  powers  opposed  to  him,  as  ascending 
victoriously  to  heaven,  and  distributing  gifts 

of  this  verse  by  comparing  it  with  verse  19.  If 
we  admitted  that  Paul  considered  the  heathen  di- 
vinities  to  be  evil  spirits,  we  must  agree  with  Bill- 
roth (see  his  commentary  on  this  passage),  that 
he  wished  to  guard  against  that  misunderstanding 
to  which  the  preceding  comparison  might  have 
given  rise,  as  if  he  really  acknowledged  their  di- 
vinities  to  be  actually  divine.  But,  as  we  have 
already  remarked,  no  member  of  tlie  Corinthian 
church  could  be  supposed  to  entertain  such  an 
opinion,  nor  can  it  be  supposed  that  any  one  could 
iiave  so  misunderstood  the  language  of  Paul,  wlio 
alw.^ys  maintained  so  strongly  an  exclusive  mono- 
theism. On  the  other  hand,  his  words  might  be 
so  understood,  as  if  he  considered  these  divinities 
to  be  real  beings  (though  evil  spirits),  and  hence 
ascribed  an  objective  importance  to  what  was  of- 
fered to  them.  And  in  opposition  to  this  mistake, 
he  now  says  that  he  speaks  only  of  what  the  hei- 
thens  believed  subjectively  from  their  own  stand- 
ing-point, which  stood  in  opposition  to  the  Chris- 
tian, and  with  which  Christians  could  enter  into 
no  sort  of  communion,  that  those  beings  to  whom 
they  sacrificed  were  SxifxcyisL  in  the  Grecian  sense 
of  the  terra. 


Chap.  I] 


AND  CHRIST'S  VICTORY  OVER  IT. 


295 


among  men  as  the  tokens  of  his  triumph, 
just  as-  princes  are  wont  to  celebrate  their 
victories  by  the  distribution  of  donatives. 
These  gifts  are  the  charisms.  As  the  out- 
pouring of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  impartation 
of  divine  life  to  believers,  and  especially 
the  founding  of  a  cburch  animated  by  a 
divine  principle  of  life,  are  proofs  of  the 
conquest  over  the  kingdom  of  evil,  and  of 
the  liberation  of  the  redeemed  from  its 
power  ;  so  likewise  the  manifold  operations 
of  this  divine  life  in  redeemed  human 
nature,  are  so  many  marks  of  Christ's 
victory  over  the  kingdom  of  evil,  since 
those  powers  belonging  to  man,  which  for- 
merly were  employed  in  the  service  of  sin, 
are  now  become  the  organs  of  the  divine 
life.  N^ow,  through  redemption  the  power 
of  the  kingdom  of  darkness  is  broken,  and 
a  foundation  is  laid  for  the  complete  victory 
of  the  kingdom  of  God  and  its  total  sepa- 
ration from  all  evil.  But  till  this  final  con- 
summation is  effected,  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  can  only  develope  itself  in  continued 
conflict  with  the  kingdom  of  evil,  for  the 
power  of  the  latter  is  still  shown  in  them, 
who  have  not  been  freed  from  it  by  redemp- 
tion, and  by  them  the  kingdom  of  God  as  it 
exists  in  the  believer  is  opposed,  though  all 
that  opposes  it  must  in  the  end  contribute 
to  its  victory.  And  even  in  the  redeemed 
themselves,  points  of  connexion  with  the 
kingdom  of  evil  exist,  as  far  as  their  lives 
are  not  purified  from  a  mixture  of  ungodli- 
ness. Hence  Christians  are  called  to  act 
as  soldiers  for  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  2 
Tim.  ii.  3,  against  all  the  power  of  evil, 
both  that  which  meets  them  from  without 
in  their  efforts  for  the  extension  and  pro- 
motion of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  among 
mankind,  as  well  as  against  all  from  within, 
which  threatens  to  disturb  the  operations 
of  the  divine  life  in  themselves,  and  in  so 
doing  to  retard  the  internal  advancement 
of  Christ's  kingdom,  Eph.  vi.  II.  It  is  the 
dictate  of  practical  Christian  morals,  that 
as  every  talent  is  transformed  into  charism, 
it  becomes  appropriated  for  this  divine 
equipment  of  the  militia  Christi.  If 
Christians  only  rightly  appropriate  divine 
truth,  and  make  all  the  powers  of  their 
nature  subservient  to  it,  they  will  find 
therein  the  most  complete  equipment  (the 
TavoTrXia  tou  Seou)  in  order  to  carry  on  this 
warfare  successfully.  Vv^henever  Paul 
mentions  this  invisible  kingdom  of  evil,  it 


is  always  in  connexion  with  the  presupposed 
sinful  direction  of  the  will  in  human  nature, 
for  the  doctrine  of  Satan  can  only  be 
rightly  understood  by  means  of  the  idea  of 
sin  derived  from  our  moral  experience.  In 
the  copious  discussion  on  the  nature  and 
origin  of  sin,  and  on  the  reaction  of  the 
work  of  redem[)tion  against  sin,  which  is 
given  in  the  Epistle  to  "the  Romans,  Satan 
is  not  mentioned  ;  and  when  Paul  first 
turned  to  tile  heathen  and  led  them  to  the 
faith,  he  certainly  appealed  at  first  only  to 
the  consciousness  of  sin  in  their  own  breasts, 
as  in  his  discourse  at  Athens.  Moreover, 
he  always  contemplated  this  doctrine  in 
connexion  with  the  redemption  accom- 
plished by  Christ.  Believers  have  reason 
to  fear  the  invisible  powers  of  darkness 
only  when  they  expose  themselves  to  their 
influence  by  the  sinful  direction  of  their 
will,  and  are  not  careful  to  make  a  right 
use  of  the  means  granted  them  in  com- 
munion with  Christ,  for  conflicting  with  the 
kingdom  of  evil ;  that  kingdom  which  the 
Redeemer  has  overcome  once  for  all.  Paul 
employs  this  doctrine  to  arouse  believers  to 
greater  watchfulness,  that,  under  the  con- 
sciousness of  an  opposing  invisible  power 
which  avails  itself  of  every  germ  of  evil  as 
a  point  of  connexion,  they  may  carefully 
watch  and  allow  nothing  of  the  kind  to 
spring  up  ;  and  that  they  may  rightly  ap- 
propriate and  use  the  divine  weapons  fur- 
nished by  the  gospel  against  all  temptation; 
2  Cor.  ii.  10,  II  ;  Eph.  vi.  12. 

"We  have  now  to  speak  of  the  gradual 
developement  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  as 
it  advances  in  conflict  with  the  kingdom  of 
evil,  until  the  period  of  its  completion. 

With  respect  to  the  manner  in  which 
both  nations  and  individuals  are  led  by  the 
publication  of  the  gospel  to  a  participation 
in  the  kingdom  of  God,  Paul  deduces  the 
counsel  of  redemption  and  every  thing  be- 
longing to  its  completion,  both  generally 
and  particularly,  from  the  hec  disposal  of 
the  grace  of  God,  irrespective  of  any  merit 
on  the  part  of  man.  The  peculiar  form  of 
his  doctrinal  scheme  is  closely  connected 
with  the  manner  in  which  he  was  changed 
from  being  an  eager  persecutor  of  the  gos- 
pel into  its  zealous  professor  and  publisher. 
And  this  free  movement  of  grace,  not 
measured  and  determined  according  to  hu- 
man merit,  he  brings  forward  in  opposition 
to  a  theory  equally  arrogant  and  contracted, 


286 


EXPOSITION  OF  ROMANS  IX. 


[Book  VI. 


according  to  which  admission  to  the  king- 
dom of  God  was  determined  by  the  merits 
of  a  legal  righteousness ;  the  Jewish  peo- 
ple, by  virtue  of  the  merits  and  election  of 
their  progenitors,  were   supposed   to   have 
an  unalienable  right  to  form  the  main-pillar 
and  centre  of  the  theocracy.    Accordingly, 
he  contemplates  the   free  arrangements  of 
grace  in  a  twofold  contrast;  in  contrast  to 
claims  founded  on  natural  descent  from  dis- 
tinguished ancestors,  and  a  peculiar  theo- 
cratic nation — and   to  claims  founded   on 
the  meritoriousness  of  a  legal   righteous- 
ness.   In  reference  to  the  former,  he  makes' 
the  contrast  on  the  one  hand  of  natural  de- 
scent   determined    by  law,    and    therefore 
founded  in  a  law  of  natural  developement,  i 
and  defined  by  it;  on  the  other  hand,  a  de- 
velopement not  to  be  calculated  according 
to  such  a  law  of  nature,  but  one  which  de- 
pends on  the  free  disposal  of  divine   grace 
and  of  the  divine  Spirit;  the  arrangement  i 
according  to  which  the  promise  is  fulfilled  ^ 
as  the  work  of  God's  free  grace.     In  the 
former  case,  the  developement  of  the  king-  i 
dom  of  God  proceeds  by  outward  propaga-  i 
tion  and  transmission — in  the  latter,  a  de- 
velopement ensues  in  virtue  of  the  invisible., 
and  internal  connexion  of  the  operations  of 
the  divine  Spirit,   and  of  the  communica- ' 
tion  of  divine    life.     Paul    illustrates   this  | 
universal  contrast,*  this  law  for  the  theo- } 
cratical  developement  through  all  ages  by  i 
a  particular  example,  the  example  of  Abra- 1 
ham's  posterity,  from  whom  the  Jews  de- 
duced their  theocratic  privileges.   He  points 
out,  how,  among  the   immediate  posterity  | 
of  Abraham,  not  that  son  was  chosen  who  j 
would  have  carried   on  the  line  of  his  de- 
scendants according  to  the  common  course 
of  nature,  but   one  who  was   miraculously 
bornf  contrary  to  all  human  calculation; 
that  this   latter,   and   not   the  former,  was 
destined  to  be  the  instrument  of  fulfilling 
the  divine  promises,  and  of  continuing  the 
theocracy;  such,  he  shows,  was  the  law  of 
its  continued  developement.    Most  unjustly 


*  The  same  contrast,  which  has  always  made 
its  appearance  among  the  conflicting  views  in  the 
Christian  cliurch,  the  contrast  between  Judaism 
in  a  Christian  form,  as  in  Catholicism  and  other 
similar  modes  of  thinking,  and  the  free  evangeli- 
cal point  of  view  of  the  visible  church  depending 
for  its  developement  on  the  invisible  efliciency  of 
the  divine  word. 

t  KATA  TTVi^/XOL,  DOt  KU.T:f.  ^JLl^KA  ',    Gal.  iv. 


!  has  Paul  been  charged  here  with  an  arbi- 
trary allegorizing  which  could  carry  weight 
only  with  the  readers  of  that  age. 

We  do  not  here  perceive  in  him  a  theo- 
logian entangled  in  Jewish  prejudices,  of 
which  his  education  in  the  school  of  Pha- 
risaism could  not  divest  him,  but  a  great 
master  in  the  interpretation  of  history,  who 
in  particular  facts  could  discern  general 
laws  and  types,  and  knew  how  to  reduce 
the  most  complex  phenomena  to  simple  and 
constantly  recurring  laws.  Thus  he  here 
infers,  with  perfect  correctness  from  a  par- 
ticular case,  a  universal  law  for  the  histo- 
rical developement  of  the  theocracy,  which 
he  illustrates  by  that  fact.  He  applies  the 
same  law  to  the  Jews  considered  as  the  pe- 
culiar theocratic  people  in  relation  to  the 
theocratic  people  formed  from  the  mass  of 
mankind  by  the  gospel.  Since  those  who, 
according  to  the  law  of  natural  descent 
from  the  theocratic  people,  imagined  that 
they  had  a  sure  title  of  admission  into  the 
kingdom  of  God,  were  yet  excluded  from 
it ;  on  the  contrary,  by  a  dispensation  of 
the  divine  spirit,  which  could  not  have 
been  calculated  beforehand,  towards  the 
heathen  nations,  who  according  to  the  order 
of  nature,  since  they  were  entirely  distinct 
from  the  theocratic  people,  appeared  to  be 
altogether  excluded*  from  the  kingdom  of 
God,  a  new  theocratic  race  was  called  into 
existence,  in  whom  the  promises  made  to 
Abraham  were  to  be  fulfilled. 

With  respect  to  the  second  point,  that  of 
founding  a  claim  for  admission  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  on  the  merits  of  a  legal 
righteousness,  Paul  meets  this  arrogant  as- 
sumption by  the  fact  that  the  Jews,  who  by 
their  zeal  in  the  righteousness  of  the  law, 
appeared  to  have  the  most  valid  title  to 
such  a  privilege,  were  excluded  from  it 
owing  to  their  unbelief;  and  on  the  con- 
trary the  heathen,  among  whom  there  had 
been  no  such  striving  after  righteousness, 
were  unexpectedly  called  to  partake  of  it. 

As  in  the  ninth  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Romans,  he  contemplates  only  this  one 
aspect  of  the  dispensation  of  divine  grace 
in  the  perpetuation  of  the  kingdom  of  God, 

*  However  improbable  it  appeared  that  Abra- 
ham would  obtain  offspring  for  the  continuance  of 
his  race,  in  the  manner  which  actually  occurred, 
there  was  as  little  probability  that  the  true  worship 
of  Jehovah  would  proceed  from  nations  who  had 
been  hitherto  devoted  to  idolatry. 


Chap.  I.] 


WISDOM  OF  GOD  IN  REDEMPTION. 


287 


and  for  a  polemical  purpose,  it  might  seem  as 
if  he  deemed  the  dispensation  of  divine  grace 
to  be  in  no  respect  aflected  by  the  determi- 
nation of  the  human  will — as  if  happiness 
and   unhappiness  were   distributed   among 
men  by  a  divine  predestination  entirely  un- 
conditional ;  and  as  if  he  deduced  the  dif- 
ferent conduct  of  men  in  reference  to  the 
divine  revelations    and    leadings — from   a 
divine    causation    which    arranged    every 
thing  according  to  an  unchangeable  neces- 
sity.    This  principle  if  carried  out,  would 
lead  to  a  denial  of  all  moraltree  self-deter- 
mination in  general,  contradict  the  essence 
of  genuine  theism,  and  would  logically  be 
consistent    only    with    Pantheistic    views. 
But  on  such  a  supposition,  the  line  of  ar- 
gument which  Paul  here  adopts  would  be 
entirely  inconsistent  with  the  general  de- 
sign of  this  epistle.     He  wishes   to   prove 
both  to  Gentiles   and  Jews,  that,  owing  to 
their  sins,   they  had   no   means  of  excul- 
pating themselves  before  the  divine  tribu- 
nal ;  that  all  were  alike  exposed  to  punish- 
ment ;   he  particularly  wished  to  lead  the 
Jews  to  a  conviction  that,  by  their  unbe- 
lief, they  deserved  exclusion  from  the  king- 
dom of  God.     But    on    the    hypothesis  to 
which  we  have  just  referred,  he  would  have 
removed  all   imputation  of  guilt,  and  fur- 
nished the  best   ground  of  excuse  for  all, 
a  necessity  that  guided  all  human  actions 
by  a  secret  machinery.     Or  we  must  ex- 
plain his   scheme  by  the  distinction  of  a 
twofold  standing-point,  one  theoretical,  the 
other  practical,  a  hidden  and  a  revealed  will 
of  God  ;  but  we  can  find  nothing  in  his 
mode  of  thinking  to  authorize  such  a  dis- 
tinction.    It  is,  in  short,  evident  from  the 
close  of  his  whole  argument,  which  begins 
in  the  ninth  chapter — even  if  we  do  not 
view  this  single  discussion  in  its  relation  to 
the  whole  of  his  theology  and  anthropolo- 
gy— how  very  far  he  was  from  thinking  of 
God  as  a  Being  who  created  the  greater 
part  of  the  human  race,  in  order  to  mani- 
fest his  punitive  justice   to  them  after  in- 
volving them  in  sin  and  unbelief;  and  who 
had  created  a  smaller  part  in  order  to  mani- 
fest his  redeeming  grace,  by  rescuing  them 
from  the  sin  into  which  they  had  been  in- 
volved by  a  divine  destiny ;  for  he  repre- 
sents as  the  final   issue  of  all  the  divine 
dispensations  with  the  gcjierations  of  man- 
kind, not  such  a  partial  but  the  most  gene- 
ral revelation  of  the  divine  grace,     God 


hath  suffered  all,  Jews  as  well  as  Gentiles,* 
to  come  to  a  knowledge  of  their  sin,  and 
by  that  of  their  need  of  redemption,  that 
he  may  manifest  his  redeeming  grace  to  all 
who   are   in   this  v.ay  fitted   to  receive  it, 
Rom.  xi.  32.    Moreover,  the  doxology  with 
which  he  closes  the  whole  exposition  of  his 
views  (xi.  33),  contains  a  twofold  reference, 
— to   the  infinite   wisdom  of  God,  which 
manifests  itself  in  the  developement  of  the 
kingdom  of  U3od  among  the  Gentiles  by  an 
unexpected  course  of  events, — and  to  the 
grace  of  God,  to  which  men  are  indebted 
for  all  those  blessings  which  no  merits  of 
their  own  could  secure.     Therefore,  in  the 
discussion  which  is  closed  by  this  doxology, 
there  is  only  a  reference  to  a  divine  wis- 
dom, whose  proceedings  are  not  to  be  cal- 
culated beforehand,  according  to  any  con- 
tracted  human   theory ;    and   to  a  super- 
abounding  grace  of  God,  which  anticipates 
all  human  merit,  reigns  over  all,and  serves 
to   explain   all.     These  two  relations  are 
closely  connected  with  one  another  ;  for  as 
the  superabounding  grace  of  God  is  shown 
by  all  Jews  as  well  as  Gentiles,  and  Gen- 
tiles  as  well  as  Jews,  being  brought  to  a 
participation  of  redemption,   so  the  won- 
derful wisdom  of  God  is  manifested  by  the 
manner  in  which,  by  the  dealings  of  his 
providence  with  the  nations,  the  feeling  of 
the  need   of  redemption  as  the  necessary 
preparation  for  obtaining  it,  is  developed  in 
various  ways  among  them,   according  to 
their  respective  standing-points. 

Thus,  too,  Paul  says  in  Eph.  iii.  10, 
that  by  the  manner  in  which  the  church 
of  God  was  formed  among  mankind,  and 
especially  in  which  the  heathen  were  led 
to  a  participation  in  redemption,  the  *oX-j- 
<irom'Kos  rfo^ia  toC  Scoi;  was  manifested  ;  the 
epithet  here  given  to  the  divine  wisdom, 
serves  to  express  the  variety  of  methods 
by  which  it  conducted  the  developement  of 
mankind  to  one  end.  But  the  praise  of  the 
divine  wisdom  in  this  respect,  is  directly 


*  The  great  mass  of  mankind,  as  being  either 
of  the  Jewish  or  Gentile  race,  seems  to  be  the 
subject  of  diseoursc,  rather  than  individuals; 
though  what  Paul  here  says  is  applicable  to  tho 
plan  and  course  of  the  divine  dealings  with  indi- 
viduals ;  the  same  preparation  for  the  npnropria- 
tion  of  redemption,  is  needed  for  indlvitfuils  as 
for  collective  bodies  consisting  of  individuals  ;  tho 
consciousness  of  the  need  of  redemption  is  nhvays 
the  necessary  intermediate  step,  though  this  may 
be  awakened  in  various  ways. 


288  THE  EXAMPLE  OF  PHARAOH  A  WARNING  TO  THE  JEWS.  [Book  VI. 


opposed  to  the  hypothesis  of  an  arbitrary 
impartation  of  grace  and  of  an  uncondi- 
tional divine  causation.  For  this  very 
reason,  divine  wisdom  was  requisite  for 
the  establishment  of  the  cliurch  of  God 
among  mankind,  because  God  did  not  all 
at  once  give  that  direction  to  men's  minds 
which  they  required  to  attain  a  participa'- 
tion  in  redemption,  but  trained  them  to  it 
with  free  self-determination  on  their  part 
according  to  their  various  standing-points.* 
In  the  discussion  of  this  controversy, 
Paul  dwells  principally  on  the  free  grace 
and  independent  will  of  God,  because  it 
was  only  his  object  to  humble  the  pride  of 
the  Jews,  and  to  awaken  in  their  minds 
the  consciousness  that  man,  by  all  his 
efforts,  cannot  seize  what  he  can  only  re- 
ceive from  the  grace  of  God  under  a  sense 
of  his  own  dependence  and  need  of  help  ; 
that  God  was  under  no  obligation  to  choose 
the  instruments  for  perpetuating  the  theo- 
cracy only  from  the  members  of  the  theo- 
cratic nation,  but  might  make  them  the 
objects  of  punishment.  But  from  this  we 
are  by  no  means  to  infer  that  Paul  consi- 
dered that  this  grace  operated  as  a  magical, 
unconditional  necessity,  or  that  the  divine 
punishment  was  an  arbitrary  act,or,equally 
with  sin  and  unbelief,  a  matter  of  divine 
causation.  It  was  far  from  his  intention 
to  give  a  complete  theory  of  the  divine 
election  of  grace,  and  its  relation  to  free 
will,  but  only  to  exhibit  it  under  one  special 
point  of  view.  It  was  therefore  natural, 
that  if  this  antithetical  reference  was  not 
always  kept  in  view,  and  every  thing  else 
in  connexion  with  it,  that  much  would  be 
misunderstood,  and  a  very  one-sided  theory 

*  When  Paul  speaks  of  the  incomprehensibility 
of  the  divine  deahngs  towards  the  generations  of 
men,  it  is  in  this  sense,  that  the  limited  reason  of 
mun  cannot  determine  a  priori  the  proceedings  of 
the  divine  government,  and  that  man  cannot  un- 
derstand its  single  acts  till  he  can  survey  the  con- 
nexion of  the  whole  in  its  historical  devclopement. 
But  since  he  speaks  of  a  revelalion  of  tiie  divine 
wisdom,  it  is  evident  that  he  assumes  that  a  know- 
ledge of  these  proceedings  is  possible  in  such  a 
connexion.  And,  in  fact,  the  divine  wisdom  must 
have  already  manifested  itself  conspicuously  in 
tlic  transference  of  the  kingdom  of  God  from  the 
Jews  to  the  Gentiles,  and  in  the  preparation  of  the 
latter  for  that  event,  to  those  who  only  c:ist  a 
glincc  at  the  events  that  were  passing  under  tiieir 
eyes.  The  divine  wisdom  will  also  be  discerned 
at  a  future  period,  in  the  manner  of  bringing  so 
large  a  portion  of  the  Jewish  people  to  liiith  in 
the  Redeemer. 


of  election  would  be  formed  from  this  por- 
tion of  Scripture.  When  Paul  says  God 
hardeneth  whom  he  will — the  freedom  of 
the  divine  will  in  reference  to  the  divine 
punishment  is  maintained  against  the  de- 
lusion of  the  Jews,  that  their  nation  could 
not  be  an  object  of  the  divine  displeasure. 
But  that  this  punishment  should  be  condi- 
tional, depending  on  the  criminality  of 
man  as  a  free  agent,  is  by  no  means  ex- 
cluded, but  rather  implied  in  the  idea  of 
harde?iing. 

By  this  expression  that  law  of  the  moral 
world  is  indicated,  according  to  which  the 
moral  selfdetermination  gives  its  direction 
to  the  whole  inward  man  ;  the  sinful  direc- 
tion of  the  will  brings  on  blindness  of  mind, 
and  the  manner  in  which  every  thing  from 
v/ithout  operates  on  man,  depends  on  this 
his  inward  self-determination,  and  by  his 
consequent  susceptibility  or  unsusceptibility 
for  the  revelation  of  the  Divine  which  meets 
him  from  without.  And  in  this  respect, 
Paul  holds  up  the  example  of  Pharaoh  as 
a  warning  to  the  Jewish  nation.  As  the 
miracles  which,  by  another  direction  of  his 
inward  man,  might  have  led  him  to  an  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  divine  almightiness 
in  the  dealings  of  God  with  the  Jewish 
people,  and  to  a  subjection  of  his  will  to 
the  divine  will  clearly  manifested  to  him — 
as  these  miracles,  on  the  contrary,  only 
contributed  to  harden  him  in  his  self-will 
and  delusion,  so  there  was  nothing  to  pre- 
vent God  from  acting  in  a  similar  way 
with  the  Jewish  nation  in  reference  to  the 
reception  they  gave  to  the  revelation  of 
himself  through  Christ.  When  he  says, 
that  the  Jews  by  all  their  efforts  could  at- 
tain nothing;  but  that  the  Gentiles  on  the 
contrary  without  such  efforts  had  been  ad- 
mitted into  the  kingdom  of  God  (Rom.  ix. 
30,  31),  such  language  by  no  means  im- 
plies that  the  conduct  of  men  makes  no 
difference  in  the  impartation  of  grace,  but 
exactly  the  contrary  ;  for  he  thus  expresses 
the  hinderance  to  the  reception  of  the 
gospel  by  the  Jews  arising  from  the  direc- 
tion of  their  minds,  from  the  state  of  their 
hearts;  namely,  that  a  confidence  in  their 
own  "  willing  and  running,"  prevented  the 
consciousness  of  their  need  of  redemption, 
while  those  classes  of  heathens  among 
whom  the  gospel  was  first  propagated  were 
more  easily  led  to  embrace  it,  because  they 
indulged  in  no  such  false  confidence.   An4 


Chap.  I.] 


THE  DIVINE  DECREES. 


as  he  combated  the  presumptuous  depend- 
ence of  the  Jews  on  their  own  works  and 
exposed  its  nullity,  so  on  the  other  hand, 
he  warned  the  Gentiles  against  a  false  de- 
pendence on  divine  grace,  which  might 
mislead  them  to  forget  what  was  required 
on  their  part,  in  order  to  its  appropriation. 
He  represents  the  operations  of  grace  as 
depending  on  their  faithful  retention  on  the 
part  of  man — the  remaining  in  grace  on 
the  right  direction  of  the  will,  Rom.  xi.  20. 
"  Because  of  unbelief  they  were  broken 
off,  and  thou  standest  by  faith."  In  an- 
other passage,  Paul  allows  it  to  depend  en- 
tirely  on  the  direction  of  the  will  whether 
a  man  should  become  a  vessel  of  honour 
or  of  dishonour.  "  If  a  man  purge  himself 
from  these,  he  shall  be  a  vessel  unto  ho- 
nour," 2  Tim.  ii,  21.  But  in  his  own 
sphere  of  action,  the  apostle  was  more  fre- 
quently called  to  oppose  a  false  confidence 
in  a  vain  righteousness  of  works,  than  a 
false  confidence  in  divine  grace ;  and  his 
own  mental  training  led  him  particularly 
to  combat  the  former  error.  Both  these 
circumstances  together  had  the  effect  of 
disposing  him  to  develope  the  Christian 
doctrine  of  this  side  especially,  and  to 
present  what  belonged  to  it  in  the  clearest 
light. 

"Besides,  when  it  was  his  object  to  arouse 
and  establish  the  courage  and  confidence 
of  believers,  he  could  not  direct  them  to 
the  weak  and  uncertain  power  of  man,  but 
pointed  to  the  immovable  ground  of  con- 
fidence in  the  counsels  of  the  divine  love  in 
reference  to  their  salvation,  the  foundation 
of  what  God  had  effected  through  Christ. 
The  divine  counsel  of  salvation  must  neces- 
sarily be  fulfilled  in  them,  nor  could  the 
accomplishment  of  this  unchangeable  di- 
vine decree  be  presented  by  any  thmg 
which  might  happen  to  them  in  life  ;  on 
the  contrary,  all  things  would  serve  to  pre- 
pare for  its  accomplishmenf,  every  thing 
which  they  might  meet  with  in  life  must 
contribute  to  their  salvation.  This  is  the 
practical  connexion  of  ideas  in  Rom.  viii. 
28,  &c.,  those  whom  God  in  his  eternal 
intuition*  has  recognised  as  belonging  to 
him  through  Christ,  he  has  also  predeter- 


*  I  do  not  mean  a  knowledge  simply  resulting 
from  the  divine  prescience,  which  is  quite  foreign 
to  the  connexion  of  the  passage,  but  a  creative 
knowledge,  [sucli  as  in  the  Arts  a  man  of  genius 
has  of  his  designs],  established  in  the  divine  idea. 

37 


mined  that  they  should   be  conformed  to 
the  archetype  of  his  Son,  since  he  having 
risen  from  the  dead   in   his   glorified   hu- 
manity,   must    be    the   first-born    among 
many  brethren.     But  those  whom  he  had 
predestined  to  this  end,  he  lias  also  called 
to  it ;  those  whom   he  has  called,  he  has 
also  justified  ;  those  whom  he  has  justified, 
he  has  also  glorified.    The  train  of  thought 
is  therefore  this :  first,  the  divine  idea  of 
Christ,  and.  of  mankind  contemplated    in 
him,  the  divine  counsel  to  realize  this  idea 
in  believers  ;  to  conform  them  as  redeemed 
to  the  archetype  of  Christ  by  the  comple- 
tion of  the  new  creation.     Then  the  gra- 
dual accomplishment  of  this  counsel ;  first, 
the  calling  to  believe  (in  the  Pauline  sense, 
the  outward  and  the  inward  call  are  taken 
in  combination  for  the  production  of  faith), 
as    believers    they    become    justified,    and 
with  believing  the  realization  of  the  dignity 
of  the  children  of  God  beginsMn  their  in- 
ward life.     That  God  gave  up  his  Son  in 
order  to  secure  this  blessing  to  them,  is  a 
sure  pledge  of  their  obtaining  it,  and  that 
nothing  which  appears  to  stand  in  the  way 
shall  really  obstruct,  but  on  the  contrary 
must  serve  to  advance  it.     Consequently, 
this  doctrine  of  predestination  and  election, 
in   the  Pauline  sense,  is  nothing  else  but 
the  application  of  the  general  counsel  of 
God  for  the  redemption  of  mankind  through 
Christ  as  the  ground  of  salvation  to  those 
in  whom  it  is  accomplished  by  virtue  of 
their  believing.     The  greatness  and   cer- 
tainty of  the  dignity  of  Christians  is  thus 
evinced  ;  but  nothing  is  determined  respect- 
ing the  relation  of  "the  divine  choice  to  the 
free   determination    of    the   human    wills. 
When  Paul,  in  Eph.  i.  4,  represents  Chris- 
tians as  objects  of  the  divine  love  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world,  his  object  is 
to  show  that  Christianity  was  not  inferior 
to  Judaism  as  a  new  dispensation,  but  was 
in  fact  the  most  ancient  and  most  original 
and    presupposed    by   Judaism    itself,    the 
election  in  Christ  preceded  the  election  of 
the  Jewish  nation  in  their  forefathers ;  and 
redemption   the   verification  of  the  arche- 
type of  humanity  through  Christ  and  pro- 
ccedini;  from  him,  is  the  end  of  the  whole 
terrestfal  creation,  so  that  every  thing  elso 
appears  as  a   preparation  for  this  highest 
object  in  the  counsel  of  creation  in  reler-  > 
ence  to  this  \vorld. 

Of  the  apostle  Paul's  views  in  reference 


290 


DOCTRINE  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 


[Book  VI. 


to  the  last  conflict  which  the  kingdom  of 
God  will  have  to  sustain,  and  his  expecta- 
tions of  the  victory  to  be  gained  by  the 
approaching  coming  of  the  Lord,  we  have 
already  spoken  in  our  account  of  his  mi- 
nistry ;  p.  124.  The  prospects  of  the  con- 
summation of  the  kingdom  of  God  bear  the 
same  relation  to  the  developement  of  the 
New  Testament  dispensation,  as  the  pro- 
phetic intimations  of  the  glorification  of  the 
theocracy  by  the  work  of  the  Redeemer 
bear  to  the  developement  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment dispensation.  Every  thing  propheti- 
cal must  be  fragmentary,  and  hence  cannot 
furnish  us  with  clear  and  connected  know- 
ledge. We  cannot,  therefore,  help  consi- 
dering as  a  vain  attempt,  the  endeavour  to 
frame,  by  a  comparison  of  particular  apos- 
tolical expressions,  a  connected  complete 
doctrine  of  the  consummation  of  all  things. 
From  the  standing-point  of  the  apostles  this 
was  not  possible.  It  might  indeed  happen, 
that  in  moments  of  higher  inspiration  and 
of  special  illumination,  many  higher  but 
still  isolated  views  might  be  imparted, 
which  yet  they  could  not  combine  into  an 
organic  systematic  unity  with  their  other 
representations  on  this  subject. 

With  the  doctrine  of  the  consummation 
of  the  kingdom  of  God,  is  closely  con- 
nected, in  the  Pauline  system,  the  doctrine 
of  the  resurrection.  This  doctrine  does 
not  present  itself  here  as  an  accidental  and 
isolated  fact,  but  stands  in  intimate  relation 
to  his  general  mode  of  contemplating  the 
Christian  life.  It  is  the  fundamental  view 
of  Paul  and  of  the  New  Testament  gene- 
rally, that  the  Christian  life  which  pro- 
ceeds from  faith  carries  in  it  the  germ  of  a 
higher  futurity;  that  the  developement  of 
the  divine  life  begun  by  faith,  through 
which  a  man  appropriates  the  redeemino- 
work  of  Christ,  and  enters  into  fellowship 
with  him,  will  go  on  until  it  has  pervaded 
human  nature  in  its  full  extent.  Thus  the 
appropriation  of  the  body  as  an  organ  for 
the  sanctified  soul,  as  a  temple  of  th'e  Holy 
Spirit,  must  precede  the  higher  state  in 
which  the  body  will  be  furnished  as  the 
glorified  and  corresponding  organ  of  the 
perfected  holy  soul,  Rom.  vi.  5-8,  11  ;  1 
Cor.  vi.  14.  Expositors,  for  want  of  en- 
tering sufficiently  into  the  profound  views 
of  the  apostle,  and  of  grasping  the  com- 
prehensive survey  that  stretches  from  the 
present  into  the  future — have  often  erred 


by  a  mistaken  reference  of  such  passages 
either  solely  to  the  spiritual  resurrection  of 
the  present  state,  or  solely  to  the  bodily 
resurrection  of  the  future. 

The  difficulties  which  were  raised,  even 
in  the  apostle's  time,  respecting  the  doc- 
trine of  the  resurrection,  were  founded  par- 
ticularly on  the  gross  conceptions  of  it, 
and  on  the  mode  of  determining  the  identity 
of  the  body.  Paul,  on  the  contrary,  in  the 
fifteenth  chapter  of  the  First  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  teaches  that,  by  the  same 
creative  power  of  God  which  caused  a  pe- 
culiar creation  to  proceed  from  a  grain  of 
corn,  an  organ  of  the  soul  adapted  to  its 
higher  condition  would  be  formed  from  an 
indestructible  corporeal  germ.  It  may  be 
asked,  what  is  the  essence  of  the  body 
considered  as  an  organ  belonging  to  a  dis- 
tinct personality  ?  Only  this  is  considered 
by  Paul  as  abiding,  while  the  corporeal 
form  is  subject  to  change  and  dissolution  ; 
the  former,  as  something  belonging  to  the 
representation  of  the  whole  personality, 
will  be  restored  in  a  form  corresponding 
to  its  glorified  state.  And  as  the  body  of 
man  is  the  mediating  organ  between  the 
soul  and  nature,  the  idea  is  here  associated 
of  a  Palingenesia  of  the  latter,  with  the  re- 
surrection to  which  Paul  alludes  in  Rom. 
viii.    19-23.*     This   idea  stands  in  close 


*  The  later  distinguished  commentators  on  this 
epistle  have  acknowledged  this  to  be  the  only 
tenable  exposition  ;  and  even  Usteri,  who  had  be- 
fore brouglit  forward  the  strongest  objections 
against  it,  has  been  induced,  for  the  same  reasons 
which  appear  to  me  convincing,  to  accede  to  it. 
Against  that  interpretation,  according  to  which 
this  passage  refers  to  the  anxiety  of  the  heathen 
world,  the  following  reasons  appear  to  me  deci- 
sive. 1.  Paul  would  in  that  case  have  used,  as  he 
generally  does,  the  word  xos-^/tc.  2.  If  we  admit 
that  he  here  pointed  out  the  deeply  felt  sense  of 
universal  misery,  the  feeling  of  dissatisfaction 
with  all  existing  things,  the  longing  after  some- 
thing better,  though  without  a  clear  knowledge  of 
the  object,  as  felt  by  the  heathen,  yet  he  would 
attribute  such  feelings  to  only  a  small  and  better 
part  of  the  xoj-^oc ;  it  is  impossible  that  lie  could 
assert  this  of  the  whole  mass  of  the  heathen  world 
sunk  in  sin.  Yet  we  must  grant  that,  in  describ- 
ing an  age  of  great  excitement,  and  pervaded  by  a 
vague  and  obscure  anxiety,  it  might  be  said,  that 
an  anxiety  of  which  they  were  unconscious  was 
at  the  bottom  of  their  wrestUng  and  striving, — 
that  they  were  in  a  state  of  unhappiness,  wliicli 
only  he  who  had  attained  a  higher  knowledge 
could  explain  to  them ;  and  thus  Paul  might  ap- 
ply the  expressions  used  by  him  to  describe  the 
spiritual  condition  of  the  world  around  him.  But 
then,  he  must  have  described  this  state  of  men's 


Chap.  I.] 


THE  INTERMEDIATE  STATE. 


291 


connexion  with  the  whole  of  the  Pauline 
scheme  of  doctrine,  and  the  Christian  sys- 
tem generally  :  the  xXvi^ovofxia  tou  xotfp-ou, 
which  promised  to  believers  that  they  shall 
reign  with  Christ — that  to  them  as  to  Christ 
all  things  in  the  future  world  shall  be  sub- 
ject— that  this  globe  is  destined  to  be  the 
scene  of  the  triumphant  kingdom  of  God 
— that  in  its  progressive  developcment  this 
kingdom  will  subject  all  things  to  itself, 
until  the  consummation  which  Paul  marks 
as  the  aim  of  this  universal  longing. 

He  usually  connects  the  doctrine  of  the 
eternal  lite  of  the  individual  with  the  doc- 
trine of  the  resurrection,  and  says  nothing 
of  the  life  of  the  soul  in  an  intermediate 
state  after  death  till  the  end  of  all  things. 
The  designation  of  death  as  a  sleep  in  re- 
lation to  the  resurrection  that  is  to  follow 
may 

the  state  after  death  to  be  one  of  suppressed 
consciousness  like  sleep,  and  admitted  that 
the  soul  would  first  be  awakened  at  the  re- 
surrection of  the  body,  though  in  every 
other  reference  to  death  he  could  describe 
it  under  the  image  of  sleep  as  a  transition 
to  a  higher  existence.  When  in  the  church 
at  Thessalonica  the  anxieties  of  many  were 
excited  respecting  the  fate  of  the  believers 
who  had  already  died,  he  only  intimates 
to  them  that,  at  the  time  of  Christ's  second 
coming,  the  believers  then  alive  would  not 
anticipate  those  who  were  already  dead. 
But  it  might  be  supposed,  that  had  he  ad- 
mitted a  continuance  of  consciousness  in 
more  exalted  and  intimate  communion  with 
the  Lord  as  taking  place  immediately  after 
death,  he  would  have  reminded  the  persons 
whose  minds  were  disturbed  on  the  subject, 

minds  as  something  peculiar  to  that  ii^c,  and  not 
as  having  existed  up  to  that  moment  from  the  be- 
ginning-, ever  since  tlie  creation  had  been  subject 
to  this  bondage.  3.  According  to  liis  own  ideas, 
he  could  not  say  that  the  xicr^oc  against  its  will 
was  subjected,  in  a  manner  free  from  blame,  by 
God  himself  to  the  bondage  of  a  vain  existence. 
4.  According  to  this  interpretation,  Paul  must 
have  taught,  that  as  soon  as  the  children  of  God 
had  attained  their  destined  glory,  it  would  spread 
itself  over  the  heathen  world,  wliicli  would  then 
enter  into  the  communion  of  the  divine  life.  But 
if  it  be  assumed  that  Paul  here  so  openly  and 
clearly  expressed  the  doctrine  of  a  universal  resti- 
tution, he  must  first  have  mentioned  the  appropria- 
tion of  redemption  by  faith  as  a  means  of  salva- 
tion  equally  necessary  for  all ;  he  could  not  have 
admitted  the  possibility  of  sucii  a  state  of  glorifi- 
cation not  brought  about  through  faitli  in  tl;e 
Redeemer. 


that  those  for  whom  they  mourned  had 
already  been  admitted  to  a  higher  and 
blessed  communion  with  their  Lord,  as  the 
later  Fathers  of  the  church  would  not  have 
failed  to  have  done. 

Yet  since  Paul  was  convinced  that  by 
faith  men  pass  from  death  unto  life"  — 
since  he  testified  from  his  own  experience 
under  manifold  sufferings,  that  wliile  the 
outward  man  perished  the  inward  was  re- 
newed day  by  day,  2  Cor.  xiv.  16,  and 
this  experience  was  to  him  a  type  of  the 
future — since  also  the  outward  man  would 
only  pass  to  a  higher  life  from  the  final 
dissolution  of  death — since  he  received  a 
progressive  developcment  of  the  divine  life 
in  communion  with  the  Redeemer — since 
he  taught  that  believers  would  follow  the 
I  Saviour  in  all  things — from  all  these  con- 


favour  the  opinion  that  he  considered    siderations  it  necessarily  followed,  that  the 

'  higher  life  of  believers  could  not  be  inter- 
rupted by  death,  and  that  by  means  of  it 
they  would  attain  to  a  more  complete  par- 
ticipation in  Christ's  divine  and  blessed 
life.  This  idea  of  a  progressive  developc- 
ment of  the  divine  life  in  communion  with 
the  Redeemer,  is  indeed  not  one  introduced 
from  a  foreign  standing-point,  into  the 
doctrine  of  the  apostle,  but  proceeds  from, 
his  own  mode  of  contemplation,  as  we  learn 
from  a  comparison  of  his  language  in  num- 
berless passages.  Still  we  are  not  suffi- 
ciently justified  to  conclude  from  that  idea 
of  such  a  process  of  developcment  in  the 
earthly  life,  that  Paul  believed  in  its  pro- 
gression after  the  close  of  our  earthly  life, 
in  the  period  intervening  till  the  resurrec- 
tion. We  may  imagine  the  possibility  that 
the  consequences  flowing  from  those  pre- 
mises, would  not  be  consciously  developed 
by  him,  since  the  thought  of  the  resurrec- 
tion and  everlasting  life  were  in  his  miud 


*  For  although  he  lias  not  expressed  tliis  in 
precisely  the  same  terms  as  John,  yet  the  senti- 
ment they  contain  follows  of  course  from  what  he 
has  repeatedly  asserted  respecting  deliverance 
from  spiritual  death,  and  tlie  life  produced  by 
faith.  Between  the  two  apostles  there  is  only  a 
difference  of  form,  not  of  the  manner  in  wliieh 
tlic  idea  of  i^cei,  is  employed  by  tiicm,— for  in  this 
they  agree  in  considering  it  as  somclliing  that 
really  enters  the  soul'  with  believing;  but  John 
refers  the  idea  of  (^a«  aiuw:  to  the  present,  Paul 
only  to  tlic  future,  altliough  both  subst:inlially 
agree  in  the  recognition  of  the  divine  life  founded 
in  faith,  which  bears  in  it  the  germ  of  a  future 
higher  developcment,  anticipates  the  future,  and 
contains  it  in  itself  as  in  bud. 


292 


THE  INTERMEDIATE  STATE. 


[Book  VI. 


so  closely  connected,  that  he  would  be  in- 
duced to  leave  the  interval  between  the 
death  of  believers  and  their  resurrection  as 
an  empty  space.  But,  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  Paul  expressly  makes  this  dis- 
tinction between  the  soul  and  the  body, 
that  the  latter  will  die,  and  be  given  up  to 
death  on  account  of  sin,  the  germ  of  which 
it  carries  in  itself,  but  the  former  will  be 
alive,  exalted  above  death,  so  that  it  will 
have  no  power  over  them ;  accordingly, 
their  life  will  be  exposed  to  no  repression 
or  destruction,  but  be  in  a  state  of  progres- 
sive developement,  never  again  to  be  inter- 
rupted by  death.  And  the  conclusion  which 
we  may  draw  from  this  single  passage,  is 
confirmed  by  those  passages  in  the  later 
Pauline  epistles,  which  intimate  that  higher 
degrees  of  communion  with  Christ  and  of 
happiness  are  immediately  consequent  on 
death.  The  admission  of  this  fact  is  by 
no  means  contradicted  by  his  representing 
that  the  last  and  greatest  result  in  the  con- 
summation of  the  kingdom  of  God,  will 
proceed,  not  from  its  natural  spontaneous 
developement,  but  from  without  by  the  im- 
mediate event  of  Christ's  Trafoutria ;  as,  in 
the  same  manner,  the  facts  of  the  appear- 
ance of  the  Son  of  God  in  humanity,  re- 
demption, and  regeneration,  though  they 
are  not  deduced  from  a  preceding  deve- 
lopement, and  constitute  a  perfectly  new 
era  in  the  spiritual  life,  are  far  from  ex- 
cluding, but  rather  presuppose,  an  ante- 
cedent preparatory  developement.  Now, 
the  later  epistles  of  Paul  contain  such  pas- 
sages, in  which  he  expresses  most  de- 
cidedly the  hope  of  a  higher  developement 
immediately  consequent  on  death,  of  a  di- 
vine life  of  blessedness  in  more  complete 
communion  with  Christ ;  Philip,  i.  22-23. 
We  cannot  in  truth,  perceive  how  Paul,  if 
he  supposed  the  second  coming  of  Christ 
and  the  resurrection  to  be  events  so  very 
near,  could  say,  that  he  "  desired  to  de- 
part and  to  be  with  Christ  which  was  far 
better,"  in  case  he  placed  the  salutary 
consequences  of  death  only  in  something 
negative — in  freedom  from  the  toils  and 
conflicts  of  earthly  life,  under  which,  as 
he  so  often  declared,  he  experienced  so 
much  more  intensely  the  blessed  effects  of 
the  gospel  on  his  own  soul, — and  had  not 
contemplated  a  higher  kind  of  communion 
whh  Christ,  a  higher  developement  of  the 
life  which  was  rooted  in  that  communion 


as  a  consequence  of  death.  Must  not  a 
man  of  Paul's  flaming  zeal  and  devoted 
activity  have  preferred  such  a  life  of  con- 
flict for  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  to  a  slum- 
bering and  dreaming  existence  or  a  life  of 
shadows?  In  2  Tim.  iv.  18,  he  also  de- 
scribes an  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  as  immediately  following  death  ; 
though  this  last  passage  is  not  so  decisive, 
as  the  interpretation  in  this  point  of  view 
may  be  disputed.* 

It  may  perhaps  be  thoughtt  that  a  pro- 
gress on  this  subject  in  the  developement 
of  Christian  knowledge  took  place  in  Paul's 
mind.  As  long  as  he  expected  the  second 
coming  of  Christ  and  the  final  resurrec- 
tion as  near  at  hand,  he  had  little  occasion 
to  separate  from  one  another  the  ideas  of 
an  eternal  life  after  death  and  of  a  resur-  ' 
rection  ;  and,  in  accordance  with  the  Jew- 
ish habits  of  thinking,  he  blended  them  to- 
gether in  a  manner  that  led  to  the  idea  of 
a  certain  sleep  of  the  soul  after  death.  But 
when,  by  the  course  of  events  and  the 
signs  of  the  times,  he  had  learned  to  form 
clearer  notions  of  the  future,  and  when  he 
was  induced  to  think  that  the  last  decisive 
epoch  was  not  so  near  (as  appears  from  his 
later  epistles),  the  idea  of  a  higher  condi- 
tion of  happiness  beginning  immediately 
after  death  must  have  developed  itself  in 
his  mind,  under  the  illumination  of  the  di- 
vine Spirit,  from  the  consciousness  of  the 
divine  life  as  exalted  above  death,  and  as 
destined  to  perpetual  progression,  and  from 
the  consciousness  of  unbroken  communion 
with  the  Redeemer  as  the  divine  fountain 
of  life.  The  illumination  of  the  apostles' 
minds  by  the  Holy  Spirit  was  surely  not 
completed  at  once ;  but  was  the  operation 
of  a  higher  power  possessing  a  creative 
fertility,  under  whose  influences  their  Chris- 
tian knowledge  and  thinking  progressively 
developed,  by  means  of  higher  revelations 
which  were  not  violently  forced  upon  them, 
but  coalesced  in  a  natural  manner  with 
their  psychological  developement,  as  we 
have  seen  in  the  example  of  Peter ;  p.  53. 
This  might  be  the  case  with  Paul ;  and  it 
might  happen  that  he  was  led  to  a  more 


*  The  remarks  by  Weizel  of  Tubingen,' in  his 
essay  on  the  original  Christian  doctrine  of  Immor- 
tality, in  the  Studien  und  Kritiken,  1834,  Part  iv, 
have  not  oceasioned  any  alteration^  in  'my  views 
on  tliis  subject. 

t  This  seems  to  be  the  view  taken  by  Usteri. 


Chap.  I.] 


PAUL'S  PROGRESSIVE  KNOWLEDGE. 


293 


perfect  understanding  of  the  truth  exactly 
at  that.point  of  time  when  it  was  required 
for  his  own  religious  necessities  and  those 
of  future  generations.     But  it  is   against 
this  supposition  that,  in  the  fifteenth  chap- 
ter of  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
he  expresses  himself  on  death  and  the  re- 
surrection, in  the  same  manner  as  in  the 
First  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians,  and  yet 
we  find  in  the  Second^  Epistle  to  the  Co- 
rinthians written  some  months  later,  a  con- 
fident expectation  expresse4,  that  a  life  of 
a  higher  kind  in  communion  with   Christ 
would  immediately  succeed  the  dissolution 
of  earthly  existence ;    for  it  is  impossible 
to  understand  2  Cor.  v.  6-8  in  a  different 
sense  ;  when   Paul   marks,   as  correlative 
ideas  on  the  one  hand,  the  remaining  in  the 
earthly  body  and   being    absent  from    the 
Lord  (a  want  of  that  higher  intermediate 
communion  with  him  which  would  belong 
to  an  existence  in  the  other  world),  on  the 
standing-point  of  faith  ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  departure  from  earthly  life,  and 
being  admitted  to  the  immediate  presence  of 
the  Lord,  and   to  an   intimate  communion 
ith  him   no  lonser  concealed  under  the 


/eil  of  faith.    How  could  he  have  described    the  victory    already    won    by  Christ 


tention  to  it,  that  his  mind  was  not  directed 
towards  the  other  fact.  But  as  he  became 
aware  that  the  period  of  the  consumma- 
tion of  the  kingdom  of  God  was  not  so 
nigh  as  he  had  formerly  anticipated,  he  was 
induced  to  bring  forward  more  distinctly  a 
subject  which  had  hitherto  been  kept  in  the 
background. 

Paul  represents  as  the  ultimate  object  of 
his  hopes,  the  complete  victory  of  the  king-, 
dom  of  God  over  all  the  evil  which  had 
hitherto  prevented  its  realization,  over  every 
thing  which  checked  and  obscured  tiie  de- 
velopcmcnt  of  the  divine  lile.  Believers, 
in  their  complete  personality  transformed 
and  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  death,  will 
perfectly  reflect  the  image  of  Christ,  and 
be  introduced  into  the  perfect  communion 
of  his  divine,  holy,  blessed,  and  unchange- 
able life.  The  perfected  kingdom  of  God 
will  then  blend  itself  harmoniously  with 
all  the  other  forms  of  divine  manifestation 
throughout  his  unbounded  dominions.  In- 
spired by  the  prospect  of  this  last  triumph 
of  redemption,  when  sin  with  all  its  conse- 
quences, death  and  all-evil,  shall  be  entirely 
I  overcome,  with  the   certain   knowledge  of 


what  he  longed  for,  as  a  departure  from 
this  earthly  life  and  being  present  with  the 
Lord,  if  he  intended  to  describe  that  change 
which   would    arise    from    the  "jra^outfia  of 
Christ,  from  his  coming  to  believers?    We 
also  find  in  the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Co- 
rinthians,  the  same  views  presented  as  m 
the   Epistle   to    the  Philippians  ;   yet  it  is 
not   probable  that  in  the  few  months  be- 
tween the  time  of  his  writing  the  First  and 
the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  such 
a  revolution  had  taken  place  in  his  mode 
of  thinking  on  this  subject.     From  a  com- 
parison of  the  First  and  Second  Epistle  to 
the  Corinthians,  we  may  therefore  conclude 
that  Paul,  even  when,  in  his  earlier  state- 
ments respecting  the  resurrection,  he  said 
nothing  of  the  state  of  the  souls  of  indivi- 
dual believers  in  the  interval  between  death 
and  the  resurrection,  still  admitted  the  un- 
interrupted  developement  of  a  higher  life 
after  death,  though  he  did  not  particularly 
brin<T  it  forward,  as  he  was  accustomed  to 
found  all  the  hopes  of  believers  on  the  re- 
surrection of  Christ,  and  to  connect  them 
with  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  ;  per- 
haps, also,  he  thought  that  last  great  event 
so  nigh,  and  was  so  constantly  turning  his  at- 


pledge  of  all  that  will  follow,  Paul  ex- 
claims (1  Cor.  XV.  55-5S),  "  Where,  Deatli, 
is  now  thy  sting  ?  (Death  has  now  lost  its 
power  to  wound  the  redeemed  from  sin, 
since  they  are  already  conscious  of  an 
eternal  divine  life.)  Where,  Grave,  is  thy 
victory?  (the  victory  which  the  kingdom 
of  death  gained  through  sin.)  But  the  sting 
of  death  is  sin;  that  which  causes  the 
power  of  sin  to  be  felt  is  the  law.  (What 
the  law  could  not  do,  which  made,  us  first 
feel  the  power  of  sin  in  its  whole  extent, 
that  Christ  has  done  by  redeeming  us  from 
sin  and  thus  from  death.)  God  be  thanked 
who  hath  given  us  the  victory  through  our 
Lord  Jesus'Christ."  Inasmuch  as  the  king- 
dom of  Christ  is  a  mediatorial  dispensation, 
which  maintains  a  conflict  with  the  king- 
dom of  evil  for  a  precise  object,  which  is 
founded  on  the  redemption  accomplished  by 
him,  and  bv  which  all  that  his  redemption 
involves  in'principle  must  be  realized— the 
kiu'^dom  of  Christ  in  its  peculiar  form  will 
come  to  an  end,  when  it  has  attained  this 
object,  when  through  the  cnicirncy  of  the 
glorified  Christ,  the  kingdom  of  God  iins 
no  more  opposition  to  encounter,  and  will 
need  no  longer  a  Redeemer  and  Mediator. 


294 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


[Book  VI. 


Then  will  God  himself  operate  in  an  im- 
mediate manner  in  those  who  throuo-h 
Christ  have  attained  to  perfect  communion 
with  him,  who  are  freed  from  every  thing 
that  opposed  the  divine  operation  in  their 
souls  and  transformed  into  pure  instru- 
ments of  the  divine  glory.  The  mediato- 
rial kingdom  of  God  will  then  merge  into 
the  immediatorial.  Such  is  the  declaration 
of  Paul  in  1  Cor.  xv.  27,  28.  But  if  we 
understand  what  is  said  in  that  passage  of 
universal  subjection  and  conquest  of  all  the 
enemies  of  God's  kingdom,  in  the  strictest 
sense  of  the  words,  it  would  follow,  that 
all  subjfective  opposition  to  the  will  of  God 
will  then  cease,  and  that  a  perfect  union  of 
the  will  of  the  creature  with  that  of  the 
Creator  will  universally  prevail.  This  will 
necessarily  be  the  case,  if  we  understand 
the  words  that  "  God  may  be  all  in  all,^'* 
in  absolute  universality ;  for  then  it  would 
follow,  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  to  be 
realized  subjectively  in  all  rational  crea- 
tures, and  that  nothing  ungodlike  will  any 
longer  exist.  Then  would  be  fulfilled,  in 
the  most  complete  sense,  what  Paul  ex- 
presses in  Rom.  xi.  32.  But  though  this 
interpretation  is  in  itself  possible,  and 
founded  on  the  words,  still  we  are  not  jus- 
tified by  the  connexion  to  understand  the 
expression  in  an  unlimited  sense.  If  that 
subjection  were  to  be  understood  as  only 
objective  and  compulsory,  it  might  be  af- 
firmed that  the  enemies  of  God's  kingdom 
will  have  no  more  power  to  undertake  any 
thing  against  it,  that  they  will  no  longer 
be  able  to  exert  a  disturbing  influence  on 
its  developement.  By  the  "  all,"  "Tratfi,  in 
whom  God  will  be  "  all,"  ra  ■;ravT«,  we  may 
understand  merely  believers,  as  in  v.  22  by 
':favTsg,-\  those  who  enter  by  faith  into  com- 
munion with  Christ;  and  it  certainly  appears 
from  the  connexion  to  be  Paul's  design  only 
to  represent  what  belongs  to  the  perfect 
realization  of  Christ's  work  for  believers. 
The  words  in  Philipp.  ii.  10,  11,  may 
indeed  be  supposed  to  mean,  that  all  ra- 
tional beings  are  to  be  subjected  to  the 
Redeemer  as  their  Lord,  although  this  will 
not  be  accomplished  with  respect  to  all  in 
the  same  manner  ;  in,  some  there  may  be 


*  TTAs-iv  may  be  taken  either  as  masculine  or 
neuter. 

t  If  the  emphasis  be  laid  not  on  the  ttu-vth  but 
on  the  iv  T:;,^^i<rr^,  that  here  every  thing  proceeds 
from  Christ  as  on  the  other  side  from  Adam. 


a  subjectively  internal  free  obedience,  in 
others  only  what  is  outward  and  compul- 
sory, the  obedience  of  impotence,  which 
can  effect  nothing  against  the  kingdom  of 
Christ.  The  question  arises,  whether  in 
the  words  "  bow  the  knee  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  and  confess  that  he  is  Lord  to  the 
glory  of  God,"  something  more  is  meant 
than  a  description  of  such  forced  outward 
obedience,  if  we  understand  these  words 
according  to  the  Pauline  phraseology.* 
The  passage  in  Coloss.  i.  20,  we  shall  in- 
terpret in  the  simplest  and  most  natural 
manner,  if  we  can  admit  such  a  reference 
to  the  reconciling  and  redeeming  work  of 
Christ  on  the  fallen  spiritual  world.  And 
we  can  then  combine  in  one  view  the  three 
passages,  and  interpret  them  by  a  mutual 
comparison,  A  magnificent  prospect  is 
thus  presented  of  the  final  triumph  of  the 
work  of  redemption,  which  was  first  opened 
to  the  mind  of  the  great  apostle  in  the  last 
stage  of  his  Christian  developement,  by 
means  of  that  love  which  impelled  him  to 
sacrifice  himself  for  the  salvation  of  man- 
kind. At  all  events,  we  find  here  only 
some  slight  intimations,  and  we  acknow- 
ledge the  guidance  of  divine  wisdom,  that 
in  the  records  of  revelation  destined  for 
such  various  steps  of  religious  develope- 
ment, no  more  light  has  been  communis 
cated  on  this  subject. 


CHAPTER  n. 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS. 

We  wish  in  this  place  to  take  some 
notice  of  the  peculiar  doctrinal  character 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  in  which 
we  find  the  outlines  of  the  Pauline  doctrine 
under  a  peculiar  form,  as  held  by  a  man 
of  an  independent  mind,  who  differed  from 
Paul  in  his  constitutional  qualities,  in  his 


*  The  doctrine  of  such  a  universal  restitution, 
would  not  stand  in  contradiction  to  the  doctrine  of 
eternal  punishment,  as  it  appears  in  the  gospels ; 
for  although  those  who  are  hardened  in  wicked- 
ness, left  to  the  consequences  of  their  conduct, 
their  merited  fate,  have  to  expect  endless  unhap- 
piness,  yet  a  secret  decree  of  the  divine  compassion 
is  not  necessarily  excluded,  by  virtue  of  wliich, 
through  the  wisdom  of  God  revealing  itself  in  the 
discipline  of  free  agents,  they  will  be  led  to  a  free 
I  appropriation  of  redemption. 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS. 


295 


in  the  mode  of  his 
transitjon  from  Judaism  to  Christianity. 
As  to  the  first  point,  the  author  of  this 
epistle  seems  to  stand  to  the  apostle  in  the 
same  relation  as  Melancthon  to  Luther  ; 
the  one  quiet  and  gentle,  the  other  ardent 
and  energetic.  As  to  their  education,  Paul 
was  brought  up  in  the  school  of  Phari- 
saism ;  in  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  we  recognise  the  training  of  an 
Alexandrian  Jew.  Hence  arose  the  dif- 
ference, that  Paul  received  a  more  dialectic, 
education,  by  which  his  logical  faculties 
were  still  further  developed,  and  the  author 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  a  more  rheto- 
rical one ;  though  Paul,  like  Luther,  pos- 
sessed in  a  high  degree  the  gift  of  natural 
eloquence.  Lastly,  the  author  of  the  l^^pis- 
tle  to  the  Hebrews  appears  to  have  made 
the  transition  from  Judaism  to  Christianity, 
not  like  Paul  by  a  sudden  crisis,  but  by 
a  quiet  gradual  developement,  in  which  the 
higher  spirit  concealed  under  the  forms  of 
Judaism  revealed  itself  to  him.  Accord- 
dingly,  we  must  consider  his  twofold  rela- 
tion to  the  Alexandrian-Jewish,  and  to  the 
Pauline  theology.  Several  differences  in 
the  developement  of  doctrine,  between  these 
two  great  teachers  of  the  church,  may  be 
explained  from  the  peculiar  design  of  this 
epistle,  which  was  addressed  to  a  commu- 
nity of  Christians,  who,  though  faith  in 
.Tesus  as  the  Messiah  had  found  ready  ac- 
ceptance with  them,  were  still  enthralled 
in  the  forms  of  Judaism.* 


*  This  view  we  must  maintnin,  notwithstanding 
the  reasons  alleged  ag-ainst  it  by  Dr.  Rothe  in  liis 
Latin  Dissertation,  (Frankfort  183G),  in  wliich  he 
endeavours  to  show  that  this  epistle  was  addressed 
to  the  church  at  Ephesus,  consisting  of  Gentile 
Christians.  As  the  ejnstle  perfectly  suits  a  church 
consisting  of  Jewish  Christians,  and  the  difRcullies 
attached  to  this  hypothesis  are  only  apparent,  so 
we  cannot,  on  the  other  hand,  conceive  of  a  chnrch 
of  Gentile  Christians  to  whom  an  epistle  could  be 
addressed  of  this  form  and  of  such  contents.  And, 
on  the  latter  supposition,  it  would  not  be  easy  to 
explain  tiie  close  connexion  of  the  didactic  and 
paranetical  elements  from  the  beginning,  for  a 
church  consisting  of  Gentile  Christians  could  only 
be  forced  back  by  persecution  into  heathenism, 
and  could  never  be  moved  from  such  a  cause  to 
pass  over  to  Judaism.  The  contents  of  this  epis- 
tle, which  tend  to  show  the  superiority  of  Chris- 
tianity  to  Judaism,  arc  by  no  means  adapted  to 
the  purpose  of  encouraging  its  readers  to  perse- 
verance under  persecutions.  Dr.  R«thc  appeals  to 
ch.  viii.  v.  12;  but  apostacy  from  the  living  God 
need  not  imply  a  return  to  idolatry ;  as  communion 
with  God,  according   to  the   convictions   of  the 


Paul  and  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  agree  in  this,  that  they  both  re- 
present Judaism  as  inadequate  for  satisfy- 
ing the  religious  wants  of  man.  This  is 
the  purport  of  what  is  said  in  ch.  vii.  19, 
that  Judaism  could  "  make  nothing  per- 
fect ;"  its  religious  institutions  were  not 
fitted  to  realize  the  ideas  presented  by  them 
to  the  conscience;  the  sacrifices  and  the 


writer,  could.only  be  through  Christ,  an  apostacy 
from  Christ  must  in  his  esteem  have  been  equiva- 
lent to  apostacy  from  the  living  God.  Still  less 
can  the  passage  in  ch.  x.  vcr.  32,  be  adduced  in 
evidence,  for  doubtless  divine  illumination  appear- 
ed to  the  author  as  necessarily  depending  on  the 
gospel ;  and  a  transition  from  any  other  religious 
standing-point,  on  which  man  could  be  set  free 
from  the  dominion  of  the  principle  of  sin,  was 
looked  upon  by  him  as  a  transition  from  darkness 
to  light.  The  same  remark  applies  to  ch.  vi.  ver.  4. 
Also,  the  enumeration  of  points  of  instruction  for 
catechumens  in  ch.  vi.  ver.  1,  docs  not  prove  that 
tlicy  were  also  such  as  would  be  inipartcd  to  hea- 
thens ;  for  by  "  repentance  from  dead  works,"  the 
author  no  doubt  understands  conversion  from  all 
ungodliness,  and  by  TrKrrK  in  this  connexion, 
agreeably  to  the  Pauline  ideas,  he  meant  failli  in 
the  peculiarly  Christian  sense  ;  so  that  faith  in 
Jesus  as  the  Messiah  is  included  in  it,  which  in 
articles  of  instruction  for  heathens  must  have 
been  rendered  very  prominent.  Also,  for  the  in- 
struction of  Jews  passing  over  to  Christianity,  it 
was  requisite  to  define  t!ie  nature  of  Christian 
baptism,  in  relation  to  that  of  John  and  other 
kinds  of  lustration;  and  the  doctrine  of  the  resur- 
rection  and  of  the  judgment,  though  already  ac- 
knowledged  by  the  gre;iter  part  of  the  Jews,  mus£ 
be  promulged  afresh  with  many  peculiar  modifi- 
cations in  connexion  with  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  as 
the  Messiah.  Thus  the  author  enumerates  those 
universal  articles  of  primary  religious  in.struction, 
which  needed  to  be  addressed  to  Jews  as  well  as 
to  Gentiles.  From  ch.  xiii.  ver.  0,  it  does  not  fol- 
low that  his  readers  had  never  before  observed  the 
Jewish  laws  relating  to  food,  and  therefore  were 
not  Jews,  but  only,  that  according  to  the  supposi- 
tion of  tlie  writer  of  the  epistle,  they  no  longer  as 
Christians  placed  their  dependence  on  such  out- 
ward things.  At  all  events,  by  "the  clivers  and 
strange  doctrines,"  some  peculiar  opinions  niust 
be  understood  which  were  placed  by  the  false 
teachers  in  connexion  with  the  Jewish  laws  on 
food.  The  passage  in  ch.  xi.  40,  can  only  be  in- 
tended to  mark  a  later  generation  (in  this  case  no 
matter  whether  of  Jewish  or  (Jcntile  descent) 
wiiich  had  not  yet  come  into  existence,  and  there- 
fore  would  not  have  attained  to  a  participation  of 
the  Messianic  kingdom— if  this  generation  had 
entered  before,  and  thus  the  developement  of  the 
human  race  had  been  earlier  closed.  According 
to  the  other  interpretation  also,  it  would  have  been 
necessary  for  the  author  to  have  addressed  his 
readers  in  the  second  person,  for  the  rhetorical 
figure  Anakoinosis.  on  the  supposilirMi  of  the  au- 
tlior  being  of  Jewish  descent,  whoever  he  might 
be,  would  be  as  little  employed  ns  if  the  cpistlo 
had  been  written  by  Paul  himself. 


296 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


[Book  VI. 


priesthood  were  unable  to  satisfy  that  reli- 
gious want,  to  which  both  owed  their  ex- 
istence ;  nanaely,  to  accomplish  the  removal 
of  the  disunion  between  God  and  man. 
Those,  religious  ideas  were  here  repre- 
sented in  sensible  images,  which  were  first 
realized  by  Christianity.  Both  Paul  and 
the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
place  the  central  point  of  religion  in  re- 
demption from  guilt  and  sin,  the  restoration 
of  communion  with  God,  whence  proceeds 
the  impartation  of  a  divine  life,  the  source 
of  true  holiness  ;  and  the  inability  of  Juda- 
ism to  attain  this  object  formed  in  the  esti- 
mation of  both  its  essential  defect.  In  this 
epistle  (viii.  12  ;  vi.  4;  ix.  15)  the  forgive- 
ness of  sins,'  the  communication  of  a  new 
divine  life  and  divine  power  for  satisfaction, 
are  described  as  the  work  of  Christ,  as  the 
effect  of  Christianity;  it  is  maintained,  that 
by  this  new  principle  of  life,  the  redeemed 
are  able  to  render  true  spiritual  worship, 
which  comprehends  the  whole  life,  so  that 
now  the  whole  soul,  animated  by  a  new 
spirit,  becomes  a  thank-offering  for  the 
grace  of  redemption  bestov.'ed  upon  it;  xii. 
28,  ix.  14,  xiii.  15;  and  in  the  same  man- 
ner Paul  contemplates  the  whole  Christian 
life  as  constituting  true  spiritual  worship. 

But  these  two  writers  differ  in  their  man- 
ner of  carrying  out  the  fundamental  ideas 
which  they  hold  in  common.  Paul,  in  op- 
position to  the  merit  of  works  on  the  legal 
standing-point,  and  especially  against  the 
tenet  that  an  observance  of  the  law  was 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  Gentiles  in 
order  to  salvation — developes  his  doctrine  of 
justification  by  faith  alone,  independently  of 
the  works  of  the  law.  This  doctrine,  that 
no  one  could  become  righteous  before  God 
by  the  observance  of  the  law,  but  only 
through  fiiith  in  Jesus  as  the  Messiah  and 
Redeemer,  lies  also  at  the  basis  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  But  the  author  of 
this  epistle  directs  his  argumentation  es- 
pecially against  those  who  were  still  capti- 
vated by  the  pomp  of  ihe  Temple  worship, 
the  priesthood  and  the  sacrifices,  and  were 
in  danger  of  being  entirely  seduced  from 
Christianity  by  the  impression  these  ob- 
jects made  upon  them  ;  this  gave  its  pecu- 
liar direction  to  his  reasoning,  and  it  aimed 
at  showing  that  by  all  this  ritual  their  re- 
ligious wants  could  not  be  satisfied,  but 
that  its  only  use  was  to  direct  them  to  the 
sole  true  means  of  satisfaction.     As  Paul 


declares  that  the  law  could  not  bestow  the 
justification  which  man  required,  but  that 
it  only  awakened  the  feeling  of  want,  which 
nothing  but  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Redeemer 
could  satisfy,  so  in  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews it  is  shown,  that  the  mediation  re- 
quired by  man's  relation  to  God  and 
heaven,  could  not  be  effected  by  the  Jewish 
priesthood,  but  that  it  only  availed  to  call 
forth  a  longing  for  such  a  mediation,  and 
thus  led  to  him  who  alone  could  bestow  it. 

But  in  one  respect  an  opposition  may 
seem  to  exist  between  the  Pauline  views 
and  the  doctrinal  scheme  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews.  Paul  contemplates  the  stand- 
ing-point of  Judaism  as  abolished.  Every 
thing  in  religion  is  represented  as  proceed- 
ing from  faith  in  Christ  alone;  in  receiving 
the  gospel  a  man  is  in  effect  dead  to  his 
former  religious  standing-point ;  whatever 
was  before  the  ground  of  his  confidence, 
now  appears  to  him  as  an  absolute  nullity. 
On  the  contrary,  according  to  the  views 
presented  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
the  whole  Jewish  cultus  is,  it  is  true,  only 
a  shadowy  image  of  something  superior ; 
but  the  writer  considers  it  as  still  continuing 
to  exist  till  everything  earthly,  and  conse- 
quently this  form  of  earthly  worship,  shall 
come  to  an  end,  when  the  higher  dispensa- 
tion of  the  Messianic  kingdom  shall  be 
brought  to  its  consummation.  Thus  we 
may  here  meet  with  a  view,  which  actually 
existed  among  some  Judaizing  sects,  that 
the  communion  with  the  sanctuary  of 
heaven  bestowed  by  Christianity,  would  be 
carried  on  in  this  world  in  combination 
with  the  forms  of  a  cultus  which  typified 
heavenly  things ;  that  a  new  higher  spirit 
would  continue  to  operate  in  the  ancient 
forms  of  religion.  But  still  this  is  only  an 
apparent  contradiction  between  these  two 
great  teachers  ;  for  it  is  evident  from  the 
connexion  of  ideas  in  this  epistle,  that  the 
writer  looked  on  the  Jewish  cultus  as  en- 
tirely superfluous,  since  it  could  contribute 
nothing  towards  eflJecling  communion  with 
heaven  and  reconciliation  with  God,  on 
which  every  thing  depended.  But  since 
Christianity  effected  all  this,  since  it  be- 
stowed every  thing  demanded  by  the  re- 
ligious wants  of  man,  of  what  use  was 
another  cultus  ? 

If  in  connexion  with  such  views,  the 
Jewish  cultus  could  still  find  a  place,  the 
only  point  of  junction  could  be  the  repre- 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS. 


297 


sentation  that  the  conscientious  observance 
of  all  that  belonged  to  the  Mosaic  cultus, 
would  be  a  preparatory  purifying  and 
sanctifying  process,  to  qualify  for  the  par- 
ticipation of  divine  things  through  the 
medium  of  Christianity.  This  was  the 
standing-point  from  which  Philo,  in  his 
work  de  migratione  Abrahojni,  combats  a 
religious  idealism  which  would  have  ex- 
plained away  the  whole  of  outward  Juda- 
ism as  superfluous.  But  in  this  epistle  we 
can  find  no  trace  of  attributing  such  a  con- 
tinued preparatory  utility  to  Judaism  ;  ac- 
cording to  its  fundamental  ideas,  connexion 
with  Christ  as  the  true  high  priest  renders 
superfluous  all  other  methods  of  purifica- 
tion and  sanctification.  If  the  author  of 
this  epistle  had  some  notion  that  these  out- 
ward forms  of  Judaism,  whose  design  was 
only  preparative  and  typical,  would  linger 
in  existence  till  the  dissolution  of  the  whole 
terrestrial  economy,  which  event  he,  like 
the  apostles,  expected  to  take  place  at  no 
very  distant  period,*  it  by  no  means  fol- 
lows that  he  considered  these  forms  as  of 
essential  importance.  We  must  only  bear 
in  mind  in  what  light  the  author  viewed  the 
relation  of  the  present  to  the  future.  This 
relation  was  the  same  in  his  conceptions  as 
in  Paul's.  To  Christians  by  faith  the  fu- 
ture is  already  become  a  present.  They 
ascend  with  the  confidence  of  faith  into  the 
holiest  of  holies  in  heaven,  which  Christ 
has  rendered  accessible  to  them  ;  x.  22. 
They  already  belong  to  the  heavenly  Jeru- 
salem, and  are  become  the  associates  of 
angels  ;  xii.  23,  They  have  already  been 
made  partakers  of  an  eternal  unchangeable 
kingdom  ;  xii.  28.  They  have  already 
felt  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come. 
Hence  it  follows,  that,  as  they  no  more  be- 
long in  their  inward  life  to  this  transitory 
world,  but  to  the  higher  future  world,  they 
are  actually  raised  above  the  whole  stand- 
ing-point of  Judaism.  When  in  ix.  9,  it  is 
said,  that,  in  the  -namg  svsrfrTjxwj  (equivalent 
to  cliwv  tf^Toff),  there  is  a  sacrificial  worship, 
which  yet,  like  all  such  outward  things, 
cannot  bestowf  the  right  constitution  of  the 
inner  life,  ihe purification  from  guilt,  which 


*  They  were  not  aware  that  any  considerable 
period  would  elapse  between  the  destruction  of 
the  Temple  foretold  by  Christ,  and  his  second 
coming'. 

t  Paul  would  have  said  that  all  this  could  not 
contribute  to  their  justification. 

38 


man  requires  in  order  to  become  a  mem- 
ber of  God's  kingdom,  it  must  be  recol- 
lected that  Christians  do  not  belong  to  the 
aioiv  oiiros,  but  to  theai'wv  (isXkuv,  and  hence 
all  this  is  nothing  to  them.  \Vhen  the  au- 
thor speaks  of  outward  ordinances,*  ix.  10, 
which  were  "  imposed  until  the  time  of  re- 
formation;"  it  is  added,  that  Christf  is  He 
from  whom  the  JiogSwo'ig  emanates,  which 
frees  from  the  yoke  of  these  ordinances, 
though  in  its  whole  extent  it  will  first  take 
elfect  in  the  dixoufxsvrj  [jucXXoutfa.  In  fact,  he 
contrasts  with  the  Jews  who  serve  an 
earthly  sanctuary  (xiii.  10),  the  Christians 
to  whom  the  altar  in  heaven  stands  open, 
while  it  is  closed  against  the  Jews  who 
cleave  to  an  earthly  sanctuary.  Tiiis  is  the 
contrast  between  those  whose  worship  still 
adheres  to  the  veil  of  outward  sensible 
forms,  and  those  who  rise  at  once  to  heaven. 
As  Jesus  suflTercd  without  the  gates  of  Je- 
rusalem, so,  according  to  the- symbolical 
representations  employed  in  this  epistle, 
must  those  who  desire  to  belong  to  him 
withdraw  themselves  from  the  terrestrial 
Jerusalem,  the  earthly,  sanctuary,  as  from 
this  world  in  general;  xiii.  13.  We  here 
find  the  same  principles  as  in  Paul's  wri- 
tings. The  author  of  this  epistle  does  not, 
indeed,  argue  directly  against  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  outward  forms  of  the  Jewish 
cultus,  nor  does  he  demand  their  abolition  ; 
but  this  even  Paul  would  not  have  done  in 
an  epistle  addressed  to  such  Christians  who 
belonged  to  Judaism  by  national  descent 
and  education. 

It  may  appear  as  rather  unpaulinc  that 
he  treats  only  of  the  salvation  of  those  who 
belonged  to  the  posterity  of  Abraham,  and 
of  Christ's  relation  to  such.  We' may  in- 
deed doubt,  whether  Paul,  if  he  was  writing 
to  a  church  composed  entirely  of  Jewish 
Christians,  could  have  so  far  restrained 
himself,  as  not  to  have  dropped  some  ex- 
pressions on  a  subject  which  so  deeply  in- 
terested him  as  the  divine  purpose  to  incor- 
porate the  Gentiles  with  the  Jews  in  the 
kingdom  of  God,  by  faith  in  the  Redeemer  ; 
and  whether  he  would  not  have  felt  com- 
pelled to  have  adverted,  at  least  in  an  apos- 
tolic manner,  to  his  peculiar  vocation  as  a 
preacher  of  the  gospel  among  the  Gentiles. 


*  The  same  whicii  Paul  asserts  of  the  irxjxwt 

ou  yofjiou  of  the  crroixi"^  tou  xier/xou. 
+  As  the  contrast  in  v.  1 1  sliows. 


298 


THE  DOCTRINE  OP 


[Book  VI. 


Yet  it  is  certain  that  a  writer  who  expressed 
himself  respecting  the  condition  of  admis- 
sion into  the  Messianic  kingdom  and  on  the 
relation  of  Judaism  to  the  work  of  Christ, 
as  we  find  to  be  the  case  in  this  epistle, 
must  have  agreed  with  the  Pauline  doctrine 
in  thinking,  that  as  the  attainment  of  eter- 
nal salvation  was  independent  of  Judaism 
and  determined  alone  by  faith  in  Christ, 
therefore  by  the  fulfilment  of  this  one  con- 
dition it  was  attainable  by  all  men.  We 
also  find  that  he  selects  as  a  type  of  Christ, 
not  one  of  the  family  of  Abraham,  but 
Melchisedec — an  indication  of  Messianic 
univel'salism.  If  we  call  to  mind  that  he 
considers  the  "kaag  as  representative  of  the 
theocratic  people  in  general,  the  Abraha- 
midas  as  representatives  of  the  human 
family  in  general,  who  are  destined  for  the 
kingdom  of  God,  we  shall  not  be  able  to 
detect  any  contradiction  between  himself 
and  Paul. 

With  respect  to  the  work  of  Christ,  the 
author  of  this  epistle  appears  to  differ  from 
Paul  in  not  bringing  forward  the  resurrec- 
tion as  a  seal  of  the  redemption  effected 
by  the  Saviour.  But  it  is  not  difficult  to 
perceive,  that  this  conception  oi^  the  resur- 
rection in  relation  to  the  whole  Christian 
system  lies  at  the  basis  of  this  epistle. 
There  is  the  same  connexion  between  sin 
and  death  presupposed,  as  when  it  is  said 
in  ii.  14,  that  Satan  had  the  power  over 
death,  that  is,  that  death  was  not  an  origi- 
nal element  in  the  creation,  but  was  first 
occasioned  by  Satan,  by  means  of  sin, 
which  is  the  work  of  Satan,  and  being  thus 
connected  with  sin,  belongs  to  Satan's 
kingdom.  In  the  same  sense  as  Paul  in- 
tends, sin  is  also  considered  as  the  sting  of 
death  ;  for  it  is  said  that  men  oppressed  by 
a  consciousness  of  guilt  are  kept  in  con- 
tinual bondage  through  the  fear  of  death, 
— that  fear  of  death,  which  presents  itself 
in  connexion  with  the  divine  judgment  to 
the  agonizing  conscience  as  so  terrible,  and 
which  blasts  the  cheerful  enjoyment  of  life. 
When  it  is  affirmed  that  Christ  through 
death  destroyed  the  kingdom  of  Satan, 
who  had  power  over  death,  and  thereby 
freed  men  from  the, bondage  in  which  they 
were  held  by  the  fear  of  death, — it  is  pre- 
supposed that,  by  the  power  of  his  holy 
life,  he  left  the  grave  victoriously  at  his 
resurrection,  and  by  this  event  gave  a 
pledge  to  his  redeemed  of  a  life  of  eternal 


happiness.  It  is  said  in  ver.  7,  that  Christ, 
who,  as  he  had  assumed  human  nature 
with  all  its  weakness,  sin  excepted,  was 
subjected  to  death,  poured  forth  in  his 
struggle  with  death  fervent  prayers  and 
tears  to  God  who  could  redeem  from  death, 
and  on  account  of  his  perfect  resignation 
to  the  will  of  his  heavenly  Father,  and  his 
perfect  obedience,  was  heard,  that  is,  was 
delivered  from  death  by  means  of  his  re- 
surrection. The  God  of  salvation  is  de- 
scribed in  xiii.  20,  as  he  who  had  brought 
from  the  dead  the  great  leader  and  ruler  of 
the  church  of  God ;  and  in  these  words  it 
is  implied,  that  Christ  by  his  resurrection 
became  the  leader  from  death  to  life  of  the 
church  of  God  formed  by  him  as  the  Re- 
deemer, and  laid  the  foundation  for  its  sal- 
vation ;  and  therefore  God,  in  raising  him 
from  the  dead,  proved  himself  to  be  the 
God  of  salvation. 

We  see,  then,  that  the  same  view  is 
taken  in  this  epistle  as  in  Paul's  writings, 
of  the  connexion  of  the  resurrection  with 
the  work  of  redemption.  But  that  the  ex- 
altation of  Christ  to  heaven  is  more  fre- 
quently adverted  to  than  his  antecedent 
resurrection  in  this  epistle,  may  be  traced 
to  the  prevailing  form  of  its  representa- 
tions, in  which  Christ  is  compared  to  the 
high  priest  of  the  Old  Testament  dispensa- 
tion ;  for  as  high  priest,  having  ascended 
to  heaven  and  remaining  there,  he  fulfils 
his  office  by  interceding  with  God  for  be- 
lievers, and  bringing  them  into  perpetual 
communion  with  God  and  heaven.  A  con- 
trast is  pointed  out  between  Christ  and  the 
Jewish  high  priest  in  this  respect,  that  the 
latter  could  enter  into  the  holy  of  holies  in 
the  temple,  which  was  only  a  symbol  of 
that  in  heaven,  but  once  a  year,  and  was 
obliged  to  leave  it  again  ;  much  less  could 
he  obtain  an  entrance  into  it  for  those  on 
whose  account  he  held  the  priestly  office. 
It  was  a  necessary  consequence  of  this 
mode  of  representation,  that  there  was  less 
occasion  for  mentioning  the  resurrection, 
and  that  topic  was  brought  forward  more 
prominently  to  which  the  resurrection  forms 
an  introduction  and  transition. 

But  this  idea  of  the  high  priesthood  is 
only  a  particular  form  of  representing  the 
general  Christian  idea  of  Christ  as  the 
Mediator,  by  whom  the  communion  of  the 
human  race  with  God,  broken  off  by  sin, 
is  again  restored.     That  the  writer  of  this 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS. 


299 


epistle  made  use  of  this  form,  was  princi- 
pally owing  no  doubt  to  the  peculiar  cha- 
racter of  the  churches  whom  he  addi-esscd; 
but  in  part  probably  to  the  peculiarity  of 
his  own  religious  training.  This  form  is 
indeed  borrowed  from  Judaism.  Yet  it  by 
no  means  denotes  a  transient  relation  in 
the  historical  developemcnt  of  Christianity, 
but  is  connected  with  one  of  its  constant 
relations  to  human  nature ;  in  virtue  of 
which, '  under  the  consciousness  of  his 
earthly  limitations  and  his  sins,  man  feels 
himself  in  need  of  a  mediation  to  fill  up 
the  infinite  chasm  that  separates  him  from 
a  Holy  God.  In  all  religions,  and  in  va- 
rious stages  of  civilization,  methods  were 
invented  for  satisfying  this  want ;  a  caste 
of  priests,  an  order  of  mediators  the  off- 
spring of  tlie  imagination,  and  a  multitude 
of  sensible  objects,  were  made  use  of,  in 
order  to  bring  man  into  connexion  with 
God.  Christ  has  for  ever  satisfied  this 
undeniable  want  of  human  nature,  which 
no  human  being  who  stood  himself  in  need 
of  redemption  and  mediation  could  satisfy, 
and  consequently  all  priesthood  and  sacri- 
ficial worship  are  henceforth  superfluous 
and  abolished.  The  redeemed  are  de- 
pendent on  no  other  being  for  the  purpose 
of  mediating  their  relation  to  God.  Through 
Him  they  are  brought  into  a  lasting  con- 
nexion with  God  and  the  heavenly  holy  of 
holies;  through  Him,  as  the  ever-living 
high  priest,  they  continually  draw  nigh  to 
God :  it  is  He  who  intercedes  for  them 
continually  with  God,  and  through  their 
relation  to  Him  their  whole  life  is  conse- 
crated to  God  and  acceptable  to  him  ;  vii. 
25,  26.  Now  this  is  in  perfect  harmony 
with  what  Paul  teaches  (according  to  the 
explanation  we  have  given  of  his  views) 
respecting  the  scheme  of  mediation  for  be- 
lievers ;  respecting  the  whole  Christian  life 
as  a  thank-offering  for  the  blessings  of 
redemption,  and  the  free  access  to  God 
through  the  mediation  of  Christ ;  and  from 
the  manner  in  which  he  applies  to  Chris- 
tianity the  Jewish  ideas  of  the  temple  and 
the  sacrifices  and  the  whole  ceremonial 
worship,  we  are  authorized  to  infer,  that 
he  would  make  a  similar  application  of  the 
idea  of  the  priesthood. 

In  order  to  realize  this  idea  for  the  be- 
nefit of  the  human  race,  it  was  needful 
that  Christ,  who,  according  to  his  divine 
nature  as  Logos,  accomplished  the  deriva- 


tion of  all  created  existence  from  God  and 
its  connexion  with  God — should  become 
acquainted  with  all  the  weaknesses,  suffer- 
ings, temptations,  and  conflicts  of  those  for 
whom  he  was  to  intercede  as  high  priest, 
from  his  own  experience,  that  he  might 
understand  the  exigencies  in  which  they 
would  require  his  aid,  feel  genuine  sym- 
pathy with  their  infirmities,  and  infuse  "true 
confidence  into  their  hearts.  At  the  same 
time,  the  writer  of  this  epistle  considers  the 
sufferings  of  Christ  in  the  twofold  point  of 
view,  of  active  and  passive  satisfiiclion/ 
which  we  have  explained  in  the  representa- 
tion of  the  Pauline  doctrine.  Both  are  here 
combined  in  the  idea  of  the  all-sufficient 
sacrifice  presented  by  Christ  as  high  priest, 
which  effects  that  for  which  no  human 
ritual  was  adequate.  The  relation  of  the 
sufierings  of  Christ  as  the  sinless  one  to 
the  sins  of  mankind  is  thus  illustrated,  that 
as  the  sins  of  the  people  were  symbolically 
transferred  to  the  victim,  (as  if  it  could 
suffer  what  the  people  deserved,)  so  Christ 
in  his  sacrifice  had  taken  upon  himself  the 
sins  of  mankind  ;  his  redeeming  sutferings 
were  the  pledge  that  their  guilt  would  be 
no  more  charged  upon  them  ;  ix.  28.  A^ 
to  the  other  part  of  Christ's  work  noticed 
by  Paul, — his  active  obedience — it  is  in 
this  epistle  expressly  stated  that  Christ, 
according  to  the  divine  appointment,  having 
proved  himself  to  be  the  Holy  One  in  all 
human  temptations,  and  under  the  severest 
death-struggle,  gained  tlwreby  the  dignity 
of  high  priest ;  v.  7-8.  The  sacrifice  of 
Christ  obtains  its  due  significance  only  in 
this  moral  connexion,  not  as  an  opus  opera- 
turn,  as  the  sacrifice  of  animals,  but  as  the 
act  of  one  who,  revealing  the  eternal  divine 
essence  in  human  nature,  and  exhibiting 
the  perfect  union  of  the  divine  and  human 
in  a  holy  human  life,  verified  it  also  in 
death,  as  the  termination  of  a  life  which 
had  been  the  revelation  of  the  eternal  Spirit 
of  God  in  a  sinless  holy  humanity.  The 
significance  of  the  death  of  Christ  is 
founded  on  his  having,  "  by  an  eternal 
Spirit,  offered,  himself  without  spot  to 
God."  Thus  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
distinguishes,  as  we  find  io  Paul,  two  eras 
in  the  life  of  Christ;  his  appearance  on 
earth,  when  he  pntered  into  fellowship 
with  mankind,  to  bear  the  load  of  sin  and 
to  free  them  from  it ;  and  his  life  as  the 
Glorified  One,  which  no  longer  stands  in 


300 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


[Book  VI. 


relation  to  sin,  but  in  which  he  only  exhi- 
bits what  he  obtained  by  his  pei'fect,  holy 
life,  and  what  those  have  to  expect  who 
are  freed  by  him  from  sin,  and  called  to 
the  perfect  communion  of  his  blessed  life ; 
ix.  28. 

By  what  Christ  has  in  this  manner  ac- 
complished, he  has  now  once  for  all  made 
objective  satisfaction  for  mankind  to  the 
requirements  of  the  holiness  of  God,  of  the 
moral  order  of  the  universe.  Mankind  de- 
filed by  sin  cannot  enter  into  the  heavenly 
^sanctuary.*  They  must  first  be  purified 
and  consecrated  in  order  to  enter  into  the 
fellov/ship  of  heaven.  This  work,  accom- 
plished objectively  by  Christ,  is  now  carried 
on  in  its  consequences,  till  every  thing  is 
conquered  which  opposes  the  realization  of 
the  holy  kingdom  of  God  among  mankind, 
till  that  higher  world,  first  apprehended  by 
faith,  becomes  an  actual  reality  to  the 
sanctified  human  race. 

Faith  is  also  represented  in  this  epistle 
as  the  instrument  of  appropriating  this  ob- 
jective work  by  individuals,  and  of  accom- 
plishing in  them  this  subjective  purifica- 
tion ;  that  faith  by  which  men  enter  into 
communion  with  Christ;  iii.  6,  14.  It  is 
the  confidence  of  faith  which  enables  men 
to  appropriate  purification  by  the  blood  of 
Christ,  and  purges  the  iieart  from  the  con- 
sciousness of  guilt ;  X.  22.  We  here  find 
the  same  principle  which  Paul  describes  as 
justification  by  faith,  only  with  an  allusion 
to  sprinkling  with  the  blood  of  the  sacri- 
fices, in  accordance  with  the  reference  to 
the  Jewish  cultus,  which  pervades  this 
epistle.  As  in  Paul's  writings,  it  is  in- 
sisted that  faith  must  prove  itself  genuine 
by  perseverance;  x.  36,  iii.  14.  And  we 
find  also  the  same  connexion  indicated  be- 
tween Faith,  Hope,  and  Love  ;  x.  23,.  24. 

In  Paul's  writings,  a  general  conception 
of  faith  lies  at  the  basis  of  the  particular 
Christian  application  of  the  idea,  as  a  ge- 
neral fundamental  tendency  of  the  disposi- 
tion without  which  no  communion  with  the 
godlike,  no  religious  life  can  exist ;  and 
this  idea  is  expressed  in  this  epistle  in  a 
still  more  general  way.     It  is  described  as 


*  By  a  transference  of  the  subjective  to  the  ob- 
jective, the  writer  of  this  epistle  (ix.  25)  speaks  of 
a  purification  of  the  heavenly  sanctuary  itself,  in- 
asmuch as  it  would  have  been  defiled  by  the  sins 
of  mankind,  could  they  have  entered  it  without  a 
previous  purification. 


being  an  apprehension  of  the  invisible  by 
the  whole  tendency  of  the  disposition,— a 
surrender  of  the  spirit  to  something  invisi- 
ble by  an  act  of  inward  self-determination, 
by  which  man  raises  himself  above  the 
natural  connexion  of  causes  and  eflects, 
and  enters  by  the  tendency  of  his  inward 
life  into  a  higher  order  of  things  revealing 
themselves  to  him.  Faith,  according  to 
Heb.  xi.  1,  is  that  by  which  the  object 
of  hope  already  becomes  present  ;*  by 
which  man  is  convinced  of  the  reality  of 
what  he  cannot  perceive  by  the  senses. 
While  in  the  constant  succession  in  the 
phenomenal  world  he  sees  only  the  visible 
develope  itself  from  the  visible,  and  one 
phenomenon  from  another,  and  the  under- 
standing, cleaving  to  earthly  phenomena, 
would  explain  and  define  every  thing  from 
this  causal  connexion  ; — faith,  on  the  con- 
trary, rises  to  an  act  of  creative  omnipo- 
tence as  the  original  ground  of  all  exist- 
ence, and  acknowledges  that  the  universe 
was  made  by  the  invisible  creative  word  of 
God  ;  xi.  3.  Even  here,  agreeably  to  what 
we  have  remarked  above,  there  is  involved 
a  peculiar  Christian  application  of  the  ge- 
neral idea  of  faith,  only  what  Paul  distin- 
guishes as  justification  through  faith,  is 
here  represented  under  other  forms  on  ac- 
count of  the  references  to  the  Jewish  cultus. 
Moreover,  in  accordance  with  the  pecu- 
liarly hortatory  character  of  this  epistle, 
faith  is  exhibited  in  its  aspect  of  perseve- 
rance under  all  the  sufferings  and  conflicts 
of  earthly  life  ; — faith  in  its  persistive  ten- 
dency towards  the  future,  a  faith  which 
goes  forth  to  the  accomplishment  of  an  ob- 
ject, and  by  which  those  who  exercise  it 
are  matured  for  that  object ;  (tsXsiwct'is.) 
By  this  faith  a  man  follows  after  Christ, 
in  whom  a  perfect  pattern  is  exhibited,  and 
who  has  passed  through  all  temptations 
and  conflicts,  with  an  unwavering  con- 
stancy of  faith,  to  that  state  of  glory  whi- 
ther all  believers  must  follow  him  by  the 
same  path ;  xii.  2.  But  it  has  been  most 
unjustly  attempted  to  find  a  contrariety 
between  the  idea  of  faith  in  this  e])istle  and 
in  Paul's  writings,  as  if  in  the  former  it 
merely  implied  a  reference  to  something 
future,  a  conception  of  its  nature  which 
would  best  suit  a  lifeless  Judaism.     It  is 


*  As  Theodoret  says,  "JtiKvv<j-iy  i;  v<fi3-TZTa.  t* 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS. 


301 


evident  from  the  general  idea  of  faith   as  i 
we  have  explained  it,  and  from  the  whole  I 
train   of  thought   in   this  epistle,  that  by  ' 
means  of  faith  a  vital  connexion  is  formed  ■ 
between  the  Present  and  the  Future.     By 
means  of  faith,  according  to  the  doctrine  I 
of  this  epistle,  the  Future  becomes  in  some  | 
measure  a  Present  to  the  mind,  although  I 
this  Present  has  a  necessary  bearing  to  a  ' 
more  perfect  developement,  a  consumma- 
tion  in  the  Future.     With  faith  is  given  [ 
the  experience  of  the  glory  of  the  divine 
word,  vi.  5  ;   by  (liith  Christians  enter  the 
future  world,  and  become   inhabitants    ofi 
the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  xii.  22.     By  faith 
they  partake  of  the  power  of  the  world  to ' 
come,  and  obtain  a  partial  anticipation  of 
the  Future  ;    faith  penetrates  through  the 
veil  which  conceals  from  human  eyes  the 
holy  of  holies  in  the  heavens,  and  enters 
within  it ;  vi,  19. 

With  respect  to  the  relation  between  the 
ideas  of  this  epistle  and  the  ideas  of  the ' 
Alexandrian-Jewish  theology  as  they  are  | 
represented  in  the  writings  of  Philo,  we  | 
must  here  have  recourse  to  the  distinction  j 
between  religious  realism  and  religious  I 
idealism ;  in  other  words,  that  standing- 1 
point  which  considers  the  positive  and  his- 1 
torical  in  religion  only  as  a  symbolical ! 
clothing  of  general  ideas,  and  as  the  means  , 
of  stimulating  and  training  the  mind  to- ! 
wards  its  highest  aim,  the  contemplation  oft 
ideas — and  that  standing-point  on  which  I 
religion  is  acknowledged,  not  as  an  object ! 
merely  of  the  intellect,  but  as  an  indepen- 1 
dent  power  in  the  life,  a  living  communion  | 
with  God  effected  by  means  of  certain  his- 
torical facts,  as  the  highest  end  of  a  crea- ! 
ted  being,  and  a  complete  satisfaction  of  j 
his  religious  wants. 

On  this  complete  difference  of  the  reli-  j 
gious  standing-point,  a  difference  is  founded 
in  the  interpretation  of  the  Old  Testament 
and  of  Judaism.  Phiio  viewed  the  histori- 
cal and  the  positive  in  Judaism  only  as 
symbolical  veils  of  general  ideas,  which 
for  the  most  part  were  borrowed  from  a 
very  different  standing-point,  and  which  he 
attributed  to  Judaism  by  an  arbitrary  dis- 
regard of  historical  accuracy.  The  author 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  conceives  of 
Judaism,  according  to  its  true  historical 
destination  and  intention — to  prepare  the 
way  for  realizing  the  kingdom  of  God 
through  Christ— to  prefigure  the  divine  in 


sensible  forms — which  would  subsequently 
actually  appear  among  mankind.  If  he 
arbitrarily  explains  some  things  according 
to  the  letter,  yet  a  higher  necessity  lies  at 
the  basis  of  these  meanings,  the  reference 
to  the  facts  of  religion  from  which  the  satis- 
faction of  the  religious  wants  of  mankind 
proceeded,  and  which  were  really  prepared 
by  Judaism.  The  predominant  idea  of  this 
epistle,  the  high  priesthood  of  Christ,  has 
a  significartce  entirely  real,  founded  on 
fact,  and  relating  to  the  most  pressing  re- 
ligious  wants  of  mankind.  The  Logos  in 
himself  is  not  the  high  priest ;  he  can 
only  assume  this  character  in  consequence 
of  his  having  assumed  human  nature,  and 
thus  accomplished,  in  the  manner  described, 
the  redemption  of  mankind.  Christ  as  glo- 
rified  and  exalted  to  heaven,  has  performed 
that  for  the  religious  life  of  men  which 
their  imperative  religious  wants  sought  in 
the  priesthood.  On  the  contrary,  Philo 
calls  the  Logos  himself  the  high  priest,  as 
the  divine  reason  revealed  in  creation,  by 
which  it  is  connected  with  the  deity.  This 
reason,  which  reveals'  the  highest  being, 
the  ov,  and  communicates  worthy  and  ele- 
vated ideas  of  it,  is  hence  called  the  high 
priest  of  God  in  the  creation.  As  the  ideal 
ground  of  the  phenomenal  world,  it  me- 
diates for  it  before  God,  for  in  idea  all  is 
perfect,  but  defective  in  actual  appearance. 
The  Logos  is  hence  represented  as  the  xotf- 
fjioj  vor,Tos  the  ira^axX7;roj,  the  rKSTr^s,  for  the 
xoCfjLoj  ai(J'br,7o;.  This  idea  is  symbolically 
represented  in  Melchisedek,  and  the  Jewish 
high  priest.*  Thus  we  see  here,  on  the  one 
hand,  abstract  general  ideas  which  can 
have  no  significance  for  the  religious  life  ; 
and  on  the  other  hand,  appearances  taken 
from  the  facts  of  religious  experience.  On 
the  one  hand,  the  language  of  religion  is 
arbitrarily  explained,  on  the  speculative 
principles  taken  from  a  foreign  soil ;  on 
the.  other  hand,   according  to  sentiments 

*  See  Les^.  Allegor.  iii.  ^  26,  where  Melchisedek 
is  spoken  of  as  tlic  symbol  of  the  Lojifos,  'u^t-Jt  yot^ 
tirrt  hoyoc,  kM^cv  i^iri  Tiv  ovth  k*i  J^jiAwC  Trt^l  tti- 
To\i  Xiyi^rjfAiM!,;.  Dt  Cfieruhiin,  §  5,  tlie  Lojjos  is 
termed  li^ivc  and  Tg',««T)/c  for  the  soul.  De  Sacrif. 
Abel  el  Cnini,  §  36,  i  Trt^vj-ycK:  iri  i-cr  3-i:v  Kti  Im- 
Tjfc  u-hrcv  >t>Max  Koyoc  The  high  priest  in  \na 
robes  is  a  symbol  of  the  universe,  ura^xa/cv  ^»j  »» 

S-«/  TO.wTaTct  THv  a^trnv  via.  The  imiver.sc  ac- 
cording to  the  Platonic  idea.  De  Vila  Mos.  iii. 
§  14. 


302 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  JAMES. 


[Book  VI. 


founded  in  the  disposition  which  it  was  de- 
signed and  adapted  to  express.  Here  it  is 
proper  to  notice  a  passage,  in  which  the 
author  of  this  epistle  describes  the  power 
of  the  Logos  in  a  manner  resembling  Phi- 
lo's,  but  which  furnishes  no  sutficient  evi- 
dence to  assume  that  he  had  the  language 
of  Philo  actually  in  his  thoughts.  It  is  the 
description  (common  to  both)  of  the  all- 
penetrating  and  cutting  sharpness  of  the 
Logos.  But,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,* 
we  have  presented  to  us  a  matter  of  reli- 
gious experience,  the  living  power  of  di- 
vine truth,  penetrating,  judging,  and  punish- 
ing th6  soul,  the  power  which  lays  open 
all  secret  wickedness,  before  which  no  de- 
ception can  stand.  But  Philo  understands 
by  the  term  the  power  of  logical  discrimi- 
nation, especially  in  reference  to  the  divine 
reason,  that  efficiency  by  which  it  fixes  the 
limits  of  the  various  kinds  of  existence, 
arranges  the  various  classes  of  creatures, 
and  forms  compound  bodies  from  the  sim- 
ple elements. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  JAMES. 


From  the  consideration  of  Paul's  doctri- 
nal views,  we  proceed  to  those  of  James, 
in  which,  notwithstanding  their  apparent 
discrepancies,  may  be  discerned  a  unity  of 
spirit  with  the  former,  though  they  are  not 
equally  free  from  the  external  forms  of  Ju- 
daism, nor  developed  with  the  same  logical 
precision.  As  to  the  peculiar  character  of 
James's  mind,  and  the  manner  in  which  he 
was  led  to  embrace  the  gospel,  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  refer  to  what  we  have  said  at  the 
beginning  of  Book  IV.     With  respect  to 


*  Hebrews  iv.  12.     z^v  yxe,  o  xoyo;  tou  fljou,  iccti 
hi^yn^,  KdLt  TOfAceTi^o?  jTTi^  ttcLtuv  jua;)(^titga.v  J'taTOf/.ov, 

TOg,  a.^/JI.Zv   Tt  KAt  /UVikZv,  Kit  XgiT/KOC  iV^V/AHTiOlV  X.at 

hvoi^v  >tot^SiA;.     Quis  rer.  divinar.  hares,  §  26,  Ua 

Tcev  x.-xt  Trg^-j.yf/.a.'TOtiv  s^h?  aTrATcLg  nef/.oiT^ii.i  K'J-I  /ivo'ir- 
S'a/  S'jx.wo-a.i;  ifunt;,  tm  to/uhI  tZv  tru^^rctvT&'v  auTov 
Kcya,  og  ih  TJiv  i^uTXTnv  aKov»d'it;  anfjw,  iiAigZv  ohii- 

aTCy.Cet  KXl  XiyOfMVaiV  ufAigZv  S'll^iXd'yi,  TTCtXlV  O-Tta  TSU- 
TCDV,  Ti  \g,y(ii  3-8a)g«T*  sic  afJiudtlTOUi  x-dt  uTn^ty^ifiOUC 
fjLotg^g  d^^iTcti  Stcttgiiy  ovroi;  o  To/uiuc.  Philon.  Ope- 
ra, torn.  iii.  p.  30,  ed.  Lips.  1828. 


his  peculiar  sphere  of  labour,  it  must  be 
recollected,  that  from  his  own  standing- 
point  he  was  not  like  Paul,  obliged  to  ad- 
vocate the  free  and  independent  ministra- 
tion of  the  gospel  among  the  Gentiles, 
against  the  pretension  of  Jewish  ceremo- 
nial holiness,  but  felt  himself  compelled  to 
urge  the  practical  requirements  of  the 
Christian  faith  on  those  who  had  mingled 
their  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Messiah  with  the 
common  errors  of  carnal  Judaism,  and  to 
shake  the  foundations  of  their  false  confi- 
dence. 

Paul  was  obliged  to  point  out  to  those 
who  placed  their  dependence  on  the  justi- 
fying power  of  the  works  of  the  law,  the 
futility  of  such  works  in  reference  to  justi- 
fication, and  to  demonstrate  that  justifica- 
tion and  sanctification  could  proceed  only 
from  the  faith  of  the  gospel ; — James,  on 
the  other  hand,  found  it  necessary  to  de- 
clare to  those  who  imagined  that  they  could 
be  justified  in  God's  sight  by  faith  in  the 
Jewish  sense,  as  we  have  before  explained, 
that  this  was  completely  valueless  if  their 
course  of  life  was  not  conformed  to  it. 

This  apostle  affirms,  that  as  sympathy 
towards  the  distressed,  which  shows  itself 
in  mere  verbal  professions,  is  worthless,  so 
faith  without  works  is  utterly  vain.  He 
compares  a  faith  that  does  not  manifest  it- 
self by  works,  to  a  pretended  love  that  is 
not  verified  by  active  kindness.  From  this 
comparison,  it  is  evident  that  as  what  he 
here  describes  as  a  vain  love  is  in  his  judg- 
ment undeserving  of  the  name  of  love,  the 
same  may  be  said  of  a  vain  faith.  But  as 
by  what  he  says  against  the  value  of  a 
love  that  only  shows  itself  in  words,  he  did 
not  intend  to  depreciate  the  worth  of  love 
itself,  just  as  little  could  he  design  to  cast 
a  slight  on  the  worth  of  faith  by  what  he 
says  against  the  value  of  faith  that  exhibits 
itself  only  in  outward  profession.  He  con- 
siders such  a  faith  which  is  unaccompanied 
by  works,  as  dead ;  it  is  a  faith  which  is 
destitute  of  the  divine  life  that  spontaneous- 
ly produces  good  works.  In  reference  to 
this  necessary  intimate  connexion  between 
faith  and  works,  James  says,  addressing  a 
man  who  depends  on  this  inoperative  faith 
(ii.  18),  Show  me  how  thy  faith  can  exist 
without  works,  and  I  will  prove  to  thee  my 
faith  by  my  works.  As  the  body  without 
the  soul  is  dead,  so  (he  says,  ii.  26)  faith 
without  works  is  dead.     The  comparison 


Chap.  III.] 


ON  FAITH  AND  WORKS. 


303 


must  bo  here  general  without  descending  to 
particulars.  It  is  evident,  that  James  could 
not  mean  to  say  that  works  (the  outward 
act)  bear  the  same  relation  to  faith  as  the 
soul  to  the  body,  but  only  (which  agrees 
with  the  whole  train  of  his  thinking)  that 
the  absence  of  works  is  a  proof  that  the 
faith  is  destitute  of  what  corresponds  to  the 
soul  as  the  animating  principle  of  the  body. 
Works,  therefore,  are  signs  of  the  vitality 
of  faith. 

We  shall  be  assisted  in  forming  correct 
ideas  of  his  doctrine  respecting  faith,  if  we 
examine  the  examples  which  he  adduces 
of  genuine  and  spurious  faith  ;  on  the  other 
hand,  the  faith  of  evil  spirits  in  one  God, 
which  onl}^  fills  them  with  terror,  and,  on 
the  other,  the  faith  of  Abraham.  It  is  evi- 
dent that,  speaking  from  the  standing-point 
of  those  whose  opinions  he  is  combating, 
he  here  applies  the  same  term  to  two  dis- 
tinct atfections  of  the  soul.  In  the  first 
case,  where  the  reference  is  to  the  faith  of 
evil  spirits,  the  feeling  of  dependence  on 
an  Almighty  Supreme  Being  shows  itself 
as  something  unavoidable,  as  an  overpow- 
ering force,  but  it  is  only  a  passive  state 
(a  iTu'^os),  with  which  the  spontaneity,  the 
the  free  receptivity  and  self-activity  of  the 
mind  by  no  means  corresponds,  the  whole 
internal  constitution  of  a  rational  being  is 
opposed  to  it.  In  the  second  case,  faith  is 
not  merely  something  passive,  existing  in- 
dependently of  the  self-determination  of 
man,  but  a  voluntary  recognition  of  this 
dependence  takes  place  by  an  act  of  the 
will,  and  thereby  becomes  a  regulating 
principle  of  the  whole  life.  Hence,  in  the 
former  instance,  works  as  well  as  the 
whole  tendency  of  the  life  must  stand  in 
contradiction  to  what  from  this  standing- 
point  is  called  faith  ;  in  the  latter,  the  in- 
ward tendency  of  the  life  proceeding  from 
faith  necessarily  manifests  itself  by  works. 
That  work  of  Abraham  which  the  apostle 
adduces,  was  indeed  no  other  than  an  ex- 
pression of  that  unconditional  and  trustful 
surrender  to  the  Divine  will,  which  is  like- 
wise by  Paul  considered  as  a  mark  of 
Abraham's  genuine  and  divinely  approved 
Sixaiodvvr]. 

Paul  adduces  this  example  with  a  special 
reference  to  its  internal  principle  in  oppo- 
sition to  a  vain  righteousness  of  works  ; 
James  makes  use  of  it  in  its  outward  niani- 
festation  against  an  opus  opemtimi  of  faith  ; 


and  in  this  point  of  view  he  could  say  that 
by  his  s»ya  Abraham  proved  that  he  was  a 
oixaic.c  ;  laith  cooperated  with  his  works, 
by  works  his  ciff.-i.c  proved  itself  to  be 
TsXeia.  When  the  Holy  Scriptures  tell  us 
that  Abraham's  faith  was  imputed  to  him 
by  God  for  righteousness,  this  can  only  be 
understood  of  a  faith  which  was  accompa- 
nied with  good  works  as  marks  of  its  ge- 
nuineness. Certainly  James,  who  believed' 
in  the  divine  omniscience,  could  not  sup- 
pose that  the  outward  act  was  requisite  to 
make  Abraham's  disposition  manifest  to 
God  ;  but  he  meant  to  say  that  Abraham's 
faith  could  not  have  justified  him  before 
God,  if  it  had  not  been  such  as  would  mani- 
fest its  inward  quality  by  such  works.  But 
Paul  would  not  have  applied  the  same  term 
■Trto'Tig  to  two  religious  standing-points  that 
differed  so  widely  from  one  another  ;  he 
would  hardly  have  designated  by  this  name 
what  James  asserts  of  evil  spirits. 

A  contradiction  indeed  may  appear  to 
exist  between  the  two  apostles,  in  this  i"e- 
spect,  that,  while  one  gives  as  a  mark  of 
the  standing-point  of  legal  righteousness, 
"  do  this  and  thou  shalt  live ;"  the  other, 
expressing  his  own  views,  says,  "  A  doer 
of  the  work  shall  be  blessed  by  (or  in)  his 
deed."*  But  this  contradiction  vanishes, 
if  we  are  .careful  to  distinguish  the  different 
references  of  these  two  statements.  Paul 
speaks  of  the  vo|xog  as  of  the  sum  of  certain 
imperative  prescriptions,  and  of  man  under 
the  legal  standing-point  antecedent  to  Chris- 
tianity. James  intends  the  new  law  of  life 
revealed  by  the  Messiah,  which  he  desig- 
nates the  vofi-off  TiXtioff  in  allusion  to  its 
forming  the  consummation  of  Judaism,  as 
Christ,  in  his  Sermon  on  the  iMount,  repre- 
sents the  gospel  to  be  the  fulfilling  of  the 
law.  Viewing  it  under  this  aspect,  he  calls 
it  (i.  25)  the  law  of  liberty,  no  doubt  from 
the  fact,  that  those  who  truly  received  it, 
rendered  a  free  obedience  which  proceeded 
from  an  inward  vital  principle.  He  con- 
siders this  law  as  equivalent  to  the  X070?, 
the  published  doctrine  of  Christ.  This  doc- 
trine is  called  a  law,  as  exhibiting  a  rule 
of  life,  at  the  same  time  it  is  distinguished 
by  such  epithets  as  \hc  jjcr/ect  law  and  the 

*  Paul,  from  the  legal  as  opposed  to  tlic  cvnn- 
gelical  standincr-point,  says,  "0  Tunr^t  ayn  (^trt- 
TAi  iv  tturch."  James,  from  his  own  position,  ".lys, 
"0  ttoimtik:  igycu  oJtoc  ^<*ag<oc  i»  f^  rrmru  aurvt 

(J-T-Jtt.'''' 


304 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  JAMES 


[Book  VI. 


law  of  liberty,  that  Paul  vvould  not  have 
scrupled  to  term  the  gospel  a  law  if  thus 
designated.  And  it  is  all  along  implied 
that  through  Christ,  the  perfection  and  free- 
dom of  religion  are  established,  compared 
with  the  defectiveness  of  the  former  dispen- 
sation which  was  one  of  bondage.  Refer- 
ring to  the  doctrine  of  Christ  as  being  such 
a  law,  he  says  what  Paul  must  have  said 
of  Christianity  as  the  vo^ao?  <7rv£u,aaTos,  that 
mere  knowledge  would  be  of  no  avail,  but 
that  the  essential  point  was,  not  to  make 
this  doctrine  an  object  of  indolent  contem- 
plation, but  to  feel  its  power  as  a  law  de- 
termfning  the  life;  whosoever  practically 
received  this  doctrine  would  be  blessed  in 
his  deed  ;*  only  he  who  allowed  his  life  to 
be  regulated  by  Christianity,  could  experi- 
ence its  blessed  effects  ;  he  alone  would 
feel  himself  truly  blessed  in  the  influence 
proceeding  from  Christianity. 

In  relation  to  moral  requirements,  James 
was  very  unlike  the  advocates  of  a  legal 
righteousness,  who  insisted  more  on  a  mul- 
tiplicity of  individual  good  works,  than  on 
the  regulation  of  the  whole  life  by  one 
leading  principle;  for  it  is  one  of  the  cha- 
racteristics of  this  epistle  with  which  his 
argument  respecting  faith  is  closely  con- 
nected, that  he  traces  back  believing,  know- 
ing, and  acting  to  the  unity  of  a  whole  life 
proceeding  from  a  godlike  disposition,  and 
opposes  the  isolation  of  acts,  which  can 
maintain  their  true  significance  only  in  this 
connexion. 

Thus  he  says.  Whosoever  imagines  that 
the  worship  of  God  consists  in  certain  sin- 
gle acts,  deceives  himself;  it  consists  in 
the  whole  direction  of  a  life  devoted  to  God, 
in  preserving  one's-self  from  contact  with 
all  ungodliness.  He  combats  the  superfi- 
cial moral  judgment,  according  to  which  a 
man  believes  that  he  may  be  excused  for 
transgressing  certain  commands,  if  he  only 
avoids  certain  sins.  The  law  possesses  a 
unity,  and  whoever  violates  it  in  only  one 
point,  is  guilty  of  violating  the  whole.  Ac- 
cording to  James,  the  fulfilling  of  the  whole 


*  sv,  ill  James  i.  25,  ought  by  no  means  to  be 
translated  ilirovcr/t.  The  sj-tsk  implies,  that  James 
considered  the  blessedness  not  merely  as  somethmg- 
proceeding  from  the  deed  as  an  outward  result,  but 
as  sometliing  involved  in  the  deed,  a  feeling  tliat 
necessarily  accompanied  it ;  we  are  led  to  think 
of  the  beatitudes  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 
See  Schneckenburgh's  excellent  remarks  on  this 
passage. 


law  consists  in  love  ;  ii.  8,  Plence  he  par- 
ticularly speaks  against  those  who  were 
accustomed  to  consider  an  offence  in  words 
as  a  mere  trifle,  or  who  believed  that  they 
could  exercise  genuine  devotion  towards 
God  while  they  were  in  the  habit  of  pass- 
ing uncharitable  judgments  on  their  fellow- 
men.  This  was  a  contradiction  ;  good  and 
evil  could  not  proceed  from  the  same  foun- 
tain ;  it  was  of  the  first  importance  that 
language  should  be  the  organ  of  a  disposi- 
tion that  regulated  the  whole  life  both  in 
word  and  deed.  And  in  reference  to  the 
theoretical  part  of  religion,  he  says  that 
true  wisdom  and  true  knowledge  must  show 
themselves  in  the  general  course  of  the  life. 
He  considers  the  whole  Christian  life  as  a 
work.  That  perseverance  which  consists 
in  maintaining  the  faith  under  trials  must 
have  its  perfect  work,  that  is,  must  consist 
not  merely  in  single  good  acts,  but  embrace 
the  whole  of  life  ;  i.  4.  Of  practical  Chris- 
tianity, he  says,  that  the  •jroiyirris  s^you  is 
blessed  in  his  ifoivicds ;  i.  25. 

Although  Christianity  presented  itself  to 
this  apostle  as  the  consummation  of  the 
law,  yet  he  by  no  means  adopted  the  Ebio- 
nitish  notion,  that  Christ  had  only  per- 
fected the  Mosaic  law  by  the  addition  of 
certain  moral  prescriptions,  such  as  are 
given  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  so  that 
he  might  be  considered  simply  as  the  Su- 
preme lawgiver  and  teacher  ;  but  he  ac- 
knowledged as  the  peculiar  distinction  of 
Christianity,  the  impartation  of  a  new  di- 
vine principle  of  life,  which  by  its  internal 
operation  produced  the  fulfilment  of  the 
law.  He  beheld  in  the  Messiah  the  author 
of  a  new  moral  creation  through  the  divine 
principle  of  life  which  he  communicated ; 
he  described  the  word  of  truth  as  the  instru- 
ment of  regeneration,  giving  birth  to  a  new 
creation;  i.  18.  The  word  (he  aflirms) 
must  penetrate  the  very  depths  of  human 
nature,  and  by  an  internal  transforming 
power  effect  its  deliverance  from  sin  ;  i.  21. 
But  he  was  very  far  from  believing  that 
the  Christian  could  altogether  come  up  to 
the  requirements  of  the  law  of  liberty, 
which  seeks  for  a  free  obedience,  proceed- 
ing from  love,  and  could  thus  be  justified 
by  his  own  course  of  life.  He  declares 
(including  himself)  that  "  in  many  things 
we  all  offend  ;"  iii.  2.  Every  man,  he  says, 
must  be  penetrated  by  the  conviction,  how 
much  he  stands  in  need  of  the  divine  mercy 


Chap.  III.] 


DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  PAUL  AND  JAMES. 


305 


that  he  may  be  able  to  stand  before  the 
divine  tribunal  ;  and  ought  to  be  impelled 
by  this  consideration  to  exercise  mercy 
towards  others. 

After  what  has  been  said,  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  there  are  differences  between 
the  two  apostles,  in  the  dogmatic  and  ethi- 
cal mode  of  their  instructions  ;  but  still  it 
may  be  shown,  that  though  the  Christian 
spirit  appears  more  fully  developed  and 
more  perfectly  formed  in  one  scheme  of 
doctrine  than  in  the  other,'yet  the  same 
spirit  pervades  both.  Paul,  though  he  con- 
sidered good  works  as  the  necessary  marks 
of  the  new  spiritual  creation,  and  the  ne- 
cessary fruits  of  an  actual  internal  right- 
eousness, would  certainly  not  have  ex- 
pressed himself  exactly  in  this  manner,  that 
a  man  is  justified  not  by  faith  alone,  but 
also  by  his  works, — that  faith  and  works 
must  co-operate  for  his  justification.  He 
would  not  only  have  avoided  saying  this  in 
reference  to  the  legal  works  preceding  the 
transformation  of  the  life  by  faith,  (in 
■which  James  agrees  with  him,)  but  also  in 
reference  to  the  works  produced  by  faith  ; 
for  he  always  considered  the  tio'tj?  alone  as 
that,  by  which  a  man  becomes  just  before 
God,  and  the  source  from  which  all  other 
good  developes  itself  by  an  internal  neces- 
sity ;  and  the  life  of  believers  proceeding 
from  faith  is  always  alloyed  by  a  mixture 
of  the  tfa^^,  for  which  reason  a  justifying 
power  cannot  be  attributed  even  to  those 
works  which  are  the  fruits  of  faith.  But 
since  James,  as  we  have  remarked,  acknow- 
ledges the  continual  defects  of  the  Chris- 
tian life  and  the  need  of  forgiveness  of  sin 
even  on  the  standing-point  of  the  gospel, 
all  material  difference  vanishes.  Paul  ap- 
proaches nearer  to  James  on  another  side, 
where  he  is  less  dogmatically  exact,  and  is 
not  led  to  employ  the  strong  contrasts 
which  are  frequent  in  the  controversial 
parts  of  his  writings,  for  even  according  to 
his  own  views,  works  necessarily  belong  to 
the  Christian  life  as  an  expression  of  faith 
and  of  the  Sixaiodwr]  obtained  by  it,  and 
faith  must  be  verified  by  the  whole  course 
of  life  ;  hence  he  asserts,  on  occasions 
when  it  was  of  importance  to  bring  for- 
ward this  truth,  that  every  man  will  receive 
according  to  that  he  hath  done  in  his  earthly 
life,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad,  2  Cor.  v.  10. 
Nor  is  it  difficult  to  deduce  this  mode  of 
expression  from  the  Pauline  principles,  and 

89 


to  show  its  perfect  harmony  with  them. 
In  the  works  which  (apparently)  proceed 
from  faith,  the  difiercnce  must  Ikj  verified 
between  genuine  and  spurious  faith,  and 
the  difference  will  gradually  make  itself 
known  according  to  the  degree  in  which 
faith  has  penetrated  the  life.  Although  in 
redemption,  justification,  and  the  imparta- 
tion  of  a  new  divine  life,  by  which  man  is 
first  renderpd  capable  of  accomplishing 
good  works,  all  is  an  act  of  grace,  yet,  ac- 
cording to  Paul's  doctrine,  there  is  also  a 
rewardable  righteousness,  and  the  bestow, 
ment  of  a  reward,  in  proportion  as  men 
show  themselves  active  when  the  new  crea- 
tion has  been  effected,  according  as  they 
make  use  of  the  grace  bestowed  upon  them. 
And  if  such  expressions,  though  strictly  in 
accordance  with  the  Pauline  doctrine,  were 
taken  by  themselves,  they  might  be  sup- 
posed to  be  contradictory  to  it;  like  those 
of  James,  to  which  they  have  an  affinity. 

Moreover,  as  James  was  altogether  a 
Jew,  though  a  Jew  whose  views  were  ren- 
dered complete  by  faith  in  Jesus  as  the 
Messiah,  it  was  his  aim  to  lead  his  coun- 
trymen by  the  same  way  which  he  had 
taken  himself,  from  Judaism  to  faith  in 
Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  though  without  de- 
parting tl-om  the  national  theocratic  forms; 
hence  he  did  not,  like  Paul,  who  laboured 
among  the  Gentiles  that  stood  in  no  na- 
tional relation  to  the  law,  represent  Christ 
as  the  abolisher  of  the  law,  but  as  its  ful- 
filler  ;  and  this  view  was  countenanced  by 
Christ's  own  language  in  Matt.  v.  17.  The 
law  hence  became  to  him  changed  in  its 
spirit  ;  from  being  imperfect,  it  became 
perfect;  from  being  a  law  of  bondage,  it 
became  a  law  of  liberty.  But  he  received 
the  new  spirit  under  the  old  forms,  simi- 
larly to  many  Catholics  who  have  attained 
to  free  evangelical  convictions,  and  yet  have 
not  been  able  to  disengage  themselves  from 
the  6ld  ecclesiastical  forms  ;  or  like  Lu- 
ther, when  he  had  already  attained  to  a 
knowledge  of  justification  by  faith,  but  be- 
fore he  was  aware  of  the  consequences 
flowing  from  it  in  opposition  to  the  preva- 
lent doctrines  of  the  church.  And  thus 
James,  though  he  acknowledged  that  the 
Gentiles  by  faith  in  Jehovah  and  the  Mes- 
siah were  entitled  to  the  same  theocratic 
privileges  as  the  Jews,  did  not  enforce  on 
the  believing  Jews  the  non-observance  of 
the  law,  Acts  xv.  21.     And  what  he  says 


306 


GOD  NOT  THE  AUTHOR  OF  SIN. 


[Book  VI. 


to  Paul  in  Acts  xxi.  21,*  implies  the  opi- 
nion that  he  would  have  thought  it  wrong 
to  have  led  the  Jews  who  were  scattered 
among  the  heathen  to  forsake  the  observ- 
ance of  the  law.  Now  Paul  was  so  far 
averse  from  this,  that  he  allowed  the  Jews 
to  remain  Jews,  as  he  allowed  the  Gentiles, 
to  retain  every  thing  in  their  national  cha- 
racter and  habits  which  did  not  contradict 
the  spii-it  of  the  gospel  :  he  himself  did  not 
repudiate  his  Jewish  character  and  educa- 
tion, but  celebrated  the  Jewish  feasts  with 
the  Jews,  when  there  was  opportunity.  But 
since  be  considered  the  religious  obligation 
of  the  law  in  every  respect  as  abolished,  he 
must  naturally  have  been  less  scrupulous 
in  its  outward  observance,  and  must  have 
felt  himself  bound  to  depart  from  it  when 
required  to  do  so  by  higher  considerations, 
as  soon  as  the  observance  of  the  law  was 
in  any  way  incompatible  with  the  duties 
and  claims  of  his  vocation,  as  for  example, 
when  it  obstructed  his  free  intercourse  with 
the  heathen.  Among  the  Gentiles  he  lived 
as  one  by  birth  a  Gentile  ;  Barnabas  and 
Peter  did  the  same  ;  Gal.  ii.  14.t  James 
would  not  have  so  easily  agreed  to  this, 
nor  indeed  was  such  expansion  of  senti- 
ment required  for  his  peculiar  sphere  of 
labour,  since  his  adherence  to  the  observ- 
ance of  the  law  rather  promoted  his  success 
among  his  countrymen,  to  whom  his  mi- 
nistry was  confined.  We  know  not  whe- 
ther this  difference,  which  did  not  affect  the 
essence  of  the  gospel  in  reference  to  the 
extent  of  the  observance  of  the  law  by  the 
believing  Jews,  was  ever  debated  between 
the  two  apostles,  or  whether  Paul,  from  a 
tender  and  wise  forbearance,  judged  it  best 
to  avoid  the  discussion. 

With  the  difference  in  the  doctrinal 
scheme  of  the  two  apostles,  their  manner 
of  enforcing  the  duty  of  veracity  is  also 
connected.  James  repeats  the  command 
of  Christ  to  the  letter,  as  it  was  originally 


*  The  believing  Jews  needed  no  new  precepts ; 
they  knew  what  they  were  bound  to  observe  as 
Jews.     See  p.  79. 

t  Perhaps  the  partizans  of  James,  mentioned  in 
Gal.  ii.  12,  went  down  to  Antioch  for  the  purpose 
of  examining  whether  the  Jews  who  lived  among 
the  Gentiles,  allowed  themselves  to  be  led  into  vio- 
lations  of  the  law,  wjiich  they  were  not  justified 
in  doing  by  the  resolutions  of  the  apostolic  con- 
vention ;  but  it  does' not  follow  from  this,  that  they 
were  acting  by  the  command,  or  even  in  accor- 
dance with  the  wish,  of  James. 


given,  yet  showing  at  the  same  time,  that 
he  correctly  understood  its  sense  and  spirit. 
Among  Christians,  no  oath  ought  to  be  re- 
quired for  a  confirmation  of  what  they  as- 
serted, their  love  of  truth  and  mutual  con- 
fidence ought  to  be  so  great,  that  their  Yea 
and  Nay  should  be  a  sufficient  pledge.  It 
was  their  duty  to  guard  from  the  first 
against  the  guilt  of  falsehood  or  perjury; 
James  v.  12.  Paul  does  not  mention 
Christ's  command  in  this  verbal  form,  but 
only  enjoins,  in  reference  to  the  disposi- 
tion, that  Christians  should  speak  truth  to 
one  another,  which  they  had  a  right  to 
expect  as  being  members  one  of  another  ; 
and  because  language  was  intended  for  the 
very  purpose  of  maintaining  and  exhibit- 
ing the  spiritual  communion,  in  which,  as 
members  of  the  same  body,  they  must 
stand  to  one  another.  From  this  it  was 
easy  to  deduce  the  obligation  which  they 
were  under  on  this  point  towards  society 
at  large,  since  all  men  as  rational  beings, 
created  for  the  realization  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  might  be  considered  members  one 
of  another,  and  language  was  in  like 
manner  designed  for  the  maintenance  and 
exhibition  of  this  more  general  relation  ; 
Ephes.  iv.  25.  And  he  had  confessedly  no 
!  scruple  when  sufficient  confidence  was  not 
felt  towards  him  by  all  the  persons  con- 
cerned, and  where  it  was  of  special  im- 
portance to  obtain  undoubting  confidence 
in  his  affections,  to  make  use  of  a  form  of 
I  confirmation  which  would  be  deemed  equi- 
j  valent  to  an  oath. 

I  As  the  ethical  element  predominates  in 
j  the  Epistle  of  James,  the  anxiety  for  the 
i  exclusion  of  every  appearance  of  charging 
the  causation  of  sin  upon  God  is  very  con- 
spicuous, and  an  emphatic  maintenance  of 
the  freedom  of  the  will,  whose  self-deter- 
mination is  the  necessary  condition  of  all 
the  operations  of  divine  grace.  Let  no 
one  excuse  himself  (is  the  apostle's  doc- 
trine), for  yielding  to  evil,  on  the  plea  that 
he  could  not  withstand  its  enticements,  that 
a  higher  power,  a  fatality,  a  divine  pre- 
destination hurried  him  into  sin.  It  was 
far  from  God  to  tempt  any  man  to  evil. 
As  no  evil  could  affect  Him,  the  holy  and 
ever  blessed  One,  so  he  tempts  no  one  to 
evil  ;  but  it  is  the  indwelling  sinful  desire 
of  each  man  by  which  he  is  seduced  to 
evil.  This  also  gives  an  opening  for  the 
temptations   of   Satan,   yet   even   by   his 


Chap.  IV.] 


CHARACTER  OF  JOHN'S  THEOLOGY. 


307 


power  no  one  can  be  forced  to  sin  against 
his  wiU;  iv.  7.  Thus  the  ground  is  taken 
away  from  every  man  for  throwing  off  the 
blame  of  his  sins  by  pleading  the  tempta- 
tions proceeding  either  from  God  or  Satan; 
since  to  the  believer  the  ability  is  given,  by 
his  own  higher  moral  nature,  (the  image 
of  God  in  his  soul),  and  the  guidance  of 
the  Divine  Spirit,  to  withstand  his  sinful 
desires  and  the  temptations  of  Satan,  it 
must  be  his  own  guilt  if  he  yield  and  allow 
himself  to  be  carried  away  to  the  commis- 
sion of  sin.  He  has  only  to  subordinate 
his  own  will  to  the  will  of  God,  and  in 
communion  with  God  to  withstand  the  evil 
spirit  who  will  then  flee  from  him;  all 
temptation  to  evil  will  fail  before  a  will 
that  is  in  real  earnest  devoted  to  God. 
Only  let  every  man  surrender  himself  to 
God  by  a  steady  determination  of  his  will, 
and  God's  aid  will  not  be  wanting;  i.  13- 
16;  iv.  7-8.  James  and  Paid  both  pre- 
suppose two  principles  of  action  in  the  be- 
liever— the  image  of  God  restored  through 
Christ,  and  the  sinful  desire  which  still 
cleaves  to  the  soul,  and  renders  it  accessi- 
ble to  temptations  from  without.  When 
he  says  that  the  desire  bringeth  forth  sin, 
i.  15,  it  is  not  meant,  that  the  desire  itself 
is  something  purely  natural,  or  morally 
indifferent,  but  it  is  rather  presupposed  that 
the  element  in  human  nature,  according 
to  its  actual  condition,  which,  when  a  man 
does  not  withstand,  but  surrenders  himself 
to  it,  gives  birth  to  the  sinful  act,  is  in  itself 
something  sinful.  But  James  limits  him- 
self, for  the  most  part,  to  the  outward  ma- 
nifestations of  the  moral  life  ;  he  does  not, 
like  Paul  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  go 
to  the  root  of  the  opposition  between  good 
and  evil  in  the  depths  of  the  human  heart ; 
yet  he  forms  even  on  this  side  an  important 
link  in  the  complete  developement  of  Chris- 
tian doctrine.  The  manner  in  which  he 
expresses  himself  respecting  the  free  deter- 
mination of  the  will  in  relation  to  a  divine 
causation  in  evil  and  ggod,  furnishes  us 
with  an  important  supplement  to  Paul's 
doctrinal  method,  where,  (as  in  discussing 
the  doctrine  of  election,  predestination,  and 
the  unconditionality  of  the  divine  decrees,) 
owing  to  his  peculiar  character,  and  his 
practical  or  argumentative  object,  only  one 
side  of  Christian  truth  is  brought  forward, 
and  other  aspects  of  it  are  put  in  the  back- 
ground.    Hence,  if  we  wish  to  form  a  doc- 


trinal sy.stem  from  such  single  passages, 
not  taken  in  connexion  with  the  analogy  of 
the  whole  New  Testament  doctrine,  errors 
must  arise,  which  we  shall  learn  to  avoid, 
by  comparing  the  degrees  of  developement 
and  peculiar  schemes  of  doctrine  belonging 
to  the  several  apostles  which  serve  mu- 
tually to  complete  one  another.* 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE    DOCTRI>fE    OP   JOHN. 


This  apostle,  compared  with  Paul,  has 
one  point  in  common  with  James,  that,  by 
his  peculiar  mental  developement,  he  was 
not  adapted  and  disposed  to  that  intellec- 
tual cast  of  thought  which  distinguished 
the  dialectic  Paul.  But  if  in -James  the 
practical  element  predominated,  in  John 
we  find  the  intuitive,  though  deeply  im- 
bued with  the  practical ;  he  presents  con- 
templative views  of  the  fundamental  rela- 
tions of  the  spiritual  life,  rather  than  trains 
of  thought,  in  which,  as  in  Paul's  writings, 
distinctions  and  contrasts  are  made  with 
logical  precision  and  minuteness.  In  re- 
ference also  to  the  peculiar  developement 
of  his  Christian  life,  he  had  not  been  led 
like  Paul  to  faith  in  the  Redeemer  through 
severe  conflicts  and  opposition,  and  at  last 
attained  peace  after  a  violent  crisis.  He 
resembled  James  in  having  reached  his 
Christian  standing-point  through  a  course 
of  quiet  developement,  but  diflered  from 
him  in  this  respect,  that  his  higher  life  had 
not  been  first  moulded  to  a  peculiar  form  in 
Judaism — and  that  he  had  not  from  such 
a  standing-point  been  gradually  brought  to 
faith  in  Christ,  and  at  the  same  time  had 
modified  his  conceptions  of  Christianity  by 
his  former  views ;  but  from  the  first,  the 
whole  developement  of  his  higher  life  had 
proceeded  from  the  personal  view  of  Christ 
and  intercourse  with  him.  As  the  con- 
sciousness of  his  own  moral  disunion  was 
elicited  by  the  contemplation  of  a  perfect 
divinely-human  life,  in  whirh  the  arche- 
type of  man  was  realized  before  his  eyes, 


*  In  reference  to  all  the  topics  discussed  in  this 
chapler,  I  wish  to  direct  ihc  attention  of  my  read- 
ers to  an  essay  by  Dr.  Cliarles  Frommann,  now 
pastor  of  the  Lutlieran  church  at  St.  Petersburg, 
in  the  Stttdicn  nnd  Kritikcn,  1830,  part  1. 


308 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  JOHN. 


[Book  VL 


so  by  continuing   to    live   in   communion 
with  this  model  of  perfection,  he  gained 
power  to  overcome  that  disunion.     Hence 
every  thing   in    his   view  turned    on    one 
simple  contrast ; — divine  life  in  communion 
with'  the   Redeemer, — death    in  estrange- 
ment from  him.     And  as  the  whole  of  his 
piety  was  the  result  of  his  personal  expe- 
rience and  contemplation  of  the  Redeemer, 
all  his  views  of  religion  were  grounded  on 
the  life  of  Jesus,  and  might  be  considered 
as  so  many  reflections  of  it.     It  was  this 
which  gave  them  a  vital  unity,  so  that  it 
was    hardly  possible  to  distinguish   them 
into  the  practical  and  theoretical.     This  is 
shown  in  those  expressive  words  by  which 
his    style   is    marked, — Life,   Light,  and 
Truth  ;  and  their  opposites— Dm^A,  Dark- 
ness, and  a  Lie.     As  in  communion  with 
God,  the  original  fountain   of  life,  which 
can  be  obtained  only  through  his  self-reve- 
lation in  the  Logos,  the  spirit  of  man  finds 
its  true  life, — as  when  in  this  true  life,  the 
consciousness  of  the  spirit  developes  itself, 
the  life  becomes  the  light  of  the  spirit,  and 
the  spirit  lives  in  the  truth  as  its  vital  prin- 
ciple ;  so   by  the  separation  of  the   spirit 
from  its  original,  by  the  disjunction  of  the 
knowledge  of  man's  self  and  of  the  world, 
from  the  knowledge  of  God,  death,  misery, 
darkness   and   falsehood    are    the   result. 
The  human  spirit  created  after  the  image 
of  the  divine  Logos,  must  be  enlightened 
by  the  communion  with  this  divine  ibuntain 
of  life  ;  a  life  in  God,  divine  life  as  the 
true  life  of  the  spirit,  is  naturally  accom- 
panied by  the  true  light  of  knowledge.  But 
since  man  by  the  direction  of  his  will  has 
turned  himself  to  the  undivine,  he  has  in 
so  doing  estranged  himself  from  the  source 
of  his  true  light  and  life,  and  is  no  longer 
in  a  state  susceptible  of  its  reception.    The 
divine  Logos  never  ceases,  indeed,  to  ma- 
nifest himself  to  the  souls  of  men,  as  Paul 
declares,  that  in  God  they  live  and  move, 
and  are ;  his  light  shines  in  the  darkness 
of  the  human  race,  who  have  turned  away 
from  God  ;  and  from  its  illumination  ema- 
nated all  the  goodness  and  truth  that  pre- 
ceded the  personal  appearance  of  the  Logos  ; 
but  this  revelation  was  opposed  by  an  im- 
penetrable intensity  of  darkness.* 


Satan  appears  as  the  summit  and  repre- 
sentative of  this  self-seeking  tendency  dis- 
severed from  connexion  with  God,  and 
hence  given  over  to  darkness  and  false- 
hood ,•  John  viii.  44.  He  stands  not  in  the 
truth  ;*  with  the  disposition  that  has  be- 


*  I  cannot  entirely  agree  with  the  interpretation 
proposed  by  Fromniann,  in  his  excellent  work  on 
the  doctrinal  views  of  John;  Leipzig,  1839,  p. 
249  ; — that  John,  in  the  first  clause  of  i.  5,  depicts 


the  relation  of  human  nature  in  its  original  state 
to  the  revelation  of  the  divine  Logos,  and  that,  in 
the  second  part  of  this  verse,  "  k-jh  «  crxorw,"  he 
speaks  of  that  relation  since  the  Fall.  According 
to  this,  the  o-hctia  in  the  first  clause,  to  use  the 
language  of  the  schoolmen,  would  describe  the 
state  of  man  on  the  standing.point  of  pura  natu- 
ralia  as  informis  negative,  and  from  the  revelation 
of  the  Logos  the  gratia  informans  must  proceed, 
which  man  required  for  the  perfection  of  his  spi- 
ritual nature.  But  in  John,  we  never  find  the  re- 
presentation of  such  a  mere  negative  relation  of 
the  human  spirit  to  the  Logos,  as  existing  apart 
froni  communion  with  him,  and  possessing  a  sus- 
ceptibility not  yet  satisfied.  "  Darkness"  always 
denotes,  in  his  phraseology,  an  actual  opposition 
against  the  divine  light  of  the  Logos,  a  predomi- 
nance of  the  undivine.  It  is  contrary  to  the  style 
of  his  conceptions,  that  he  should  suppose  the  spirit 
of  man,  formed  after  the  image  of  the  Logos,  to 
be  in  its  original  state  otherwise  than  in  com- 
munion with  that  divine  source  of  life  and  light. 
Verse  4  relates  to  what  the  Logos  was  or  ought 
to  be,  according  to  his  essential  nature,  to  man- 
kind ;  and  in  verse  5,  John  passes  on  to  the  state 
of  mankind  estranged  from  God  by  the  misdirec- 
tion of  their  will. 

*  Frommann  maintains,  in  his  work  before 
quoted,  p.  332,  that  Satan,  according  to  John's 
views,  is  no  other  than  "  the  seductive  spirit  of  the 
world  conceived  of  in  concrete  personality ;"  the 
principle  of  evil  in  the  world  hypostasized;  and  that 
the  idea  of  a  fallen  Intelligence  is  altogether  foreign 
to  this  apostle.  But  if  this  were  so,  we  must  ex- 
plain his  language  in  one  of  three  ways.  Either 
he  intentionally  chose  the  form  of  such  a  personi- 
fication, or  the  prevalent  religious  conceptions, 
which  had  been  preceded  by  an  incorporation  of 
the  spirit  of  evil,  had  taken  possession  of  his  mind 
without  his  making  it  a  subject  of  special  reflec- 
tion  (which  is  Schleiermacher's  opinion) ;  or  that 
he  really  considered  Satan  as  an  absolutely  evil 
being  who  had  existed  from  eternity.  There  ap- 
pears nothing  to  favour  the  first  supposition;  with 
respect  to  the  second,  this  doctrine  is  too  closely 
interwoven  with  the  whole  system  of  John's  theo- 
logy, that  wc  cannot  help  believing  that  he  had 
been  compelled  to  reflect  on  the  meaning  of  this 
representation,  and  to  form  a  definite  idea  respect- 
ing the  nature  of  Satan  and  his  relation  to  God. 
But  the  admission  of  an  absolute  dualism  is  ut- 
terly irreconcilable  with  John's  theism.  There 
remains  no  other  alternative  but  the  supposition 
that  he  considered  Satan  as  the  Intelligence  who 
first  apostatized  from  God.  The  passage  in  John 
viii.  44,  contains  nothing  contradictory  to  it.  The 
persons  whom  Christ  there  declares  to  resemble 
Satan  in  their  dispositions,  he  could  not  intend  to 
describe  as  absolutely  evil  by  nature,  but  as  those 
who,  by  the  repeated  suppression  of  their  nature 
derived  from  God,  had  attained  this  unsusceptibi- 


Chap.  IV.] 


MAN  ESTRANGED  FRO.AI  GOD. 


309 


come  a  second  nature,  he  can  find  in  the 
truth  not  a  single  point  on  which  to  rest, 
because  there  is  no  truth  in  him. 

Where  a  created  spirit  yields  itself 
wholly  and  purely  to  the  revealed  God,  or 
the  Logos,  there  is  truth.  Wherever  he 
dissevers  himself  from  this  connexion,  and 
lives,  thinks,  and  acts  in  this  state  of  self- 
ish separation,  there  is  falsehood.  As  the 
truth,  according  to  John,  proceeds  from 
the  tendency  of  the  whole  life  towards  God, 
the  true  and  the  good  are  iij  his  view  one, 
as  on  the  other  hand,  sin  and  faslehood. 
When  the  spirit  withdraws  itself  from  the 
revelation  of  eternal  truth,  and  suppresses 
its  original  consciousness  of  truth,  self-de- 
ception follows,  and  the  deception  of  others. 
Hence  Satan  is  represented  as  a  liar  and 
the  father  of  lies.  And  thus  the  universal 
contrast  is  formed.  Those  who  are  in  a 
state  of  vital  communion  with  God,  who 
have  received  a  divine  life,  are  born  of 
God,  and  hence  are  called  the  children  of 
God  ;  and  those  who  live  in  communion 
with  that  spirit  from  whom  at  first  pro- 
ceeded all  the  tendencies  of  sin  and  false- 
hood, or  who  of  the  world  belong  to  the 
world,  understanding  by  the  world  not  the 
objective  world  as  such,  the  creation  of 
God,  which,  as  founded  in  the  Logos  and 
as  a  revelation  of  God,  is  in  itself  some- 
thing good,  but  the  world  in  a  subjective 
reference  as  far  as  the  heart  of  man  is 
fi.xed  upon  it,  and  is  separated  from  its  re- 
lation to  God,  so  that  the  world  is  treated 
as  a  supreme  object  of  regard,  while  the 
knowledge  of  God  is  entirely  lost  sight  of. 

Since,  according  to  John,  participation 
in  the  divine  life  depends  entirely  on  faith 
in  the  Redeemer,  this  forms  a  new  era  of 
developement  in  opposition  to  the  former 
prevailing  principle,  and  that  state  of 
estrangement  from  God,  and  of  moral  cor- 
ruption from  which  believers  are  extricated. 
Though  we  find  in  John  no  representation 
of  human  nature  in  its  estrangement  i'rom 
God,  as  it  is  delineated  in  Paul's  writings, 
(which  may  be  explained  from  the  pecu- 

lity  for  truth  and  goodness,  this  habitual  pervcrsc- 
ness.  Frommann  says,  p.  335,  that  the  fall  of  a 
good  angel  presupposes  an  original  evil  principle 
operating  upon  him,  and  that,  in  order  to  explain 
the  existence  of  Satan,  we  arc  again  driven  to  the 
assumption  of  another  Satan.  But  this  objection 
is  obviated  by  what  wc  have  before  remarked  re- 
specting the  necessary  inexplicability  of  the  origin 
of  sin,  founded  in  the  very  idea  of  evil. 


liarity  of  his  doctrinal  method,  and  the 
peculiar  style  of  his  writings,)  still  it  may 
be  easily  perceived  that  his  views  were 
essentially  the  same,  and  in  perfect  har- 
mony with  the  essence  of  Christianity. 
We  find  here  the  same  contrast  between 
what  human  nature  is,  and  is  able  to  cirect 
in  the  state  of  estrangement  from  God, 
and  that  higher  standing-point  to  wliich  it 
is  raised  by  the  transforming  infiuencc  of 
a  divine  principle  of  life  communicated  to 
it,  or,  in  other  words,  the  ffa^x/xov  and  the 
osufAaTixov,  When  John,  in  the  introduc- 
tion to  his  gospel  (i.  12),  describes  the 
children  of  God  as  those  who  owed  this 
distinction,  not  to  their  descent  from  any 
particular  race  of  men,  and  in  general  not 
from  any  thing  which  lies  within  the  com- 
pass of  human  nature; — when  Christ  says 
to  Nicodemus,  that  what  is  born  of  the 
flesh  is  flesh ; — such  language  is,  in  the 
first  place,  opposed  to  the  Jewish  notion 
that  outward  descent  from  the  theocratic 
nation  gave  an  indisputable  right  to  parti- 
cipation in  the  kingdom  of  God  and  in  the 
dignity  of  his  children  ;  but  this  particular 
application  is  deduced  from  a  truth  ex- 
pressed in  the  most  general  terms,  namely 
the  general  position,  that  the  natural  man 
by  his  disposition  is  estranged  from  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  must  receive  a  new 
divine  life,  in  order  to  become  a  member 
of  it.  Hence  in  John,  as  well  as  in  Paul, 
the  same  conditions  and  preparations  are 
required  for  partaking  in  the  blessing  Christ 
is  ready  to  bestow  on  mankind,  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  bondage  of  the  higher 
faculties  of  man, — the  consciousness  of 
personal  sinfulness — a  sense  of  the  need  of 
help  and  redemption,  a  longing  after  a  new 
divine  life  which  alone  can  satisfy  all  the 
wants  of  the  higher  nature  of  man.  We 
may  here  adduce  the  allusion  to  the  brazen 
serpent  (iii.  14),  where  the  Jews,  who  in 
believing  confidence  expected  by  looking 
at  it  to  be  healed  of  their  wounds,  repre- 
sent those  who,  under  a  sense  of  the  de- 
struction that  threatens  them  from  their 
spiritual  maladies,  look  to  the  Redeemer 
with  confidence  for  spiritual  healing ;  and 
all  those  parables  in  John's  gospel,  in 
which  Christ  speaks  of  thirst  for  that 
water  of  life,  and  hunger  for  that  bread  of 
life,  which  he  is  willing  to  bestow.  Ac- 
cordingly John,  in  his  first  Epistle,  says 
that  whoever  believes  himself  to  be  free  from 


310 


RECEPTIVITY  FOR  REDEMPTION. 


[Book  VI. 


sin,  is  destitute  of  uprightness,  and  deceives 
himself;  that  such  a  man  makes  God  a 
liar,  since  he  acts  as  if  all  which  the  earlier 
divine  revelations  have  asserted  respecting 
human  sinfulness,  and  which  is  implied  in 
God's  sending  a  Redeemer  to  the  human 
race,  were  false ;  1  John  i.  9. 

But  in  order  that  men  may  attain  to 
faith  in  the  Redeemer,  and  avail  them- 
selves of  his  aid,  the  outward  revelation  of 
the  divine,  with  all  the  attestations  that 
accompanied  it  in  the  external  world,  are 
not  sufficient.  Without  the  inward  sense 
for  the  divine  which  is  outwardly  mani- 
fested'in  the  person  of  the  Saviour,  they 
can  give  it  no  admission  into  their  hearts, 
The  outward  power  of  the  divine  can  exert 
no  compulsive  influence,  but  requires  the 
mind  to  be  already  in  a  susceptible  state, 
in  order  to  produce  its  right  effect.  With- 
out this,  all  external  revelations  and  ap- 
peals are  in  vain  ;  the  unsusceptible  "  have 
eyes  but  they  see  not ;"  John  xii.  40. 
Hence  the  attainment  of  faith  depends  on 
a  preparative  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
on  men's  minds,  by  which  a  sense  of  the 
divine  is  awakened  within  them,  and  a 
consciousness  of  their  higher  wants.  Thus 
a  susceptibility  for  what  will  give  real  satis- 
faction is  developed,  so  that  faith  naturally 
results  from  the  conjunction  of  this  inward 
susceptibility  with  the  external  divine  reve- 
lation. To  this  Christ  refers  when  he  says 
to  the  Jews,  (to  whom,  on  account  of  the 
enthralment  of  their  minds  in  earthly  things, 
his  words  were  necessarily  unintelligible 
and  strange),  in  order  to  draw  their  atten- 
tion to  the  grounds  of  their  being  offended 
with  him  (John  vi.  44,  45),  that  they  could 
not  believe,  that  they  could  not  come  to 
him,  that  is,  attain  to  faith  in  him,  owing 
to  this  tendency  of  their  disposition.*  No 
one  (he  declared)  could  come  unto  him 
who  was  not  drawn  to  him  by  the  Father 
who  sent  him ;  who  had  not  heard  the 
awakening  voice  of  the  heavenly  Father  in 
his  inmost  soul,  and  followed  it.  These 
words  have  indeed  been  misunderstood  by 
the  advocates  of  the  Augustinian  system, 
as  if  a  divine  excitement,  independent  of 
all  human  self-deterniination,  were  intended 


*  In  contrast  to  their  bodily  coming  to  him, 
which  was  only  on  account  of  tlicir  bodily  neces- 
sities,  for  which  they  thus  sought  to  obtain  relief, 
the  true  spiritual  coming  to  Jiim  must  proceed 
from  a  feeling  of  their  real  spiritual  necessities. 


as  producing  that  susceptibility  for  the  di- 
vine ;  but  this  would  be  to  impose  a  sense 
foreign  to  the  connexion  and  the  design  of 
the  discourse  ;  and  greater  importance  has 
been  attached  to  a  single  metaphorical  ex- 
pression than  it  can  have  in  such  a  con- 
nexion. The  divine  impulse  must  be  here 
contrasted  with  what  is  merely  sensible 
and  human  ;  and  the  figurative  expres- 
sions denote  the  power  with  which  the 
divine  impulse,  when  it  is  once  felt,  operates 
on  the  soul, — the  power  with  which  the  di- 
vine manifests  itself  to  the  self-conscious- 
ness ;  but  it  is  by  no  means  said  that  this 
divine  impulse  of  an  operation  of  God  to 
arouse  the  suppressed  knowledge  of  God 
acts  alone,  and  that  man,  by  his  free  self- 
determination,  does  nothing  to  promote  it. 
This  supposition  would  be  inconsistent  with 
the  design  of  all  the  passages  of  this  kind, 
since,  taken  in  theirconnexion,  the  words  are 
intended  to  awake  men  to  a  sense  of  their 
criminal  unsusceptibility  as  the  cause  of 
their  unbelief.  It  would  also  contradict 
John's  declaration  of  the  condemnation  that 
accompanied  the  appearance  of  the  Re- 
deemer and  the  publication  of  the  gospel  ; 
for  this  condemnation  implies  the  fact,  that 
in  the  different  reception  given  by  men  to 
the  gospel,  their  different  susceptibility  or 
unsusceptibility  for  believing  is  manifested, 
and  thus  the  difference  of  their  entire  dis- 
position and  character. 

According  to  the  doctrinal  views  of  John, 
a  twofold  jneaning  is  attached  to  the 
phrases,  "  s/vai  zv.  &soij,"  and  "  si'vai  Ix  tjj^ 
ctXviSsiaf."  They  either  indicate  in  the 
highest  sense  of  the  words,  the  inspiration 
first  proceeding  from  faith  through  the  di- 
vine spirit  of  life,  which  is  the  spirit  of 
truth  ;  or  in  a  subordinate  sense,  the  gene- 
ral connexion  of  the  human  mind  with  God, 
the  capacity  for  the  true  and  the  divine, 
that  inward  susceptibility  founded  on  the 
developed  knowledge  of  God,  which  is  the 
preparative  for  faith.  In  reference  to  the 
latter  it  is  said,  in  John  viii.  47,  "  He  that 
is  of  God,  heareth  God's  words  ;"  and  xviii. 
37,  "  Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth, 
heareth  my  voice."  Hence,  though  John 
presents  in  diametric  opposition  the  idea  of 
the  natural  man  estranged  from  God,  and 
the  man  who  is  born  of  God,  yet  accord- 
ing to  his  doctrine,  various  steps  and  transi- 
tions must  be  admitted  between  the  first 
I  standing-point  and  the   second,  according 


Chap.  IV.J 


THE  INCARNATION  OF  THE  LOGOS. 


311 


as  the  original  knowledge  of  truth  and  of  i 
God  vvliich  has  been  suppressed  by  the  sin- 
ful bias  of  the  will,*  more  or  less  prevents  ' 
men  from  hearing  the  voice  of  God,  and  j 
following  the  drawings  of  their  heavenly 
Father.  The  slumbering  knowledge  of 
God  may  indeed  be  awakened  by  the  im- 
mediate impression  of  the  glory  manifested 
in  the  appearance  of  Christ ;  but  it  may 
also  happen  that  a  man,  by  following  the 
drawing  of  his  heavenly  Father  antecedent 
to  the  revelation  of  Christ,  uprightly  strives 
after  the  divine  and  the  good,  and  such  a 
one  is  led  through  the  divine  to  the  divine. 
The  confused  partial  revelation  of  God 
which  had  hitherto  illuminated  the  dark- 
ness of  his  soul,  and  conducted  him  in  life, 
leads  him  to  the  revelation  of  the  divine 
oi'iginal  in  human  form,  and  he  rejoices 
actually  to  behold  the  archetype  in  its  efful- 
gence which  had  hitherto  shone  upon  him 
with  only  a  dim  and  distant  lustre ;  John 
iii.  21. 

With  respect  to  John's  idea  of  the  work 
of  redemption,  we  meet  first  in  his  writings 
with  an  account  of  the  appearance  of  Christ 
in  the  flesh,  and  its  immediate  impression 
on  his  religious  self-consciousness.  The 
life  of  Christ  as  the  humanization  of  the 
divine,  of  which  the  design  was  to  give  a 
divine  elevation  to  man,  is  the  self-revela- 
tion of  the  divine  Logos  (as  the  revealing 
principle  of  the  mysterious  essence  of  God) 
in  the  form  of  humanity,  appropriated  by 
him  in  order  to  communicate  divine  life  to 
human  nature,  and  to  transform  it  into  a 
revelation  of  the  divine  life.  John's  re- 
markable words,  "  The  Logos  became 
man,  and  we  have  beheld  his  glory  as  it 
was  revealed  in  humanity,"  describe  the 
nature  of  Christ's  appearance,  and  what 
mankind  would  become  through  him  who 
is  the  central  point  of  Christian  faith  and 
life.  The  same  sentiments  are  expressed 
in  his  First  Epistle,  "  We  announce  to  you 
as  eye-witnesses  the  manifestation  of  the 
eternal  fountain  of  life,  which  was  the  Fa- 
ther, in  order  that  you  may  enter  into  fel- 
lowship with  it."  He  states  as  the  essential 
marks  of  this  manifestation  of  the  divine 
glory  in  human  form,  that  he  appeared  full 
of  grace  and  truth  ;  grace,  which  means 
the  communicative   love  of  God,  God  as 


*  Tlie  darkness  which  cannot  admit  the  divine 
light  that  shines  upon  it. 


love ;  and  truth,  according  to  John's  con- 
ceptions of  it,  as  we  have  already  remarked, 
is  not  any  thing  speculative  and  abstract, 
but  proceeds  from  the  life,  and  embraces 
the  whole  unity  of  the  life,  and  hence  is 
one  with  goodness  and  holiness.  Truth  is 
the  essential  predicate  of  the  inward  unity 
of  the  divine  life  ;  and  Christ  (in  John's 
gospel)  calls  himself  the  truth  and  the  life. 
Hence,  the  ideas  of  love  and  holiness  arc 
the  two  divilie  attributes  which  (as  far  as 
it  is  possible  to  reduce  John's  pregnant 
words  to  precise  intellectual  notions)  will 
most  nearly  express  what  he  represents  as 
the  characteristic  of  the  glory  of  God  re- 
vealed in  the  life  of  Christ,  and  agree  with 
his  using  love  and  holiness  in  his  first 
epistle  as  designations  of  the  divine  be- 
ing.^* 

God  has  been  glorified  in  Christ  (John 
xiii.  32),  in  him  as  the  Son  of  Man,  by 
whom  the  archetpye  of  humanity  is  real- 
ized ; — that  is,  he  has  exhibited  in  human 
nature,  the  glory  of  God,  the  perfect  image 
of  God  as  holy  love,  in  man.  As  man 
was  created  in  the  image  of  God,  and  was 
destined  to  glorify  God,  that  is,  to  manifest 
him  in  his  glory  with  self-consciousness — 
this  is  now  fulfilled  by  the  Son  of  God  in 
human  form.  The  practical  revelation  of 
the  heavenly  Father  in  the  obscure  sub- 
jective consciousness  of  man,  and  his  per- 
fect revelation  in  the  incarnation,  are  mu- 
tually related  ;  the  former  was  a  preparation 
for  the  latter  ;  and  the  latter  reflects  fresh 
illumination  on  the  former.  As  whoever 
understands  that  revelation  of  God  which 
pierces  through  the  thick  darkness  of  the 
soul,  must  be  attracted  by  the  perfect  reve- 
lation of  the  same  (^od  in  his  Son,  it  fol- 
lows, that  whoever  knows  the  Father  must 
necessarily  recognise  the  Father  in  the 
Son, — while  the  not  recognising,  or  the 
denying  of  the  Son,  is  a  proof  that  a  man 
kno'ws  not  the  Father,  and  is  estranged 
from  him.  The  image  of  the  Father  is 
perfectly  exhibited  in  the  Son,  in  his  holy 
love  to  man,  and  in  him  also  was  first  re- 
vealed in  a  comprehensible  manner  what  a 
being  that  God  is,  whose  holy  personality 

*  John  docs  not  make  use  of  the  second  term 
precisely,  but  it  is  implied  in  what  he  says ;  for 
when  he  aHiinis  in  1  John  i.  .'),  "  God  is  lijrht,  and 
in  him  is  no  darkness  at  all,"  as  darkness  is  a  de- 
signalion  of  sin,— light,  by  contrast,  is  expressive 
of  holiness. 


312 


THE  MIRACLES  OF  CHRIST. 


[Book  VI. 


man  was  created  to  represent.*  Through 
him  God  closes  up  the  chasm  that  sepa- 
rated him  from  the  human  race,  and  im- 
parts himself  to  them  in  the  communion  of 
a  diyine  life  ;  and  by  that  life  it  is  taught 
that  all  living  knowledge  of  God  can  only 
proceed  from  life ;  and  thus  the  apostle 
was  justified  in  saying,  "  Whoever  hath 
not  the  Son,  hath  not  the  Father  also." 

John  contemplates  the  whole  life  of 
Christ  from  the  beginning  as  a  revelation 
of  the  glory  of  the  divine  Logos,  as  in 
short  a  connected  revelation  of  God  ;  and 
hence  the  divine  in  reference  to  Christ  must 
neve'r  be  viewed  as  something  isolated  and 
extraneous.  His  miracles  also,  as  marks 
of  a  divine  power  controlling  nature,  as 
witnesses  to  the  presence  of  such  a  power, 
are  not  explicable  from  natural  causes  in 
the  phenomenal  world  ;  they  cannot  be  re- 
garded as  isolated  or  superadded  from  with- 
out, as  a  new  order  of  facts  differing  in 
their  essential  qualities  from  the  other 
works  of  Christ.  Only  as  far  as  the  glory 
of  God  which  originally  dwelt  within  him, 
which  at  the  beginning  of  his  public  minis- 
try as  the  Messiah  was  entirely  veiled  un- 
der the  ordinary  forms  of  human  life — 
from  that  epoch  came  forth  on  particular 
occasions  from  its  concealment,  and  mani- 
fested itself  in  such  results  in  the  world  of 
the  senses  by  which  even  carnal  men  might 
be  roused  to  perceive  the  presence  of  the 
divine — only  in  reference  to  this  beginning 
of  a  new  epoch  in  his  ministry  for  the 
revelation  of  the  glory  of  God  among  man- 
kind, John  distinguishes  the  beginning  of 
the  miracles  of  Christ  (ii.  11)  as  the  be- 
ginning of  the  revelation  of  his  glory. 
When  he  tells  us,  that  the  Baptist  saw  the 
Spirit  of  God  descending  on  the  Redeemer, 
by  which  he  was  distinguished  as  the  per- 
sonage who  would  baptize  with  the  Holy 
Spirit,  he  certainly  did  not  mean  to  inti- 
mate that  Christ,  according  to  the  common 
Jewish  and  Judaizing-Christian  view,  was 
then  first  furnished  with  the  fulness  of  di- 
vine power  for  his  Messianic  calling  ; — for 
John's  mode  of  contemplating  his  charac- 


*  After  Christ  had  said  (John  vi.  45)  that  all 
must  be  led  to  him  by  the  voice  of  his  Father 
speaking-  in  their  hearts,  he  guards  against  a  mis- 
apprehension,  as  if  this  was  in  itself  a  complete 
knowledge  of  the  Father.  This  only  the  Son 
possesses,  and  he  alone  can  reveal  it.  The  former 
must  be  therefore  something  preparative,  a  way- 
mark  to  more  perfect  knowledge. 


fer  is  most  decidedly  opposed  to  such  a 
representation.  According  to  his  concep- 
tions, since  Christ  was  no  other  than  the 
incarnate  Logos,  all  that  was  divine  in  for- 
mer revelations  became  concentrated  in 
him  ;  hence,  single  transitory  impulses  and 
revelations  of  the  Divine  Spirit  could  not 
be  attributed  to  him ;  but  the  Holy  Spirit, 
which  illuminated  and  inspired  former  pro- 
phets partially  and  occasionally,  dwelt  in 
him  from  the  beginning  in  its  totality,  and 
operated  by  him  from  this  time  in  those 
extraordinary  signs  which  were  perceptible 
to  common  men.  It  was  precisely  for  this 
reason,  that  the  Son  possessed  the  divine 
life,  not  as  something  communicated  from 
without,  but  dwelling  in  his  very  being,  and 
essential  to  it,  that  the  divine  fountain  of 
life  itself  was  manifested  in  him,  that  he 
alone  could  communicate  divine  life  to 
others,  John  v.  26,  and  the  baptism  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  which  he  administers,  is  no 
other  than  the  immersion  of  human  nature 
in  the  divine  life  communicated  by  him,  so 
that  it  becomes  completely  imbued  with  it ; 
John  vii.  39. 

But  as  the  miracles  of  Christ  appear 
sometimes  in  relation  to  the  inward  essence 
of  his  appearance,  to  the  ^o|a  which  pro- 
ceeded from  the  indwelling  of  the  Logos  as 
simply  belonging  to  his  nature  ;  so,  on  the 
other  hand,  they  are  the  marks  or  signs  of 
the  revelation  of  this  indwelling  glory  for 
carnal  men,  in  order  to  lead  them  from  his 
appearance  in  the  sensible  world  to  the  di- 
vine, to  excite  their  susceptibility  for  the 
total  impression  and  display  of  the  divine 
So^a  revealed  in  the  Son  of  Man.  In  this 
sense,  Christ  said  to  Nathaniel,  whose  faith 
was  founded  on  these  outward  signs,  "  Thou 
shalt  see  greater  things  than  these ;  from 
this  time  thou  shalt  see  the  heavens  opened, 
and  the  angels  of  God  ascending  and  de- 
scending on  the  Son  of  Man."  Greater 
than  all  the  signs  and  wonders  which  at- 
tended or  followed  it  was  his  advejzt  itself; 
for  by  it  the  chasm  between  heaven  and 
earth  was  closed,  it  became  the  bond  of 
communion  between  both,  the  medium  by 
which  the  fulness  of  the  divine  power  was 
poured  forth  on  mankind,  and  in  compari- 
son with  which  the  total  assemblage  of  di- 
vine communications  to  the  human  race, 
all  earlier  Angelophanies  and  Theophanies, 
were  only  as  so  many  single  rays  of  the 
deity. 


Chap.  IV.] 


NECESSITV  OF  CHRIST'S  DEATH. 


318 


We  thus  ascertain  the  gradations  in  the ,  tience  under  sufFerincrs,  to  a  Lamb,  on 
use  of  the  term  Jaith  by  John  ;  he  under-  whom  the  punishment  of  sin  and  the  .^uilt 
^?"  l;„?.!^'   '''''''  "'''  acknowledgment    of  mankind  arc  (as  it  were)  laid  and  thus 

""  '  "  carried  away;*  and    the   apostle    himself 

designates  him  in  his  first  c|)islle,  the  sin- 
otlering,  the  iXatf/xoj  for  sin.  And  when 
Christ  had  been  declaring  that  divine  life 
would  be  attained  only  in  communion  with 
him,  that  as  the  bread  of  heaven  he  was 
the  same  for  the  spiritual  life  of  man  which 
material  broad  is  for  the  bodily  life,  he 
added  (vi.  51),  that  the  bread  which  ho 
gavef  was  his  body,±  which  he  would  givo 
for  the  life  of  the  world ;  he  then  repeals 
the  same  idea  though  under  a  ditlerent 
form,  and  describes  how  he  must  be  re- 
ceived in  his  whole  nature,  divine  and  hu- 
man. We  are  therefore  led  to  believe, 
that  between  these  two  views,  of  which  one 
relates  in  general  to  the  whole  being  of 
Christ,  and  the  other  to  his  offering  up 
himself  for  the  salvation  of  men,  an  inter- 
nal connexion  must  exist.  The  communi- 
cation of  divine  life  by  the  Redeemer, — all 
that  his  divine  life  could  etlcct  for  mankind, 
depended  on  this,  that  as  he  himself  had 
glorified  the  Father  on  earth,  he  had  been 
exalted  in  that  human  nature  in  which  he 
had  so  glorified  him,  above  the  limits  of 
earthly  existence  to  the  fellowship  of  his 
Father's  glory ;  that  he  might  now,  by  an 


of  a  higher  power  proceeding  from  im- 
pressions  made  on  the  senses,  from  the  im- 
pression of  extraordinary  facts  in  the  sen- 
sible world,  as  in  ii.  23 ;  or  the  possession 
of  the  heart  by  an  immediate  spiritual  im- 
pression of  the  divine  in  the  life  and  words 
of  Christ,  as  was  exhibited  in  Peter's  con- 
fession ;  vi.  68. 

Though  John  presents,  with  peculiar 
earnestness,  the  self-revelafion  and  self- 
impartation  of  Christ  as  the  incarnate  Lo- 
gos through  the  whole  of  his  earthly  life 
for  an  object  of  believing  appropriation, 
yet  it  is  evident  from  various  intimations, 
that  he  attributes  the  same  importance  as 
Paul  to  the  sufferings  of  Christ  in  the  work 
of  redemption.  As  far  as  Christ  in  his  suf- 
ferings manifested  the  love  of  God  to  the 
fallen  race  of  man,  and  carried  the  moral 
ideal  of  his  life  through  a  series  of  con- 
flicts to  its  triumphant  conclusion — and 
with  self-denying  labour  completed  the 
work  which  his  heavenly  Father  had  com- 
missioned him  to  fulfil — the  Saviour  af- 
firms in  reference  to  these  his  impending 
sufferings,  that  he  had,  in  determination, 
already  fulfilled  them,  xiii.  31  ;  that  now 
was    the   Son   of  man  glorified,  and  God 

was  glorified  in  him.  He  speaks  of  his  j  invisible  spiritual  agency,  complete  amon^ 
sufferings  as  the  completion  of  his  life  |  men  the  work  of  which  he  had  laid  the 
devoted  to  God    as    a    sacrifice,  xvii.  19;!  foundation  during  his  earthly  sojourn,  that 


that  he  thus  devoted  himself  to  God  for  his 
disciples,  that  they  might  be  devoted  or 
consecrated  in  the  truth.  The  realization 
of  the  ideal  of  holiness  in  Christ's  life  and 
sufferings,  is  here  represented  as  the  ground 
of  the  sanctification  of  the  human  race. 
Had  he  not  himself  realized  this  ideal,  he 
could  not  have  furnished  this  principle  of 
sanctification  for  all  mankind,  which  they 
receive  only  by  entering  into  communion 
with  him,  and  by  appropriating  the  truth 
which  he  announced.  In  John's  writings 
as  in  Paul's,  we  find  the  idea  of  Christ's 
bearing  the  punishment  of  sin  for  mankind, 
and  the  reconciliation  of  mankind  with 
God  through  him,  though  this  idea  is  not 
so  expressly  developed,  and  though  greater 
prominence  is  given  to  the  idea  of  Christ 
as  the  dispenser  of  divine  life,  and  the 
founder  of  a  communion  in  that  life.  Thus 
John  the  Baptist  compares  him,  as  inno- 
cent and  full  of  heavenly  mildness  and  pa- 

40 


he  might  now  glorify  him  through  the  de- 
velopement  of  the  divine  life,  and  the  vic- 
torious progress  of  ihe  kingdom  of  God  on 
earth.  Christ  himself  points  out  this  neces- 
sary connexion  in  that  passage  of  John's 
gospel,  where  he  compares  his  life  on  earth 
to  a  grain  of  corn  which  must  first  be  dis- 
solved, and  lose  its  peculiar  form,  in  order 
that  it  may  not  abide  alone  but  bring  fi)rth 
much  fruit.  The  divine  life  remained  hid- 
den in  himself  as  his  own  exclusive  posses- 
sion during  his  sensible  presence  on  earth. 
There  was  indeed  a  natural  reason  for  this, 


*  We  have  not  cnlcred  into  Ihn  controversy  re- 
specting the  sense  in  wliicli  llie  Haptist  originally 
used  these  words,  since  it  is  iiero  only  of  ini;)ort- 
ancc  to  determine  llic  ideas  of  the  apostle  John  on 
the  subject. 

t  This  i-f  not  exactly  the  same  as  liis  caliinfr 
himself,  in  his  whole  being  and  appearance,  the 
Bread  of  Life. 

+  To  justify  this  interpretation,  I  refer  to 
LQcke's  commentary  on  these  words. 


314 


THE  FAITH  OF  AUTHORITY. 


[Book  VI. 


that  the  apostles,  as  long  as  they  saw 
Christ  sensibly  present  annong  them,  and 
enjoyed  on  all  occasions  his  personal  gui- 
dance, were  dependent  on  his  outward'su- 
perintendence  ;  they  could  not  raise  them- 
selves^above  his  human  personality  to  the 
higher  point-of-view  of  him  as  the  Son  of 
God,  to  an  independent  spiritual  commu- 
nion with  him  apart  from  his  bodily  pre- 
sence and  agency,  and  therefore  had  not 
attained  to  the  vigorous  maturity  of  the 
spiritual  life  which  proceeded  from  the  Re- 
deemer. Under  these  circumstances,  the 
disciples  could  not  have  been  fitted  for  a 
participation  of  the  Redeemer's  life,  if  his 
sensible  presence  had  not  first  been  with- 
drawn. But  this  negative,  the  removal  of 
this  hinderance  to  the  higher  influence  of 
Christ  on  the  disciples,  would  not  alone 
have  been  sufficient  if  a  new  positive  power 
had  not  also  been  added.  His  ascension 
to  heaven  was  only  a  necessary  prepara- 
tion, in  order  to  make  the  disciples  suscep- 
tible of  the  divine  influences  of  the  glori- 
fied Redeemer.  In  the  firm  consciousness 
that  he  could  operate  with  such  power  on 
mankind,  Christ  said,  (John  xii.  32.)  that 
when  he  should  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth 
he  would  draw  all  men  unto  him.  In  re- 
ference to  this  state  of  things,  John  con- 
templates the  communication  of  the  divine 
principle  of  life  which  would  be  made  by 
Christ  to  believers,  and  imbue  the  charac- 
ter of  each  individual,  as  well  as  the  life 
of  the  collective  body,  which  would  bring 
the  Christian  life  to  its  full  vigour  and  ma- 
turity, the  tfvsufji-a  aym — as  a  result  of  the 
glorification  of  Christ,  which  would  not 
fake  place  till  that  was  realized.* 

*  With  respect  to  the  question,— in  what  sense 
the  words  in  John  vii.  38  were  originally  spoken 
by  Christ,  they  relate  not  to  one  definite  future 
transaction,  but,  as  John  iv.  14,  to  a  perfectly 
general  position,  that  faith  in  him  would  be  for 
any  individual  a  fountain  of  divine  life,  which 
was  represented  under  the  image  of  living  water. 
But  John  was  justified  in  saying,  that  what  Christ 
here  spoke  could  not  be  fulfilled  at  that  time,  since 
the  consciousness  of  a  divine  life  received  from 
Christ  was  not  yet  developed  in  believers,  but 
would  take  place  at  the  effusion  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  which  would  produce  that  consciousness ; 
his  language  is  therefore  somewhat  prophetic. 
The  New  Testament  ideas  of  ^a»i  aimio;,  and  of 
9rvivy.ct  ayicv,  are  closely  connected;  they  are  re- 
lated to  each  other  as  effect  and  cause.  Though 
with  faith  in  Christ  the  impartation  of  a  divine 
life  was  granted  to  believers  potentially  and  in 
principle,  yet  the  effect  was  first  manifested  after 


Whatever  is  required  on  the  part  of  men 
for  the  appropriation  of  what  Christ  effected 
as  the  Redeemer  of  mankind,  John  in- 
cludes in  faith.  This  is  that  one  work 
which  God  requires,  John  vii.  29,  in  con- 
tradistinction from  the  "roXXa  i^ya  of  Jew- 
ish legal  holiness  ;  and  from  this  internal 
work,  this  one  act  of  self-determination, 
every  thing  will  spontaneously  follow  which 
is  requisite  for  the  salvation  of  men.  But 
he  distinguishes,  as  we  have  already  re- 
marked, the  faith  that  proceeded  from  the 
predominance  of  a  sensuous  element,  the 
faith  of  authority,  (which  as  it  arose  more 
from  an  impression  on  the  senses  than  on 
the  mind,  easily  gave  place  to  other  sen- 
suous impressions  and  vanished) — from  the 
faith  which,  as  it  proceeds  from  the  inner 
life,  the  deeply  felt  need  of  a  redemption 
from  sin,  or  from  an  impression  of  the  di- 
vine on  the  very  depths  of  the  heart,  pro- 
duced a  permanent  effect,  the  fisvsiv  sv  tu 
"Koyu  Tou  Srsou,  sp^siv  tov  Xo^'ov  fAsvovra  sv  savTu. 
Their  faith  (as  in  Paul)  was  such  a  direc- 
tion and  acting  of  the  disposition,  by  which 
a  man  surrendered  himself  wholly  to  him 
whom  he  acknowledged  as  his  Redeemer, 
and  entered  into  communion  with  him.  By 
this  faith,  entrance  is  made  into  commu- 
nion with  the  Redeemer  and  a  participation 
obtained  in  his  divine  life.  Whoever  be- 
lieves on  him  has  everlasting  life,  has  passed 
over  from  death  unto  life,  is  regenerated  by 
the  Divine  Spirit,  by  whom,  instead  of  the 
former  predominant  principle  of  sin,  his 
mind  is  now  controlled,  he  is  awakened  to 
a  divine  life  and  has  become  a  child  of 
God.  Hence  his  life  is  now  developed  ac- 
cording to  a  new  form  and  a  new  law. 

What  John  as.serts  respecting  the  relation 
of  Christ's  precepts  to  faith,  reminds  of  the 
Pauline  view  of  the  relation  of  the  law  to 
faith.  He  speaks,  it  is  true,of  the  commands 
of  the  Lord  in  the  plural  number,  hut  they 
are  all  traced  back  to  that  one  which  is  the 
characteristic  of  the  xivtj  Jia5>]xr),  the  com- 
mand of  brotherly  love  ;  and  the  novelty  of 
this  command  compared  with  the  commands 


the  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  From  that  era, 
the  divine  life  resulting  from  the  participation  of 
the  Divine  Spirit  which  believers  received  stream- 
ed  forth  on  mankind,  and  subsequent  history  fur- 
nishes the  correct  interpretation  of  these  words  of 
Christ,  and  verifies  their  truth.  John,  therefore, 
gives  an  historical  commentary  rather  than  a 
verbal  e.vplanation. 


Chap.  IV.] 


FAITH  OVERCOMING  THE  WORLD. 


315 


of  the  old  law,  is  shown  in  its  enjoining  on 
believecs  to  love  as  Christ  loved,  as  he  gave 
his  life  for  the  salvation  of  men,   to  exer- 
cise  a   self-sacrificing  brotherly  love  ac- 
cording to  his  example.     From  this  pecu- 
liarity, it  is  evident   that  such  commands 
cannot  be  intended  as  are  prescribed  from 
without,  in  addition  to  believing,  but  only 
those  which  are  spontaneously  developed 
from  the  divine  life,  which  accompany  faith, 
as  obligations  necessarily  involved  in  it,  re- 
quirements of  the  law  of  tbe  inward  life, 
so  many  distinct  traits  in  which  the  image 
of  the  life  of  Christ  exhibits  itself  to  be- 
lievers.    This  new  command  presupposes 
faith  in  the  redeeming  self-sacrificing  love 
of  Christ,  and  from  the  knowledge  of  this 
love  the  impulse  is  awakened  to  exercise 
similar  love  towards  the  brethren  ;   1  John 
iii.  16  ;  iv.  10-19.   John  says,  (1  Eph.v.  3), 
that  the  commands  of  Christ  are  not  diffi- 
cult though  they  exhibit  an  ideal  of  holi- 
ness, but  he  terms  them  so,  not  on  account 
of  their  contents,  but  on  account  of  their 
peculiar  relation  to  faith,  and  to  the  inward 
life  of  believers  ;  because  these  commands 
do  not  as  a  dead  letter  oppose  the  principle 
of  sin  which  rules  in  the  hearts  of  men, 
but  presuppose  the  vitalizing  spirit  of  love 
which    developes    itself   from    faith,    since 
both    the    inward   impulse  and  the  power 
to   fulfil   them,   proceed   from  communion 
with  the  Redeemer,  the  new  divine  princi- 
ple  of   life.     John   himself  adduces  as  a 
proof  that  these  commands  are  not  difficult, 
this  fact,  that  what  is  born  of  God  receives 
power   to  overcome   all  ungodliness,   that 
faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God  has  the 
power  of  overcoming  the  world,  1  John  v. 
4 ;  even  as  Paul  declares  that  a  man  with 
this  faith  is  already  practically  dead  to  the 
world.     Christ,  in  the  gospel  of  John  (xvi. 
33),  requires  those  who  believe  on  him  to 
confide  in  his  having  overcome  the  world 
(the  whole  power  of  evil)— to  be  assured 
that  through  him  it  had  been  brought  to 
nothincr;  believers,  accordingly,  by  virtue 
of  theu-  fellowship  with  him,  share  in  this 
victory,  thev  need  no  longer  to  dread  the 
power  of  that  enemy,  and  hence  John  could 
term    faith    itself  ''the   victory  that  over- 
Cometh  the  icorhir     But  whoever  kept  not 
Christ's  commands  proved  by  his  conduct 
that  he  was  destitute  of  that  divine  life  and 
communion  with  Christ,  and  therefore  could 
not  in  a  true  sense  believe  on  him.     Who- 


ever  lived  in  sin  and  pretended  to  believe 
in  Christ  and  to  know  him,  was  in  fact  very 
far  from  knowing  him  or  believing  on  him. 
According  to  John's  conceptions,  it  was 
impossible  to  separate  cither  faith  or  know- 
ledge from  the  life.  Wlioever  knew  Christ 
could  know  Him  only  as  the  Holy  One 
had  appeared  to  destroy  the  kingdom 


of  evil  among  mankind  and  to  lake  away 
sin.  And  whoever  had  known  him  and  be- 
lieved  in  him  as  such,  whoever  had  received 
the  image  of  such  a  Christ  into  his  inward 
life,  could  no  longer  live  in  the  service  of 
sin. 

Very  different  from  this  faith  in  the  real 
historical  Christ,  was  the  superstitious  be- 
lief in  that  phantom  which  men  formed  of 
a   Messiah  in  conformity  with  their  own 
evil  inclinations.    An  example  of  the  latter 
kind  of  laith  is  mentioned  by  John  in  his  gos- 
pel, ii.  23,  where  he  says  that  many  believed 
in  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  on  account  of  the 
miracles  which  they  saw  him  perform.   But 
since  they  were  not  actuated  by  the  feeling 
of  a  higher  necessity,  nor  sought  and  saw 
in  Him'  a   Saviour'from    sin— since  they 
were  not  susceptible  of  the   spiritual   im- 
pression of  the  divine,  but  were  only  affect- 
ed by  an  impression  on   the   senses,  only 
such  an  image  of  the  Messiah  could   be 
formed  in  their  minds  as  corresponded  to 
desires  that  were  composed  of  carnal  ele- 
ments.    Hence  their  faith,  or  rather  their 
superstition,  when  its  carnal  expectations 
were  disappointed,  was  soon  succeeded  by 
unbelief.     Hence  Christ  would  not  surren- 
der  himself  to  the  enthusiasm  with  which 
they  professed  attachment  to  him,  for  by 
his' penetrating  glance  into  the  secret  state 
of  their  hearts,   he  knew  that   they  were 
still  far  from  that  fliith  which  would  be  ca- 
pable of  fellowship  with  himself    To  such 
a  faith,  which  would  require  to  be  purified 
from  the  alloy  of  the  sensual  element,  by 
awakening  the  slumbering  religious  senti- 
ment through  intercourse  with  the  Redeem- 
er  Christ  referred  when  he  said  to  the  mul- 
titude who   professed    to   believe   on    him, 
^viii  31),  "  If  they  now  really  received  into 
their  hearts  and  appropriated  that  word  to 
which  they  had  given  hitherto  only  a  super- 
ficial acceptance,  they  would  thus  become 
truly  his  disciples-they  would  know  the 
truth  in  their  inward  life,  and  by  Its  power 
pervading  their  whole  l)eing,  would  be  pro- 
gressively freed  from  every  thing  by  which 


316 


CHRISTIAN  PERFECTION. 


[Book  VI. 


their  higher  nature,  the  religious  sentiment 
implanted  in  their  constitution,  had  been 
held  in  bondage."* 

Though  John  contrasts  the  children  of 
God,  those  who  are  born  of  God,  with 
those 'who  belong  to  the  world,  to  the  evil 
spirit,  the  children  of  the  StafBoXog,  but  only 
in  general  terms  without  any  gradations; 
yet  in  the  idea  of  the  former,  he  by  ,no 
means  supposes  an  equally  definite  and 
complete  manifestation  in  every  individual, 
and  is  far  from  excluding  various  degrees 
of  developement.  He  says,  as  we  have 
already  noticed,  that  faith  involves  victory 
over  the  world,  and  that  whoever  believes 
in  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God,  by  the  power 
of  this  belief  overcomes  the  world.  By 
virtue  of  the  divine  principle  of  life,  temp- 
tation to  sin  can  find  in  the  believer  no 
point  of  connexion,  and  every  thing  which 
assails  him  from  without,  can  only  con- 
tribute to  promote  the  developement  of  the 
divine  life  in  him,  and  the  victory  of  the 
cause  of  Christ,  which  by  its  nature  is  all- 
conquering  and  tending  to  perfection,  1 
John  iv.  4.  Whoever  is  born  of  God, 
sinneth  not,  but  preserves  himself  from  all 
the  allurements  to  sin,  and  the  evil  one 
toucheth  him  not,  (evil  can  find  in  him  no 
point  of  connexion,  1  John  v.  18).  Be- 
cause he  is  born  of  God,  it  is  impossible 
for  him  to  sin  ;  since  the  seed  of  the  divine 
life  dwells  within  him,  from  which  nothing 
evil  but  only  good  can  proceed ;  1  John 
iii.  9.  But  from  this  description  we  are 
not  to  conclude  that  the  idea  and  its  mani- 
festation perfectly  correspond,  and  that  it  is 
intended  to  exhibit  the  Christian  as  sinless. 
John  presupposes  the  contrary,  since  even 
in  Christianity  he  still  admits  the  need  of 
forgiveness,  and  of  progressive  purification 

*  In  this  passagfe,  the  idea  of  freedom  is  pre- 
sented under  a  different  aspect  from  wiiat  we  find 
in  Paul's  writings,  not  in  contrariety  to  legal  bon- 
dage, but  to  a  political  semblance  of  freedom. 
True  freedom,  Christ  says,  is  inward,  proceeding 
from  redemption.  Till  man  longs  after  this,  he 
is  still  in  slavery,  though  enjoying  complete  out- 
ward independence,  since  he  does  not  freely  regu- 
late himself  according  to  the  law  of  his  original 
and  true  nature,  but  is  controlled  by  a  foreign 
principle,  by  which  this  his  original  and  true  na- 
ture  is  oppressed.  But  it  will  easily  be  seen,  that 
the  same  general  idea  of  the  contrariety  between 
freedom  and  slavery  lies  at  tlie  basis,  as  in  Paul, 
and  the  threefold  standing-point  in  the  moral 
developement  of  man  may  be  readily  deduced 
from  it. 


from  sin.  "  If  we  confess  our  sins" — is 
his  language, — that  is,  are  penetrated  by  u 
consciousness  of  the  sin  that  still  cleaves 
to  us,  and  are  filled  with  a  feeling  of  peni- 
tence,— "  God  is  faithful  and  just*  to  for- 
give our  sins  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all 
sin,"  1  John  i.  9.  We  must,  therefore, 
take  the  following  view  of  John's  doctrine  ; 
though  the  Christian  as  such  in  reference 
to  his  life  founded  on  communion  with 
Christ,  though  his  divine  indwelling  life 
cannot  itself  be  affected  by  sin,  yet  as  it  is 
engrafted  on  a  sinful  nature  which  is  con- 
tinually opposed  to  it,  it  is  always  subject 
to  being  disturbed  by  its  incursions,  from 
which  it  can  only  be  preserved  by  main- 
taining a  constant  warfare.  The  divine  life, 
until  it  has  pervaded  and  appropriated  man's 
whole  nature,  which  can  never  take  place 
during  his  earthly  existence,  must  dcvelope 
itself  by  a  progressive  purification  :  To 
this  subject  relates  what  Christ  says  in  the 
metaphor  of  the  vine,  John  xv.  His  dis- 
ciples were  already  pure  through  the  word 
spoken  by  him,  inasmuch  as  they  had  re- 
ceived it  as  a  purifying  principle  into  their 
souls  ;  but  it  was  needful  for  its  purifying  to 
be  manifested  by  a  continual  purification 
of  their  whole  nature.  As  the  vine-dresser 
cuts  off  from  the  fruit-bearing  branches  of 
the  vine  all  the  useless  shoots  that  it  may 
produce  more  fruit,  so  God  purifies  the 
whole  nature  of  man  by  a  gradual  process 
which  developes  itself  from  a  life  in  com- 
munion with  Christ,  in  order  that  the  living 
sap  received  from  him  may  not  lose  its 
power  by  mixing  with  the  foreign  sap  be- 
longing to  the  wild  stock  of  the  old  nature, 
but  manifest  itself  in  continuallj'-  richer 
fruits,  the  works  of  a  genuine  Christian 
disposition.! 


*  Two  ideas  are  here  closely  connected.  Tlie 
faithfulness  of  God  consists  in  this,  that  God  in 
his  acts,  in  the  government  of  the  world,  shows 
himself  always  self-consistent ;  he  responds  to  the 
expectations  which  he  has  awakened  b}'  his  reve- 
lation in  words,  or  by  his  providence  in  general 
history,  or  by  the  operations  of  his  Spirit  in  the 
lives  of  individuals,  and  fulfils  his  promises  ;  and 
as  he  has  promised  the  forgiveness  of  sins  to  those 
who  confess  tliem,  he  bestows  that  blessing.  His 
justice  is  shown  by  his  fulfilling  the  laws  which 
he  established  for  his  own  kingdom  ;  he  gives  to 
every  one  what  belongs  to  him  according  to  these 
laws  ;  and  thus  the  forgiveness  of  sins  is  granted, 
whenever  the  condition  is  fulfilled  on  which  it  was 
promised. 

t  The  Pauline  doctrine  of  good  works  as  fruits 


Chap.  IV.] 


PAUL  AND  JOHN. 


317 


In  this  manner  we  may  easily  explain 
the  apparent  contradiction  in  John's  Inn- 
guagc,  when  he  says  that  whoever  sinnetli 
knoweth  not  Christ,  and  yet  speaks  of  the 
forgiveness  of  sins  as  needed  by  every 
Christian,  and  ready  to  be  imparted  to  him. 
The  life  of  the  believer  is  distinguislicd 
from  the  life  of  the  natural  man  by  tiiis, 
that  it  is  animated,  not  by  the  principle  of 
afAotfria  but  of  the  divine  life,  and  hence 
what  is  sinful  appears  only  as  something 
still  cleaving  to  him,  and  therefore  always 
opposed  by  him. 

Accordingly,  John  represents  these  two 
states  and  tendencies  of  life  as  totally  irre- 
concilable ;  walking  in  the  light  is 'a  life 
devoted  to  God  by  its  prevailing  tendency; 
and  to  walk  in  darkness  is  a  life  devoted 
to  sinful  inclinations,  and  proceeding  from 
a  sinful  tendency.*  We  here  may  ob- 
serve the  unity  of  John's  doctrine  with  that 


of  fiiith,  and  also  the  Pauline  doctrine  of  eharisms 
as  the  fruits  of  human  nature,  pervaded  and  puri- 
fied by  the  divine  principle  of  life,  find  here  a 
point  of  connexion. 

*  It  is  the  object  of  the  First  Epistle  of  John 
to  counterwork  the  false  confidence  in  the  forgive- 
ness  of  sins,  tlie  error  that  a  man  continuing  in 
sin  can  be  a  partaker  of  forgiveness  ;  still  a  Chris- 
tian sympathizing  love  towards  erring  brethren  is 
not  excluded.  By  tiiese  brethren,  who  have  a  claim 
on  Christian  sj'mpatliy,  he  understands  those  who, 
though  in  general  they  had  evinced  an  earnest  de- 
sire for  sanctification,  had  yielded  to  some  sudden 
temptation.  It  is  true  he  considers  all  sin  as  stand- 
ing in  contradiction  to  the  divine  life,  the  ^am  ;  but 
still  a  transient  decline  of  this  higher  life,  which 
has  already  become  predominant  over  the  sinful 
principle,  is  to  be  distinguished  from  an  absolute 
suppression  or  entire  destitution  of  it.  The  ajjos- 
tie  here  refers  to  sucii  a  momentary  decline  which 
results  from  yielding  to  temptation.  It  is  the 
Christian's  duty  to  pray  for  such  fallen  brethren, 
and  it  may  be  expected  that  God  will  revive  them 
again,  since  it  is  presupposed  that  the  persons  wlio 
are  the  objects  of  this  intercession,  liave  still  witli- 
in  them  the  germ  of  the  Christian  life,  and  are  in 
a  state  susceptible  of  such  a  divine  operation.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  John,  in  describing  the  acts  that 
proceed  from  such  a  sinful  state,  which  is  marked 
by  a  total  destitution  of  the  divine  life,  a  continued 
spiritual  death,  employs  the  phrase  uust^Ttui  7rg;c 
3-«i/*T5v.  To  such  cases  the  intercessory  prayers 
for  the  forgiveness  of  sins  could  not  relate,  since 
the  persons  in  question  did  not  belong  to  the  Ciiris- 
tian  community.  But  it  Jjy  no  means  follows  tliat 
believers  were  not  to  pray  for  their  conversion  ; 
only  they  were  not  to  consider  them  as  Christian 
brethren,  and  pray  for  them  in  that  sense  in  which 
those  who  were  conscious  of  sin  still  cleaving  to 
them,  prayed  for  one  another.  liiickc,  in  liis  ex- 
cellent commentary,  agrees  with  this  view  of  the 
subject. 


of  Paul.  As  Paul  represents  faith  in  its 
idea  and  principle,  as  an  act  by  which  a 
man  dies  lo  himself,  the  world,  and  sin — 
but  5'et,  in  the  now  life  developed  i)y  its 
practical  operation,  infers  a  continued  mor- 
tifying of  the  sinful  principle  ;  so  likewise 
in  John  wc  find  the  same  relation  exhibited 
between  being  born  of  God,  and  maintain- 
ing a  conflict  with  the  world  and  sin.  The 
distinction  which  is  founded  on  these  views 
between  the  Tjbjective  of  redemption  appre- 
hended by  faith,  and  the  progressive  sub- 
jective developement  of  the  divine  life,  leads 
to  the  Pauline  conceptions  of  ^ixaiwcfuvr)  and 
Jixaiwtfij;  John  also  contemplates  the  per- 
fectly Holy  Jesus,  objectively  as  the  inter- 
cessor with  the  Father  for  believers  who 
are  still  burdened  with  sin. 

As  according  to  John's  ideas,  the  future 
is  already  apprehended  by  faith  as  present, 
so  the  divine  life  in  the  present  is  viewed 
as  the  commencing  point  and  germ  of  a 
creation  that  embraces  eternity.  As  an 
anticipation  of  the  future  thus  exists  in  the 
present,  there  is  a  necessary  reference  to 
a  future  developement  and  consummation. 
Whoever  believes  in  the  Redeemer  (John 
declares)  hath  eternal  life — he  has  passed 
from  death  unto  life — he  can  die  no  more 
— he  can  no  more  experience  death.  The 
divine  life  which  he  has  received,  can  no 
more  be  interrupted  by  death.  During  his 
earthly  existence  there  is  the  beginning  of 
the  developement  of  this  divine  life;  it  is  a 
fountain  which  springs  U|)  to  everlasting 
life,  which  continues  to  flow  onward  till  it 
enters  the  ocean  of  eternity,  John  iv.  14. 
Believers  have  the  firm  consciousness  that 
they  are  the  children  of  God,  1  John  iii.  2, 
and  that  they  shall  attain  to  the  full  pos- 
session of  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
founded  on  this  relation  ;  but  the  full  un- 
derstanding of  what  belongs  to  the  realiza- 
tion of  this  idea  is  not  yet  granted  to  them 
— the  dignity  of  the  children  of  God  in  all 
its  extent  can  be  known  only  by  its  actual 
manifestation.  But  as  in  divine  things 
knowledge  and  life  are  inseparably  united, 
the  ])erfcct  knowledge  of  Christ  and  God 
will  accoinpany  the  perfect  formation  of 
the  life  in  their  image,  1  John  iii.  2.  The 
same  connexion  between  the  life  of  fyith 
and  of  hope  is  here  cxhibitcd'as  in  Paul's 
writings. 

P.ut  it  is  a  characteristic  of  John's  views, 
that  a   reference  to  communion  with  the 


318 


JUDGMENT  AND  SALVATION. 


[Book  VI. 


Redeemer  in  the  inward   life  and   in   the 
present  predominates  over  the  reference  to 
the  future  and  to  outward  facts;  he  dwells 
upon  the  elements   of  the   inner  life,  the 
facts  of  Christian  consciousness,  and  only 
slightly  adverts  to  outward  matters  of  fact, 
and  ecclesiastical    arrangements.     In    ac- 
cordance with   this   spirit,  he  exhibits   all 
the    particular   incidents    in    the    outward 
history  of  Christ   only  as  a   manifestation 
of  his  indwelling  glory,  by  which  this  may 
be  brought  home  to  the  heart ;  he  always 
avails  himself  of  these  narratives,  to  intro- 
duce what  the  Redeemer  declared  I'espect- 
ing  his  relation  to  mankind  as  the  source 
of  divine  life.     John  is  the  representative 
of  the  truth  which  lies  at  the  basis  of  that 
tendency  of  the  Christian  spirit,  which  sets 
itself  in  opposition  to  a  one-sided  intellec- 
tualism   and  ecclesiastical  formal ity-^and 
is  distinguished  by  the  name  of  mysticism. 
The  same  peculiarity  marks  his  repre- 
sentations of  the  judgment  and  of  the  re- 
surrection.    The  judgment  he  considers  as 
something   present,  as  a  fact    inseparable 
from  the  redemption  of  mankind  and  the 
publication  of  the  gospel.     There  follows, 
as  a  necessary  consequence,  a  separation 
between  those  who  with  susceptible  minds 
receive  the  divine,  and  those  who  exclude 
themselves  by  their  unsusceptibiiity  ;  those 
who,  with  a  sense  of  their  spiritual  neces- 
S'ities,    receive    the    offered    redemption — 
whether  a  longing  and  striving  after  the 
divine  life  had  already  developed  itself  in 
their  higher  nature — or  that  the  religious 
consciousness  was  awakened  through   in- 
tercourse with  the  Redeemer  ; — and  those 
who,  either  by   the  predominance   of  the 
sensual  element,  or  by  spiritual  pride  and 
confidence  in  a  legal  righteousness,  were 
prevented   from  attaining  a  knowledge  of 
their  need  of  redemption,  and  from   sur- 
rendering themselves  to  the  impression  of 
the  divine  in  the  appearance,  words,  and 
works  of  the  Redeemer.    .Tohn  always  con- 
siders judgment  as  the  opposite  of  salva- 
tion, durri^ia — for  the  judgment  of  a  Holy 
God  is  such  that  no  man  can  appear  be- 
fore it  as  guiltless.     The  ideas  of  the  judg- 
ment of  God  and  condemnation  must  meet 
in  their  application  to  man  estranged  from 
God  by  sin.     But  the  revelation  of  God's 
love  in  redemption  appears  as  a  deliverance 
from  the  condemnatory  judgment,  and  no- 
thing more  is  required  than  the  acceptance 


of  the  olfered  mercy  through  faith  in  the 
Redeemer.     He  who  will  not  believe  owing 
to    his    predominant   sinful    tendency,  ex- 
cludes himself  from  the  offered  salvation, 
and    the    judgment    that    he    pronounces 
against  himself  is  founded  on  the  unbelief 
which  proceeds  from  the  state  of  his  inte- 
rior  disposition  ;  .lohn  iii.  17.     God  sent 
his  Son  into  the  world  (that  is,  caused  him 
to  appear  among    the    mass   of  mankind 
hitherto  estranged  from  God) — not  to  con- 
demn the  world — (as  the  Jews  imagined 
that  he  would  pass  sentence  on  the  Gen- 
tile world),  but  that  mankind,  who  were 
under  the  dominion  of  sin  and  estranged 
from  God,  might  be  rescued  through  him 
from  impending  ruin.     Whoever  now  be- 
lieves on  him,  is  not  condemned ;  he  has 
appropriated  salvation  by  faith,  and  such 
a  one,  being  certain  of  eternal  life  in  com- 
munion with  the  Redeemer,  need  no  longer 
dread   condemnation.     But  whoever   does 
not  believe  on  him  is  already  practically 
condemned   by  his  own  unbelief.     In  this 
the  judgment  consists,  that  men  from  their 
love   of  darkness  (the  ungodlike),  on  ac- 
count of  the  sinful  tendency  of  their  life, 
are  not  willing  to  admit  the  fountain    of 
light,  (this  their  conduct  towards  the  di- 
vine as  it  proceeds  from  their  disposition, 
is  a  practical  judgment.)     As  the  gospel 
cannot  reveal  its  power  for  the  salvation 
of  men  without  this  pi'ocess  of  separation 
taking  place,  which  John  calls  judgment, 
hence    the  object    of  Christ's   appearance 
must  include  with   the   redemption   of  the 
susceptible,  their  separation  from  the  un- 
susceptible.   '■'■  For  judgme7it,''''  said  Christ, 
"  I  am  come  into   the   ivorld,    that   they 
v:ho  see  not,''''  (that  is,  those  who  see  not, 
but    are  at   the    same    time    conscious    of 
their   not  seeing),  but  are  actuated   by  a 
sense  of  their  need  of  illumination,  "  may 
ohiaiyi  their  sights''''  may  be  cured  of  their 
blindness,  in   reference   to   divine   things; 
"  but  that  they  tvho  5fe,"   who  have  the 
means  granted  them  of  knowing  the  truth, 
but  who  are  not  disposed  to  know  it,  and 
who  are  prevented  from  humbling  them- 
selves before  the  true  light  by  the  self-con- 
ceit of  their  imaginary  far-sightedness,  and 
though  they  have  eyes  to  see,  they  see  not, 
'■'•may  he  given  tip  to  their  bli?id/iess ;" 
John  ix.  39-40.*     To  such  a  moral  judg- 


*  As  in  the  instance  which  gfave  occasion  to  this 


Chap.  IV.] 


JUDGMENT  AND  SALVATION. 


319 


ment  connected  with  the  publication  of  the 
gospel  we  must  refer  what  Paul  says  of 
the  publication  of  the  gospel,  that  to  some 
it  is   the   means   of  lil'e  unto  life,  and  to 
others  the  poison  of  death  unto  death ;  2 
Cor.  ii.  16,     But  the  idea  of  this  outward 
moral  judgment,  as  well  as  the  idea  of  the 
continued  spiritual  awakening  of  mankind 
by  the  publication   of  the   gospel,   by   no 
means  excludes   a  final  judgment  and   a 
universal  resurrection ;  but  the  former  ap- 
pears as  a  symbol  and  preparative  of  the 
latter,  and  the  connexion  of  the  two  is  ex- 
hibited  in  Christ's   discourse   in  the  15th 
chapter  of  John's  Gospel.     At  first,  Christ 
speaks  of  the  power  conferred  upon  him 
as  the  Messiah  to  awaken  the  spiritually 
dead,  and  at  the  same  time  to  judge  them 
according  to  their   respective  conduct  to- 
wards the  divine  life  that  was  oflered  for 
their  acceptance.     As  the  Father  awakens 
and  calls  to  life  the  dead,  so  also  the  Son 
awakens   to  a  true  divine  life   whom    he 
will  ;*   for  the    Father   has  committed   to 
him  all  the  power  of  judgment,  that    all 
may  show  their  reverence  of  the  Father, 
by  the   manner   in   which  they  reverence 
the  Son.     He  who  honoureth  not  the  Son, 
honoureth  not  the  Father  who  sent  him.f 
"  He  who  receiveth  my  word  and  believeth 
on  him  who  sent  me,"  continued  Christ, 
corroborating  his  former  declaration,  ^'•haih 
everlasting  life,    and    cannot    come    into 
condemnation,    but    is    passed    over    from 
death   unto   life."     By   participation    in  a 
divine  life,  he  is  already  removed  beyond 
the  stroke  of  judgment,  which  can  only 
afFect  those  who  are  estranged  from  God. 
"  A  time  is  coming  and  already  is"  (inas- 
much as  Christ  by  the  power  of  his  words 
had  already  produced  such  effects),  "  when 


the  dead"  (the  spiritually  dead)  "  will  hear 
the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God"  (by  the  publi- 
cation of  the  gospel),  "  and  tho."»c  who  hear, 
shall  live  ;  fur  as  the  Father  hath  the  foun- 
tain of  life  in  himself,  he  has  also  given  to 
the  Son  to  have  life  in  himself;"  (only  be- 
cause the  original  fountain  of  divine  life  in 
the  Son  has  communicated  itself  to  man- 
kind, can  divine  life  be  imparted  to  the 
dead  through  him  ;)  and  he  hath  given 
him  authority  to  execute  judgment  also, 
because  he  is  a  Son  of  IMan."  As  man 
he  came  to  impart  divine  life  to  men  ;  and 
thus  as  man  to  administer  judgment  to 
men.  Then  Christ  passes  on  from  the 
present  to  the  future,  from  the  process  of 
developement  among  mankind,  to  the  last 
decisive  result,  and  says,  "  Marvel  not  at 
this ;  for  the  hour  is  coming  in  which  all 
who  are  in  their  graves  shall  hear  his 
voice  and  shall  come  lorth  ;  they  who  have 
done  good  to  the  resurrection  of  life,  and 
they  who  have  done  evil  to  the  resurrec- 
tion of  condemnation  ;"  John  v.  28,  29. 

It  is  owing  to  the  same  peculiarity  which 
characterizes  John  as  .the  author  of  the 
tjayrsXiov  TTveufAa^ixov,  that  in  the  last  con- 
versation of  Christ  with  his  disciples,  he 
does  not  mention  what  relates  to  his  resur- 
rection,* his  return  to  inflict  judgments  on 


•whole  discourse,  the  blind  man  was  made  to  sec 
by  the  Redeemer,  and  as  one  spiritually  blind,  who 
supposed  that  he  could  not  see,  he  was  healed  of 
his  spiritual  blindness  and  enlightened  ;  while,  on 
the  contrary,  the  deluded  Pharisees  showed  that, 
having  eyes  to  see,  they  were  blind,  since,  in  spite 
of  facts,  they  denied  the  truth. 

*  This  was  intended  to  point  out  to  the  Jews, 
that  every  thing-  depended  on  the  manner  in  which 
they  conducted  themselves  towards  him;  and  that 
the  communication  of  the  divine  life  was  not  to 
be  confined  within  the  limits  which  they  wished 
to  assign  from  their  national  theocratic  standmg- 
point. 

t  In  this  consists  the  judgment,  that  every  man 
proves  by  his  conduct  towards  the  Son  what  his 
feelings  are  towards  the  Father. 


*  If  the  view  acutely  developed  by  Kiukd  (see 
Studien  und  Kriliken,  1841,  part  3)  be  correct,  the 
subject  will  appear  in  a  different  light.  According 
to  this,  Christ  intimated  that  he  should  ascend  to 
heaven  immediately  after  his  resurrection,  and 
appear  again  on  earth  among  iiis  disciples.  The 
words  of  Christ  spoken  to  Mary,  John  x.\.  17,  re- 
late  to  his  ascension  to  heaven  immediately  after 
his  resurrection.  In  this  sense,  he  would  say  that  he 
had  not  yet  ascended  to  his  Father,  but  lliat  it  was 
in  his  intention  lo  do  sn.  He  would  then  dcscrnd 
several  times  from  heaven  and  appear  to  his  dis- 
ciples;  the  last  of  these  similar  appearances  of  the 
glorified  Christ  would  be  that  made  to  Paul.  And 
thus  what  Christ  said  in  his  last  discourses  to  his 
disciples  (as  given  by  John),  of  his  coining  to  them 
again  after  he  had  been  exalted  to  his  Father, 
would  receive  its  solution.  If,  according  to  the 
interpretation  hitherto  current,  these  words  of 
Christ  could  not  relate  to  his  bodily  reappcarnnco 
after  the  resurrection,  becau.sc  expressions  arc 
used  which  imply  that  his  exiltation  to  heaven 
had  already  taken  place,  the  difficulty  would  lhu» 
be  obviated.  But  it  is  certain  that  every  thing 
which  Christ  si'.ys  in  those  last  discourses  to  his 
disciples  about  his  reappearance,  tikrn  together, 
can  refer  only  to  one  constant  communion  between 
him  and  them,  though  maintriincd  by  a  numlKrof 
separate  acts.  An<l  how  could  those  signs  of  a 
body  subject  to  infirmities  (such  as  the  marks  of 
his  wounds  on  the  cross,  which  arc  so  particularly 


320 


JOHN'S  IDEA  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


[Book  VI. 


the  reprobate  city  of  God,  and  his  coming 
to  the  final  judgment  and  the  consumma- 
tion of  the  church,  but  only  the  promises 
of  an  inwai'd  revelation  of  his  Spirit  to  his 
disciples,  that  after  his  bodily  presence 
was  withdrawn  from  them,  and  when  they 
might  suppose  that  they  were  altogether 
separated  from  him,  he  would  reveal  him- 
self to  them  in  a  more  glorious  manner, 
and  receive  them  into  his  communion, 
never  again  to  be  separated  from  them. 
In  order  gradually  to  prepare  their  minds, 
he  begins  with  assuring  them  that  the 
Father  would  give  them,  instead  of  his 
own  ^sensible  presence  among  them,  an- 
other helper  to  abide  with  them  for  ever, — 
the  Spirit  of  truth,  who  alone  could  impart 
the  full  knowledge  of  the  truth  announced 
by  himself,  and  who  would  communicate 
himself  through  this  truth,  as  he  says 
(John  xvi.  14.)  that  his  Spirit  would  glorify 
him,  since  he  would  open  to  them  the 
meaning  of  the  doctrine  he  had  taught. 
But  since  this  Spirit  is  no  other  than  the 
divine  life  communicated  by  Christ,  the 
indwelling  of  God  in  the  hearts  of  believers 
accomplished  by  him,  he  afterwards  trans- 
fers what  he  had  said  to  them  of  the 
coming  of  this  Spirit,  to  his  own  coming 
to  them  in  spirit.  He  points  them  to  the 
great  day,  on  which  he  would  see  them 
again  in  spirit,  when  the  transient  pain  of 
separation  from  him  would  be  succeeded 
by  the  everlasting  joy  of  seeing  him  again 
and  communing  with  him  ;  when  they 
would  need  no  more  to  ask  him  questions, 
but  he  would  speak  to  them  concerning 
the  Father  openly  and  without  reserve. 
But  though  John  dwells  at  length  on  the 
spiritual  element  and  on  what  relates  to 
the  revelation  of  Christ  in  the  hearts  of 
the  disciples,  he  by  no  means  excludes  his 
bodily  resurrection  and  his  own  prediction 
of  it;  John  x.  18,  And  thus  from  this 
scheme  of  doctrine  it  cannot  be  concluded, 
that  John  had  not  learned  from  the  dis- 
courses of  Christ  the  doctrine  of  his  per- 
sonal coming  (■jrapouo'ia)  to  judgment,  and 
to  the  consummation  of  his  church.     The 


mentioned  in  John's  gospel),  agree  with  the  sup- 
position of  his  glorification  having  already  taken 
place?  A  fuller  examination  of  this  view,  for 
which  much  may  be  plausibly  urged,  and  which 
deserves  a  close  and  impartial  examination,  I 
must  reserve  for  a  new  edition  of  my  "  Life  of 
Jesus." 


contrary  rather  follows  from  what  we  have 
already  remarked  respecting  the  connexion 
in  John's  views  of  the  judgment  and  the 
resurrection  and  the  twofold  mode  of  re- 
presenting them.  And  what  J,ohn  says  in 
his  First  Epistle  of  the  signs  of  the  last 
time,  the  marks  of  an  impending  mani- 
festation of  an  opposition  to  Christianity, 
points  to  the  same  fundamental  ideas  re- 
specting the  developement  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  as  those  that  occur  in  Paul's  epis- 
tles. There  are  not  wanting  also  some 
intimations  of  an  approaching  personal 
■7ra^ov(jioL  of  Christ,  (1  John  ii.  28,  iii.  2,) 
though  the  peculiarity  of  John's  character 
is  shown  by  his  only  giving  slight  hints  on 
the  subject,  and  not,  like  Paul,  a  formal 
delineation  of  it. 

It  belongs  also  to  this  peculiar  tendency 
of  John's  mind,  that  Christ  is  not  repre- 
sented by  him  as  the  founder  of  a  church; 
even  the  idea  of  an  szxXTjrfia  is  not  distinctly 
brought  forward,  though  its  existence  is 
implied,  3  John  6.  But  what  constitutes 
the  essence  of  the  idea  of  a  church,  the 
idea  of  a  communion  of  hearts  founded  in 
faith  on  the  Redeemer,  of  the  communion 
of  believers  with  one  another  and  with  the 
Redeemer,  a  communion  of  faith  and  love, 
was  expressed  by  him  most  emphatically 
— for  this  idea  would  necessarily  proceed 
from  that  which  was  the  soul  of  his  whole 
life,  the  consciousness  of  communion  with 
the  Redeemer,  and  of  the  divine  life  re- 
ceived from  him. 

Thus  we  find  in  John's  gospel  a  refer- 
ence to  a  religious  community,  to  be  formed 
out  of  all  others  among  mankind,  which 
would  listen  to  the  voice  of  the  Redeemer, 
the  "  one  fold  under  one  Shepherd,"  a  com- 
munion which  would  be  foimded  on  the 
equal  relation  of  all  to  Christ  the  common 
head,  and  corresponds  to  the  Pauline  idea 
of  one  body  under  one  head,  John  x.  16. 
As  Christ  and  the  Father  are  one,  so  are 
believers,  since  through  hirp  they  are  one 
with  the  Father,  by  virtue  of  their  mutual 
participation  of  the  divine  life.  Thus  they 
form  a  union  to  which  no  other  in  the 
world  is  comparable,  and  the  glory  of 
Chiist  reveals  itself  among  them.  They 
constitute  before  the  eyes  of  the  world  a 
living  testimony  to  the  divine  call  and 
work  of  Christ.  The  communion  of  the 
divine  life  thus  manifested,  points  to  its  di- 
vine origin,  John  xvii.  21.     John  also  de- 


Chap.  IV.] 


THE  LAST  SUPPER. 


321 


scribes  an  inicard  community  ;  the  asscm- 
blage  of  those  who  stand  in  comnninion 
with  the  Redeemer,  and  which  embraces 
the  whole  developement  of  the  divine  life 
among  mankind — and  an  outward  commu- 
nity of  believers,  which  it  is  possible  for 
those  to  join  who  have  no  part  in  the  former. 
Thus  in  1  John  ii.  19,  he  speaks  of  those 
who  went  out  from  the  believers,  but  in 
fact  (as  far  as  it  regarded  their  princi|)les 
and  disposition)  never  belonged  to  them, 
for  had  they  really  belongoil  to  them  in 
their  inward  life,  they  would  not  afterwards 
have  renounced  their  society.  But  by  this 
outwardly  expressed  renunciation,  by  their 
opposition  to  the  community  of  believers,  it 
now  became  manifest  that  not  all  who 
were  outwardly  joined  to  that  community 
shared  in  its  essential  qualities,  and  really 
belonged  to  it.  We  find  here,  as  in  Paul's 
writings,  the  distinction  of  the  visible  and 
the  invisible  church. 

John  does  not  mention  in  his  gospel  the 
institution  of  baptism  by  Christ,  but  he 
treats  at  length  of  that  which  forms  the 
idea,  the  spiritual  element  of  baptism — for 
to  this  the  conversation  between  Christ  and 
Nicodomus  relates — that  moral  transforma- 
tion by  a  new  divine  principle  of  life,  in 
opposition  to  the  old  sinful  nature  of  man, 
without  which  no  one  can  become  a  mem- 
ber of  the  kingdom  of  God,  of  the  invisible 
church.*  And  this  also  applies  to  the 
Holy  Supper.  For  as  what  Christ  in  his 
conversation  with  Nicodemus  designated 
by  the  name  of  regeneration,  has  a  relation 
to  baptism,  so  what  he  represents  in  the 
sixth  chapter  of  John,  under  the  image  of 
"  eating  his  flesh  and  drinking  his  blood," 
bears  a  similar  relation  to  the  Supper. 
Christ  had  described  himself  as  the  true 
manna,  the  true  bread  from  heaven,  the 
bread  which  is  not  of  an  earthly  perishable 
nature^  with  only  an  earthly  power  to  re- 
cruit the  bodily  life,  but  which  is  of  divine 
origin  and  nature,  capable  of  im[)arting 
divine  life,  and  of  satisfying  the  vvants  of 
the  inner  man  for  an  eternal  duration.  lie 
describes  himself  as   havinc;   come    down 


*  The  mention  of  "  icater"  in  John  iii.  .'5,  is  only 
of  secondary  importance,  in  order,  by  referrinfr  to 
a  symbol  familiar  to  Nicodemus,  to  render  palpable 
to  his  mind  that  all-purifying  power  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  which  was  needful  for  every  man.  Hence, 
in  the  subsequent  part  of  his  discourse  Ciirist  men- 
tions only  being  "  born  of  the  Spirit.'^ 

4L 


from  heaven,  in  rclcrcnce  to  his  whole 
being,  in  order  to  impart  divine  lifr  u>  man- 
kind, so  that  every  one  can  only  bv  com- 
munion with  the' divine  fountain  of  life, 
thus  appearing  in  human  nature,  attain  to 
a  participation  of  a  divine  life.  From  stat- 
ing what  he  is  to  mankind  in  his  divine 
and  human  nature,  Christ  goes  on  to  de- 
clare what  he  will  give  to  mankind  for 
their  salvatiQn,  (corresponding  to  the  be- 
stowment  of  the  manna  which  was  sought 
for  from  him) — the  surrender  of  his  flcsli 
(his  life  belonging  to  the  sensible  world) 
for  the  salvation  of  mankind.  And  since 
his  words  were  so  misunderstood  by  the 
Jews,  as  if  he  had  spoken  of  eating  his 
flesh  in  a  literal  sense,  he  took  occasion  to 
express  what  he  had  before  said  of  himself 
as  the  bread  of  life,  in  even  stronger  terms 
under  an  image  still  more  striking,  and 
marking  the  idea  still  more  accurately  ;  ho 
represented  the  eating  of  his  flesh  and  the 
drinking  of  his  blood  as  a  necessary  means 
for  the  appropriation  of  eternal  life'.  This 
eating  of  his  flesh  and  drinking  of  his  blood 
he  considers  equivalent  to  the  /i/'c  of  men, 
by  which  the  Ibuntain  of  divine  life  itself 
enters  into  mankind,  makes  them  entirely 
its  own,  as  if  men  had  converted  into  their 
own  substance  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the 
incarnate  Logos.  He  here  speaks  of  the 
participation  of  divine  life  by  means  of  his 
appearance  in  humanity,  of  the  impartation 
of  divine  life  depending  upon  and  accom- 
plished by  the  historical  Christ,  while  ho 
guards  himself  against  being  supposed  to 
speak  of  his  body  in  a  literal  sense,  by 
giving  as  a  key  for  the  right  interpretation 
of  his  words,  "  The  spirit  givcfh  life — the 
fksh  projiteth  iiothif/gf  therefore,  he  could 
not  have  intended  to  say,  that  men  should 
make  use  of  his  flesh  as  an  object  of  sense, 
for,  like  all  flesh,  it  could  not  profit  the 
inner  man,  but  that  by  means  of  his  ap- 
pearing  in  the  flesh  in  the  sensible  world, 
they  should  appropriate  his  spirit  as  the 
life-giving  principle.  "  The  ivords  that  I 
say  imto  you,  arc  spirit  and  life  f  they 
cannot  be  rightly  understood  according  to 
their  mere  sound,  their  literal  expression, 
but  only  according  to  their  contents,  which 
are  spirit  and  life,  possessing  a  divine  vita- 
lity.*    Therefore,  the  symbol  "  eating  the 


*  Wc  cannot  agree  with  those  who  think  that 
Ciirist  has  here  given  the  interpretation  of  his  own 


322 


THE  ESSENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


[Book  VI. 


flesh  and  drinking  the  blood  of  Christ," 
relates  to  the  process  of  imbuing  the  whole 
nature  of  every  one  who  is  received  by 
faith  into  his  communion,  with  the  divine 
principle  of  life,  which,  through  him,  has 
become  a  human  principle  in  all  who  stand 
in  communion  with  him,  the  constant  hu- 
manizing of  the  divine,  in  which  continued 
appropriation  and  imbuing  the  whole  deve- 
loperaent  of  the  Christian  life  consists.  As 
regeneration,  the  commencing  point  in  the 
Christian  life,  is  represented  by  baptism,  so 
is  this,  the  sequel  of  regeneration,  the  con- 
tinual regeneration  (as  it  were)  of  man, 
the  continued  incorporation  of  mankind 
into  the  body  of  Christ,  represented  by  the 
Supper.  Thus  John  and  Paul  agree,  and 
on  this  subject  complete  each  other's  views. 
The  essence  of  Christianity,  according 
to  John,  is  comprised  in  this,  that  the  Fa- 
ther is  known  only  in  the  Son,  and  only 
through  the  Son  can  man  come  into  com- 
munion with  the  Father  ;  1  John  ii.  23  ;  2 
John  9.  But  no  one  can  be  in  communion 
with  the  Son  without  partaking  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  which  he  promised  to  renew  human 
nature  in  his  image ;  1  John  iii.  24.  Both 
John  and  Paul  place  the  essence  of  Chris- 
tian theism  in  worshipping  God  as  the  Fa- 
ther through  the  Son,  in  the  communion 
of  the  divine  life  which  he  has  established, 
or  in  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  Father  through  the  Son  dwelling  in 
mankind,  animated  by  his  spirit,  agreeably 

words,  and  that  he  wished  to  say  that,  by  his  flesh 
and  blood,  nothing  more  was  to  be  understood  than 
his  doctrine  in  reference  to  divine  life-giving  power. 
By  o-agl  and  aCifjut,  he  certainly  meant  more  than 
his  "gjf^otTct.  These  words  of  Christ  contain  only 
the  canon  of  correct  interpretation,  and  leave  the 
application  to  his  hearers. 


to  the  triad  of  the  Pauline  benediction, — 
the  love  of  God,  the  grace  of  Christ,  and 
the  communion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  (2  Cor. 
xiii.  13)  ;  and  this  is  the  basis  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity  in  the  scheme  of  Chris- 
tian knowledge.  It  has  an  essentially  prac- 
tical and  historical  significance  and  founda- 
tion ;  it  is  the  doctrine  of  God  revealed  in 
humanity,  which  teaches  men  to  recognise 
in  God  not  only  the  original  source  of  ex- 
istence, but  of  salvation  and  sanctification. 
From  this  trinity  of  revelation,  as  far  as 
the  divine  causality  images  itself  in  the 
same,  the  reflective  mind,  according  to  the 
analogy  of  its  own  being,  pursuing  this 
track,  seeks  to  elevate  itself  to  the  idea  of 
an  original  triad  in  God,  availing  itself  of 
the  intimations  which  are  contained  in 
John's  doctrine  of  the  Logos,  and  the  cog- 
nate elements  of  the  Pauline  theology. 

As,  accordingly,  James  and  Peter  mark 
the  gradual  transition  from  spiritualized 
Judaism  to  the  independent  developement 
of  Christianity,  and  as  Paul  represents  the 
independent  developement  of  Christianity 
in  opposition  to  the  Jewish  standing-point, 
so  the  reconciling  contemplative  element  of 
John  forms  the  closing-point  in  the  train- 
ing of  the  apostolic  church,  and  now  from 
the  classical  era  of  original  Christianity, 
we  must  trace  a  new  tedious  developement 
of  the  Church,  striving  towards  its  destined 
goal  through  manifold  trials,  oppositions, 
and  conflicts.  Perhaps  this  greater  process 
of  developement  is  destined  to  proceed  ac- 
cording to  the  same  laws  which  we  find 
prefigured  in  the  fundamental  forms  of  the 
apostolic  church  in  their  relation  to  one 
another,  and  in  the  order  of  their  deve- 
lopement. 


HISTOUICAL   lOEX. 


Abyssinian  Church,  50. 
Abraham,  206,  255,  256. 
Abrahamidas,  298. 

Achaia,  119,  122,  125,  128,  150,  155,  162,  171. 
Adiabene  in  Syria,  69,  70. 
Agabus,  69. 
Agrippa  II.,  115,  178. 
Albinus,  208. 

Alexanderof  Abonateichos,  73.  .  ,    mo 

Alexander  of  Ephesus,  168;  the  coppersmith,  198. 
Annanias  and  Sapphira,  28,  30,  31. 
Annanias  of  Damascus,  61,  64,  65. 
Annanias  the  High  Priest,  177. 
Ananus  the  High  Priest,  208. 
Andrew  the  Apostle,  209. 
Annaeus  Galho,  121. 
Antioch  in  Pisidia,  73. 

Antioch  in  Syria,  68,  69 ;   collection  made  there 
for  the  poor  Christians  at  Jerusalem,  69  ;  divi- 
sion   in  the   church    produced   by  the   Jewish 
Christians,  76 ;  apostolic  convention  held  there, 
76,  83. 
Aphrodite,  worshipped  at  Corinth,  120. 
Apollonius  of  Tyana,  114,  116. 
Apollos,  and  the  party  named  after  him  at  Co- 
rinth, 136,  137,  151. 
Apostles,  the,  94 ;  their  illumination  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  18,  67,  82 :  progressive,  33,  42,  54 ;  their 
diversity  and  unity,  51,  137;  their  station  in 
the  church,  32,  33,  36,  84. 
Apostolic    Convention,   78;    private    conferences 
preceding  it,  77 ;  Epistle  to  the  Gentile  Chris- 
tians, 81.  ^  , 
Aquila,  93 ;   at  Corinth,  120,  159  ;   at  Ephesus, 

125,  126;  at  Rome,  162. 
Arabia,  Paul's  residence  there,  64. 
Aratus,  quoted  by  Paul,  58,  117.  _ 
Aretas,  King  of  Arabia  Petroea,  65. 
Aristarchus,  105,  183.  ,ooi<ci3 

Artemis,  worshipped  at  Ephesus,  U9,  15». 
Artemonites,  164. 
Athens,  Paul's  visit,  114,  118. 
Athinganians,  187.  „      ,     ■  v 

Augustin,  79  ;  310,  312  (de  Mendacio). 
Augustus,  110. 
Azizus  of  Emesa,  50. 

Babylon,    Peter's    visit,   216;    name  applied   to 

Rome,  216. 

Bariesus  the  Goes,  73.                    .     ,  oo    .        i„ 

Barnabas,  36,  67,  68;  visits  Antioch,  68;  travels 


with  Paul,  72 ;  separates  from  Paul  and  take* 

Mark  with  him,  105. 
Barsabas,  81. 
Bartholomew,  66. 

Bcra;a,  visited  by  Paul  and  Silas,  112,  119. 
Balaam,  220. 

Brethren  of  Jesus,  199,  201. 
Buddhism,  186. 

Caesarea  Stratonis,  51,  55;  Paul's  arrival  on  his 
way  to  Jerusalem,   174;    imprisonment  there, 
176,  177  ;  appears  before  Agrippa,  178. 
Cagsariani,  182. 
Cicero,  110,  181. 
Caius  or  Gains,  105,  230. 
Caligula,  65. 

Candace,  Queen  of  MeroP,  50. 
Cerinthus,  186,  222,  226,  229. 
Christians;  origin  of  the  name,  68;  other  names 

previously  used  by  themselves  and  others,  6^. 
Christianity  compared  with  other  religions,  20  37, 
39  59  89,  lis,  129,  181,  185;  its  univcrsalism, 
42  56  74*  103*  163;  spread  among  the  poorer 
classes,  30,  120,  142,  207  ;  its  essence.  322. 
Christ  in  relation  to  the  founding  of  the  church, 
17;  collections  of  his  discourses,  6C,  140,  14- ; 
his  works,  67,  70;  his  person,  281 ;  in  the  three 
first  Gospels,  281 ;  in  John's  Gospel,  312  ;  his 
last  promises,  17,  319. 
1  Christ-party  at  Corinth,  138,  142. 
'  Cilicia,  Paul's  native  country,  58 ;  Paul  preaches 

the  gospel  there,  63,  71,  105,  206. 
ICleanthestheStoic,  117. 
1  Claudius,  70,  178  ;  banishes  the  Jews  from  Rome. 

I'^O 
Clemens  of  Alexandria,  his  tradition  respecting 

John,  231  ;  the  martyrdom  of  Peter,  -  4. 
Clemens  of  Rome,  on   Paul's  journey  to  Spam, 

189  ;  on  Peter's  martyrdom  at  Rome.  -14. 
Clementines,  on  the  intercourse  of  Jews  with  Gen- 

tiles  143.  144  ;  Jewish  sentiments,  IHb. 
Colossi,  the  church  there  founded  by  Epaphras, 
not  by  Paul,  106  ;  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  CoIo»- 
siansf  100.  187,  188  ;  false  teachers,  183,  18G 
Corinth  Paul's  first  visit,  119;  character  of  the 
inhabitants,  119;  style  of  Paul's  preaching. 
121  ;  hostility  of  the  Jews,  121  ;  parties  in  th- 
church  136,  149  ;  first  epistle  of  Paul  not  now 
Srant'l50;i61;  (our)  first  epistle.  151;  second 

ComeHu;,^centurion  at  C^sarea,  and  a  proselyte 


324 


HISTORICAL  INDEX. 


of  the  Gale,  51 ;    his  wonderful  conversion  to 

Christianity,  52,  54  ;  his  baptism,  56. 
Cybele,  worshipped  in  Phrygia,  185. 
Cyprus,  visited  by  Paul  and   Barnabas,  72;   by 

Barnabas  and  Mark,  105. 
Community  of  Goods,   29  ;    mistakes   respecting- 

it,  3a  i'         S 

Cyrillus  Lucaris,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  203, 

Damascus,  60,  62,  64,  65. 

Da3nioniacs,  109. 

Demetrius,  158, 

Demiurges,  186,  221. 

Derbe,  Paul's  visit,  76,  105. 

Deacons,  occasion  of  their  appointment,  34 ;  the 
seven  Hellenists,  34;  mode  of  election,  98; 
duties  of  their  office,  34,  41. 

Deaconesses,  97. 

Dionysi'us,  the  Areopagite,  118. 

Dionysius,  Bishop  of  Corinth— his  testimony  re- 
specting Peter's  death,  214,  215> 

Diotrephes,  230. 

Doeetism,  222,  226,  228. 

Domitian,  223,  225, 

Drusilla,  50. 

Ebionites,  203, 

Eleazar,  70, 

Encratitae,  166. 

Epaphras,  106,  183. 

Ephesus,  129 ;  prevalence  of  magic,  129 ;  disci, 
pies  of  John  the  Baptist,  130;  popular  tumult 
against  Paul,  158;  Paul's  Epistle  a  circular 
letter,  188;  Paul  meets  the  overseers  of  the 
church  at  Miletus,  171  ;  John's  first  Epistle 
written  there,  227  ;  the  central-point  of  his  la- 
bours, 219. 

Epicureans,  their  relation  to  Christianity,  114. " 

Erastus,  191. 

Essenes,  183,  184. 

Felix,  the  Roman  Procurator,  50,  177,  178. 
Festus,  178. 
Frumentius,  50. 


Galatia,  Paul's  visit,  106,  107;  false  teachers  in 
the  Galatian  Churches,  131 ;  Paul's  Epistle  to 
•  the  Galatians,  132,  135. 

Gamaliel,  his  character  and  relation  to  Chris- 
tianity, 41  ;  influence  on  Paul,  58. 

Gnosis,  137,  144,  184;  Judaizing  gnosticism  at 
ColossR!,  186;  the  oriental  anti-Jewish  gnosis 
at  Antioch,  69  ;  Anlinomian  gnosis,  220. 

GoetEB,  in  Samaria,  47  ;  in  Paphos,  73 :  at  Ephe- 
sus, 129. 

Gentiles,  made  acquainted  with  the  gospel  through 
the  Hellenists,  50 ;  position  in  reference  to 
Christianity,  104 ;  compared  with  the  Jews, 
244  ;  fondness  for  speculation,  247  ;  moral  cor- 
ruption, 119,  121,  129. 

Gentile  Christians,  constitution  of  their  churches, 
83;  dangers  from  the  prevailing  immorality, 
104  ;  and  philosophical  speculations,  104 ;  di- 
vision between  them  and  the  Jewish  Christians, 
128. 

Hermas,  his  views  of  Cliristianity,  164. 
Herod  Agrippa,  50,  70. 
Hymcnffius,  198. 


Jerome,  tradition  on  the  birthplace  of  Paul,  58 ; 
respecting  John,  231. 

James,  the  son  of  Alphteus,  whether  the  same  as 
James  the  brother  of  the  Lord  ?   199,  201. 

James,  the  brother  of  tiie  Lord,  address  at  the 
apostolic  convention,  78 ;  held  in  high  respect 
by  the  Jews,  202,  203 ;  his  martyrdom,  208 ;  his 
Epistle,  V.  Contents. 

James,  the  son  of  Zebedee,  70,  199. 

Jason,  113. 

Jerusalem,  the  central-point  of  Jewish  Christians, 
69  ;  famine,  69  ;  poverty  of  the  church,  30,  69  ; 
the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  279. 

Iconium,  75,  105, 

Illyria,  162. 

John,  the  Presbyter,  223. 

John,  the  Evangelist,  his  parentage,  217  ;  his  call, 
218;  his  natural  character,  218;  compared  with 
James  and  Paul,  218;  the  scene  of  his  labours, 
219  ;  his  conflict  with  false  teachers,  220;  with 
the  antinomian  gnosis,  221  ;  with  the  Judaizing 
gnosis,  221  ;  Cerinthus,  222  ;  tradition  of  his 
banishment  to  Patmos,  223 ;  whether  the  author 
of  the  Apocalypse  ?  223,225;  his  gospel,  225, 
291;  genuineness  of  chap,  xxi?  21D  ;  traditions 
respecting  his  labours,  231;  their  effects,  232; 
his  doctrines,  see  Contents, 

John,  the  Baptist,  130,  209,  218,  312  ;  his  disci- 
ples at  Ephesus,  130, 

Joppa,  54, 

Joses,  200. 

IrensBus,  on  the  gift  of  tongues,  25  ;  on  Acts,  xx. 
171  ;  his  tradition  respecting  John  and  Cerin- 
thus, 223  ;  his  account  of  the  apostolic  conven- 
tion  at  Jerusalem,  81  ;  on  the  journey  of  Paul 
and  Barnabas  to  Jerusalem,  70, 

Irvingites,  23, 

Jude,  the  brother  of  James,  the  epistle  ascribed  to 
him,  221, 

Jews,  their  synagogues  favoured  the  introduction 
of  Cliristianity,  73,  74 ;  their  views  respecting 
meat  offered  to  idols,  143;  the  predominance  of 
the  sensuous  clement  in  their  religious  life  (sign- 
seeking),  247 ;  their  self  righteousness,  247, 

Jewish  Christians,  their  conceptions  of  the  Mes- 
siah, 27  ;  their  position  relative  to  Gentile  Chris- 
tians, 68  ;  their  neglect  of  the  decisions  of  the 
apostolic  convention,  83 ;  their  observance  of 
the  Jewish  sabbath,  100;  disagreement  with 
the  Gentile  Christians  occasions  an  apostolic 
convention  at  Antioch,  126 ;  this  disagreement 
extends  to  the  churches  in  Galatia  and  Achaia, 
128;  also  at  Corinth,  136;  theosophic  and  ascetic 
tendency  among  them  at  Colossfp,  184;  oppo- 
sition of  James  to  their  errors,  203, 

Kant,  his  earnest  moral  spirit,  283, 

Laodicea,  canon  of  the  council,  186, 

Luke,  the  Physician,  a  companion  of  Paul,  108; 
(remains  at  Philippi)  110,  118,  171;  supposed 
apologetic  design  of  his  history,  72,  83,  169  ;  its 
incompleteness,  57,  64,  68,  83,  118,  169;  its 
truth,  39,  51,  171, 

Luther,  42,  59,  80,  294, 

Lydia,  108,  110. 

Lystra,  visit  to  Paul  and  Barnabas,  76 ;  Paul's 
second  visit,  105  ;  worship  of  Zeus,  75, 

Macedonia,  Paul's  journey  thither,  108,  171. 


HISTORICAL  INDEX. 


325 


Marcion,  25,  67,  70,  103,  142,  231. 

Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  30,  200,  201,  217. 

Marcus,  Peter's  son,  216. 

Mark,  the  companion  of  Paul  and  Barnabas,  72, 
82,  l'05  ;  Peter's  interpreter,  22,  216. 

Melanethon,  compared  to  tiic  author  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  295. 

Melchizedek,  298,  301. 

Messiah,  views  of  the  Jewish  Christians,  37  ;  ex- 
pectations of  the  Samaritans,  46  ;  popular  Jew- 
ish notions,  28,  121,  186. 

Miletus,  Paul's  meeting  with  the  overseers  of  the 
Ephesian  church,  171,  173. 

Monarchians,  164. 

Montanism,  25,  88, 142. 

Mysticism,  37,  142,  318. 

Narcissus,  in  Rome,  162. 

Nero,  178,  192,  196,  198,  220,  227. 

Nicodemus,  309,  321. 

Nerva,  227. 

Nicopolis,  196. 

Nicolaitans,       t   nnn 

Nicola  us,  \ 

Noah,  the  seven  precepts  named  after  him,  79. 

Ordination,  97. 

Origen,  on  the  gift  of  tong-ucs,  25  ;  on  Matthew's 

gospel  ,223 ;  on  John's  gospel,  174, 224 ;  against 

Celsus,  41. 

Papias  of  Hierapolis,  on  Matthew's  Gospel,  66  ; 
on  Peter's  residence  at  Rome,  216  ;  on  the  deatli 
of  Judas  Iscariot,  208. 
Parthia— Peter's  residence  there,  211,  212,  214. 
Paul— Parentage   and  education,   57 ;  journey  to 
Damascus,  60  ;    conversion— various  modes  of 
explaining  it,  60,  63  ;  vision  and  interview  with 
Ananias,  64  ;  journey  to  Arabia,  61 ;  flight  from 
Damascus,  64;  whether  he  acquired  his  know- 
ledge   of   Christianity    partly    from    liistorical 
documents,  66 ;  his  call  to  be  an  apostle  to  the 
Gentiles,  68;  visits  Antioch  with  Barnabas,  68; 
visits  Jerusalem  with   the  collection  from  the 
Christians  at  Antioch,  69;  visits  Cyprus  with 
Barnabas  and   Mark,  72;    Antioch  in  Pisidia, 
73;  Iconium,  75;  Lystra,  75;  Derbe,  76;  An- 
tioch in  Syria,  76 ;  journey  to  Jerusalem  with 
Barnabas,  77  ;  dispute  with  the  Jewish  Chris- 
tians,  77  ;  the  apostolic  convention,  78,  81 ;  re- 
turn to  Antioch,  82  ;  on  speaking  witli  tongues, 
88;  on  females  speaking  in  public,  93;  on  ihc 
observance  of  certain  days,    99  ;    second  mis- 
sionary  journey,  104;  separation  from  Barna- 
bas and  Mark,  105  ;  visits  Lystra,  105  ;  Phrygia, 
106;  Galatia,  106;  bodily  sufFcrings,  107;  spi- 
ritual strength,  107;  Troas  and  Phihppi,  108; 
Pythoness,  108;  imprisonment  at  Pinhppi  and 
miraculous    release,    110;    Thessalonica     110; 
tent-making.  111 ;  the  second  coming  of  Christ 
111;  BeriEa,  113;  Athcns,114;  Epicurean  and 
Stoic  Philosophers,  114;  discourse  on  the  i\rco. 
pao-us,   the   altar  to   the   unknown   God,   lib; 
Timothy's  return  from  Macedonia,  118;  sent  to 
Thessalonica,  119;   Paul  at  Corinth,  119;  the 
Jew  Anuila,  120;  Paul's  preaching    12    ;  per. 
secution    by  the   Jews,  122;    the    churches    in 
Achaia,  122  ;  First  Epistle  to  the  Tiiessalonuns, 
122  ;  Second  Epistle  to  the  Thessalomans,  l--.i ; 
journey  to  Antioch  and  Jerusalem,  U.) ;  oller- 


ing  in  the  temple,  125;  renewal  of  the  contro- 
versy between  tlie  Jewish  and  Gentile  converts, 
126;    Paul   visits   Phrygia  and    Galatia,    128; 
Ephesus,  129  ;  GoPta>,  12)  ;  Disciples  of  John 
the  Baptist,  130;  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  132, 
I'M;  disorders  in  the   church  at  Corinth,  135;         ^ 
Paul  on  eating  meat  offered  to  idols,  143,  152; 
on  the  married  and  single  life,  145,  146,  153; 
on  litigation,  146;  abuse  of  the  Lord's  Supjwr 
and   Agapa;,    147  ;   on    the    Kesurrcction,   147, 
149  ;  on  party-spirit,  151 ;  on  slaves  and  slavery, 
153 ;  time  of  writing  (our)  First  Episilc  to  the 
Corinthians,^  154;    intention  of  visiting  Rome, 
155;    popular    tumult  at  Ephesus,   158;    Paul 
meets  Titus  in  Macedonia,  IGO;  Second  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians,  161  ;  in  Macedonia,  Illyria, 
and  Achaia,  162;  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  1G5; 
meeting  at  Miletus,  171;  Paul's  address.  172; 
arrival  at  Cssarea  Stratonis,  174  ;    his  Naza- 
rite's  vow,   176;  popular  tumult,  HG;  brought 
before   the  Sanhedrim,    177;  left  in  prison  by 
Felix  for  two  years,  177;  speech  before  Agrip- 
pa,    178;    removed    to   Rome,    179;    interview 
with  the  Jews,  179;  receives  an  account  of  the 
churches  in  Lesser  Asia  from  Epaphras,  183  ; 
Epistle  to  Philemon,  183  (note) ;  false  teachers 
at  Colossfe,  183  ;  circular  letter  to  the  churches 
in  I;csser  Asia,  usually  styled  the  Epistle  to  the 
Ephesians,  188  ;  Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  189  ; 
whether    Paul  was  released   from  his  confine- 
ment  at  Rome,  189;  whether  he  visited  Spain, 
190;  proofs  of  his  having  been  released,  191, 
192  ■  travels  in  Lesser  Asia,  Crete,  Spain,  195  ; 
Epistles  to  Timothy  and  Titus,  195,  196  ;  anti- 
cipations  of  his  death,  197;  martyrdom,  198. 
Peter— discourse  at  the  Pentecost,  26 ;  address  to 
Ananias  and  Sapphira,  30,  31 ;  address  to  the 
people  on  the  cure  of  the  lame  man,  38,  39  ; 
address  to  the  Sanhedrim,  39  ;  second  address, 
40  •  visits  Samaria  with  John,  49  ;  address  to 
Simon  the  Goes,  49  ;  at  Lydda  and  Joppa,  54 ; 
the   vision    at   Joppa,  54;   meets   Cornelius  at 
Cffisarea,  55,  56  ;  address  at  the  apostolic  con- 
vention,  78;    Peter   at   Antioch,  reproved    by 
Paul    127 ;  Peter's  parentage,  209  ;  his  natural 
character,  209  ;  conversion,  209  ;  confession  of 
Christ,  210  ;  his  power  of  performing  miraeu- 
lous  cures,  38;  his  labours  in  the  latter  part  of 
his  life  211  ;  first  epistle,  212  ;  spuriousness  of 
the   second  epistle,  213;   traditions  respecting 
his  visit  to  Rome,  214,  215  ;  martyrdom,  216. 
Pharaoh,  his  being  hardened  an  example  to  the 

Jewish  nation,  288. 
Pharisees,  at  first  not  hostile  to  the  Christians,  38; 
influenced  by  their  common  opposition  to  the 
Sadducccs,  40 ;  their  rage  excited  by  Stephen 
45-;  opposition  to  Christianity,  .59  ;  mixture  of 
Pharisaic  Judaism  with  Christianity,  lf^3  ;  their 
legal  righteousness,  23.5. 
Philemon,   overseer   of  the   Church    at   (  olossa-, 

Philip',  tlic  evangelist,  in  Samaria,  47;  his  daugh- 
ters'prophetesses,  94  (note). 

Philo  (quotations  from  his  works),  4<,  111,  1-U, 
136  186  222. 

Phoel,;,   de'aooncss   of  the   Church   at  Cenchrca, 

bearer  of  Paul's  Epistle  to  llie  Romans,  1 1.2.  "• 

Polycarp,  219,  22.3. 

Polycratcs,  Bisiiop  of  Ephesus,  219. 

Presbyters  first  notice  of  them,  32;  probable  on- 


326 


HISTORICAL  INDEX. 


gin,  35  ;  relation  to  ivtrKOTroi,  92 ;  to  SiJetTiutKot, 
36  ;  to  the  deacons,  34. 
Proselytes  of  the  Gate,  52,  54,  73,  74,  80,  108, 
110. 

Rofne,  banishment  of  the  Jews  from  there,  120 ; 
Christian  Church,  the  majority  Gentiles,  181 ; 
Judaizing  party,  182  ;  Paul's  confinement,  180; 
his  labours  during  that  period,  180;  whether 
Peter  visited  Rome?  215,  216;  Rome  called 
Babylon,  216 ;  second  imprisonment  of  Paul 
there,  196;  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  165,  169; 
genuineness  of  the  last  chapter,  1 62  (note). 

Sadducees,  their  disposition  towards  the  Chris- 
tians, 40,  147,  148. 

Sergius  Paulus,  73. 

Sic'arii,  172. 

Silas  (Silvanus),  companion  of  Paul  and  Barnabas, 
81,  105,  109,  110,113,118,212. 

Simon  Magus,  the  Goes,  47  ;  his  baptism,  48  ;  his 
impious  conduct  in  reference  to  the  gifts  of  the 
Spirit,  49  ;  Peter's  rebuke,  49 ;  Simon's  subse- 
quent conduct,  49,  50 ;  the  sect  called  after  him 
Simonians,  50. 

St.  Simonianism,  29  (note). 

Stephanas,  98,  102. 


Stephen,  his  Hellenistic  education,  41  ;  Paul's 
forerunner  42 ;  his  character  44;  his  accusation 
and  defence,  43,  45 ;  his  martyrdom,  45 ;  its 
consequences,  46. 

Stoics,  their  relation  to  Christianity,  114. 

Tertullian,  on  the  gift  of  tongues,  25 ;  on  Acts 
xi.  70 ;  on  the  Christian  assemblies,  87 ;  on 
fasts,  108;  on  persons  inspired  by  the  Pythian 
Apollo,  108;  on  the  martyrs,  109  ;  on  substitu- 
tionary baptism,  102  ;  on  Peter's  crucifixion, 
214  {note) ;  on  John's  banishment,  223. 

Timothy,  his  conversion,  106  ;  joins  Paul  and  Si. 
las  at  Lystra,  106;  is  circumcised  106;  left  at 
Thessalonica,  113;  his  return  from  Macedonia 
(uncertain),  115;  return  from  Thessalonica, 
118;  sent  to  Macedonia  and  returns,  155; 
Paul's  second  epistle  to  him,  190  ;  question  re- 
specting the  genuineness  of  the  first,  193 ;  im. 
prison  ment  at  Rome  and  release  probably  after 
Paul's  martyrdom,  198. 

Titus,  of  Greek  descent,  77 ;  sent  to  Corinth  by 
Paul,  157;  meets  Paul  in  Macedonia,  160; 
bearer  of  the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
161 ;  in  Crete,  195;  Paul's  Epistle  to  him,  195. 

Trophimus,  191. 

Tychicus,  188. 

Tyrannus,  129. 


INDEX  OF  TEXTS  QUOTED  OR  EXPLAINED. 


OLD     TESTAMENT. 


GENESIS. 

NUMBERS. 

PSALMS. 

Ch.  xii. 
xviii. 
xxii. 

3 

18 
18 

39 

-      39 

39 

Ch.  vi.        - 

DEUTERONOMY. 

176 

Ch.  xviii.    5,  6 
cxviii.  22 

26 
-      40 

Ch.  xii, 
xix. 

EXODUS. 

2 
1 

-      19 
19 

Ch.  iv.  19 
xviii.  15,  18 
XXX.  12         - 

185 
39 
257 

ISAIAH. 
Ch.  xi.    2 

25 

NEW    TESTAMENT. 


MATTHEW. 


Ch.  i.  25 
iii.  14 
iv.  22 

V.  17 
ix.  13 

X.  10 


Xll. 

•  xiii. 

XV. 

xvi. 
xvii. 
xvii. 

xix. 

xix. 

xix. 

XX. 

xxi. 

xxiv. 

xxvii. 

xxviii. 


55   - 
17 

16    - 
10 

20   - 
8 
11,12 
14 

28   - 
42 

36    . 
56 


LUKE — CONTINUED. 


MARK. 


Ch.  i.  20 
iii.  31 
V.  22 
vi.  3 
XV.  40 
xvi.    1 


Ch.  iv.  20 
V.  32 
vii.    3 
viii. 


200 

.    229 

218 

-  305 
248 

.  Ill 
200 

.  200 
145 

-  210 
249 

.  90 
244 

-  146 
249 

-  255 

39 

.    Ill 

199,217 

.    199 


217 

.    200 

35 

-  200 
199,217 

-  217 


Ch.viii.    3 
viii.  41,  40 

ix.  51 

xvii.  16  - 

xviii.  15 

xviii.  22  - 

XX.    2 

xxi.  15  - 


JOHN. 


LUKE. 


34 
248 

35 
200 


Ch, 


i.    4,5 

i.  12    - 

i.  37 
ii.  11    - 
ii.23 
iii.    5    - 
iii.  21 
iv.    6    - 
iv.  14 
iv.  22    - 

V.26 

V.  28,  29 
vi.  44,  45 
vi.  51    - 
vi.  50,  58 
vi.  63   - 
vi.  68 
vii.    5    - 
vii.  29,  38 
vii.  39   - 
viii.  31 
viii.  44  - 
viii.  47 

ix.  39,  40 


30 

35 

18 

265 

249 

248 

39 

24 


JOHN — CO.NTINUED. 


308 

_ 

309 

218 

312 

313 

315 

3-21 

56,  311  1 

218 
314 

72 
312 

319 

31*0 

,312 

313 
321 
321 
313 

202 
314 

312 
315 

308 

310 
318 

Ch.  X.  16 

.    320 

X.  18       - 

320 

xii.  31 

-    249 

xii.  32       - 

314 

xii.  40 

.    310 

xiii.  31       • 

313 

xiii.  32 

-    311 

xvi.  11       - 

249 

xvi.  13 

.      42 

xvi.  14 

320 

xvi.  33 

.    315 

xvii.  19 

313 

xviii.  37 

.    310 

xix.  25       - 

.  199,217 

XX.  17 

.    319 

XX.  30,  31 

225 

xxi. 

210,213 

ACTS 

Ch.  i.  13 

.  200,  202 

i.  14 

-    200 

i.26 

19 

ii.    1 

.      18 

ii.    2,6    - 

20 

ii.    7,11 

-     21 

ii.    8 

23 

ii.  12 

.    123 

ii.  14,  15 

19 

ii.  24 

-      26 

ii.  42 

29 

iii. 

.      38 

iv.  7,  11,16 

39 

-      32 

v.    2 

33 

v.    4  - 

.      30 

328 


INDEX  OF  QUOTATIONS 


ACTS— CONTINUED. 

ROMANS. 

ROMANS- 

CONTINUED. 

CJi.  V.  32    - 

-      40 

Ch.  i.  12     - 

.      84 

Ch.  xi.  18  - 

-    278 

vi.     1 

33 

i.  13,  14     - 

163 

xi.  20 

289 

vi.    2    . 

-      33 

i.  16    - 

-   72,  105,  114 

xi.  32   - 

247,  287,  294 

vi.    3 

34 

i.l8 

245 

xii. 

90 

ix.    7    - 

-      63 

1.20    - 

-     241 

xii.    1     - 

84,  260 

ix.19,23    - 

64 

i.28 

241 

xii.    3 

263 

ix.27    - 

-    201 

i.  32    -- 

-    239 

xii.    7    - 

90,  91 

X.    3 

53 

ii.    1 

241 

xii.    8 

95 

X.  11     - 

-      54 

ii.    4    - 

-    213 

xiii.    7   - 

-    272 

x.30,37    - 

53 

ii.    9 

105 

xiii.  11 

255 

X.  46    - 

22,23 

ii.  14,  16 

-    239 

xiv.    1    - 

-    263 

xi.  17 

56 

iii.    8 

204 

xiv.  1-6 

99 

xi.  20    - 

-      50 

iii.  21     - 

-    258 

xiv.    2    - 

-    263 

xi.  22 

67 

iii.  23 

244 

xiv.    2,3,21 

166 

xi.  30    - 

32,34 

iii.  24     - 

-    253 

xiv.  15,  23, 

-    264 

xli.  12 

30 

iii.  25 

-  118,  254 

xiv.  17 

-145,264 

xiii.    9    - 

-      57 

iii.  28     - 

-    213 

XV.    7    - 

-    168 

xiii.  15 

-      35,  36 

iv.  15 

245 

XV.  15 

165 

xiii.  42    - 

-      74 

iv.  19     - 

-    256 

XV.  17    - 

-    169 

xiv.  11 

22 

iv.  22 

256 

XV.  19 

162 

xiv.  13,  14 

-      75 

V.    3     - 

-    262 

XV.  20    - 

-    105 

xiv.  17 

241 

V.    4 

267 

XV.  24,  28    - 

155 

xiv.  23    - 

91,  122 

V.    5     - 

-    265 

XV.  31,  32 

-    170 

XV.  10 

245 

V.    7 

234 

xvi.    1 

-      91,97 

XV.  12,  22 

-      78 

V.    8     - 

-    252 

xvi.    3    - 

120, 126 

XV.  21,  79    - 

305 

V.    9 

255 

xvi.    4 

159 

XV.  23    - 

-      81 

V.  10     - 

-        252, 253 

xvi.    7    - 

-    200 

XV.  25 

68 

V.  12 

239 

xvi.  17, 19     - 

162 

XV.  27,  29 

81,  82 

V.  13,  14 

162, 259,  254 

xvi.  23,  - 

-  96,  105,  142 

xvi.    1 

105 

V.  18,  19     - 

-  249,  250 

xvi.  10,  13 

-    108 

V.  19,  21 

-    263 

xvii.  14 

113 

V.  20 

244 

1  CORINTHIANS. 

xvii.  22    - 

-    115 

vi.    1     - 

-    204 

xvii.  30 

254 

vi.    2,6      . 

261 

Ch.  i.  12 

-  135,  138 

xviii.    5    - 

-    118 

vi.    4    - 

-    275 

i.  14    - 

-    105 

iviii.    8,  18    - 

-      35,  62 

vi.    5,8-11 

244 

i.  16 

121 

xviii.  18,  22 

-    125 

vi.    6    - 

-    236 

i.  2-18 

-    151 

xviii.  23 

151 

vi.    11,  13  - 

262 

i.  23 

-  114,247 

xix.    1    - 

130,  150 

vi.  16    - 

-    251 

i.  26    - 

-    121 

xix.    6 

-      22,  36 

vii.    4 

258 

ii.  11 

143 

xix.  22  - 

155,  191 

vii.    5    - 

-    236 

ii.  14   - 

236,  267 

xix.  33 

198 

vii.    9 

238 

iii.  9,  10     - 

85 

XX.    3   - 

-     114 

vii.  10,  11 

-    242 

iii.  11    - 

-    273 

XX.    4 

105 

vii.  12 

236 

iii.  11,  15    - 

152 

XX.    7   - 

-     100 

vii.  13    - 

-    244 

iii.  12    - 

-    137 

XX.  19 

-  158,  270 

vii.  15 

262 

iii.  16,  17    - 

-  137,152 

XX.  17,28 

-      92 

viii.    2    - 

-    258 

iii.  18   - 

114,  247 

XX.  23 

194 

viii.    3 

249 

iii.  21 

151 

XX.  25,  31 

-     171 

viii.    5    - 

-    235 

iii.  22   - 

-    263 

XX.  34,  35    - 

-  111,173 

viii.  11 

262 

iv.    7 

270 

XX.  37,  38 

-    174 

viii.  15    - 

-    260 

iv.    8-19 

-    156 

xxi.  19 

169 

viii.  16 

265 

iv.  17 

155 

xxi.20    - 

-    225 

viii.  18    - 

-    213 

iv.20    - 

147,  279 

xxi.  21 

306 

viii.  19,23    - 

290 

V.    3,5      . 

93 

xxi.  23   - 

-    175 

viii.  23    . 

255,  266 

V.    7    - 

-    100 

xxi.  25 

152 

viii.  24 

-  267,  269 

V.    9,11     - 

-  143, 151 

xxi.  27   - 

-    176 

viii.  26    - 

-    267 

vi. 

-      91 

xxi.  39 

58 

viii.  28 

289 

vi.    5 

93 

xxii.    2   - 

.      24 

viii.  31,  32 

.    262 

vi.    7    - 

-    156 

xxii.    3 

58 

viii.  32 

252 

vi.    9 

-  143,274 

xxii.  17   - 

-      62 

ix. 

286,  289 

vi.  11    - 

121,  276 

xxiii.    5, 9,     - 

177 

ix.    4 

245 

vi.  12 

144,  153,  263 

xxiii.  14  - 

-     125 

ix.    8    - 

-    257 

vi.  14    - 

-    290 

xxiv.  11 

176 

X.    3 

246 

vii.  14 

103 

xxiv.  17    - 

-    170 

X.    5   - 

-    258 

vii.  18,  20 

-    175 

XXV.  19 

115 

xi.  12 

72 

vii.  21 

-  154,  263 

xxvi.  28    - 

-    179 

xi.l3   . 

72,  163 

vii.  22    - 

-    260 

xxviii.  30 

180 

xi.17,18    - 

165 

vii.  30 

153 

FROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 


329 


1  COR. — CONTINUED. 


Ch.  vii.  40  ~ 
viii.    2 
viii.    7 


Vlll. 

viii. 
ix. 


8,12  - 

1- 

1-19   - 

5 

6 
14,  15 
21 

16,'l8  - 
23,  24,  31 
28,  29  - 
12. 
5 

23 
24        - 


9,10. 
11 
13 
26 
28 
29 

2 
,    4,5 
,    9,12 
14 
20 

22,24 
25 

,  30,  31 
34 

7 

8 
17 
19 

27,28 
30 
31 

32,35 
45 
55,58 

'.  2 
.  7 
,  8 
.10 
.13 
.15 
.20 
.26 


146 

-  268 
143 

.    145 

265 
62,  142 

2G4 
146,  200 

105 
111,265 

259 
156,  277 

111 

-  264 
141 

-  150 

93 

-  66 
24 

S4,  275 
150 

-  274 
-      86, 90 

-  85 
101,  276,  278 

-  276 
35,  90,  95 

-  277 
89,90 

-  272 
268 

-  87 
249,271 

-  86 
87 

-  89 
93 

201,202 
63 

-  251 
102 

-  294 
154 

-  159 
143, 148 

-  240 
240 

.  91 
99 

-  149 
154 

-  155 
271 
121 

96 
95 


2   COR. CONTINUED. 


101 


CORINTHIANS. 


Ch.  i.    1 


12,13 
16,22 
22 
4    - 
5-10 
12    - 


122 

-  159 
161,271 

.  162 
266 

.  156 
160 

-  156 


Cii.  ii.  16 
iii.    6    - 
iv.    9 
V.    4    - 
V.  6-8 
V.    7    - 
V.  10 
V.  12    - 
V.  13 
V.  16    - 
V.  16,  20 
V.  21    - 
.      vi.    9 

vii.    2    - 

vii.    5 

vii.    9,  12 

vii.  14 

viii. 

viii.    6 

viii.  13    - 

viii.  18 

viii.  19    - 
ix.  12, 15 
X.    7    - 
X.  10 
X.  16   - 
X.  14,  16 
xi.    4    - 
xi.    5 
xi.    6    - 
xi.    8 
xi.    9    - 
xi.  22 
xi.  26,  27 
xi.  29 
xi.  .30    - 
xii.    2 
xii.    7    - 
xii.  12 
xii.  21    - 

xiii.    4 

xiii.  13   - 

xiv.  16 


319 

-  258 
159 

-  239 
293 

-  269 
305 

-  141 
162 

59,  142 
142,252,274 

-  250' 
159 

-  128 
159 

-  156 
157 

-  160 
157 

-  29 
161 

-  98 
170 

139, 141 
161 

-  105 
162 

-  141 
213 

-  137 
141 

-  123 

58 

-  125 
131 

-  64 
.      62,  63 

107, 159 
121 

-  149 
-    59,251 

.    322 
291 


GALATIANS. 


Ch. 


1  - 

,    6 
10    - 

12,  26 
,19     - 

21 

2  - 
5 

9     - 
,10 

12    - 

18 

,19     - 
,20 

30    - 

10,21 

13,  14 
15,  10 
19  - 
26,28 
27     - 


.      62 
128 

-  132 
62,  63 
.   200 

81 
.      71 

77 

.    219 

135 

-  306 
127 

.    258 
261 

-  237 
235 

246,  250 
244 

-  162 
261,  273,  275 

.    101 


GALATI.ANS— 

CONTINUED. 

Ch.  iv. 

-    »4,286 

iv.    2  - 

.    162 

iv.    4 

-     18,247 

iv.    5  - 

-    2G6 

iv.    6 

260 

iv.    8  - 

-    260 

iv.    9 

99 

iv.  14  - 

-    107 

iv.  16,  18   - 

129 

V.    5   - 

-    207 

V.    6 

-  17.5,261 

V.  11    - 

134,  175 

V.  13 

-  166,204 

V.  16,  18 

-    261 

V.  20 

-  143,236 

V.21    - 

128.  204 

V.24 

261 

V.25  - 

-    261 

vi.    6 

96 

vi.  11    - 

-    132 

vi.  12 

134 

vi.  13  - 

-    131 

vi.  15 

175 

EPHESL 

\NS. 

Ch.  i.    4     - 

-    289 

i.  10 

-    18,247 

i.  14     - 

.    255 

i.  18      .     - 

268 

ii.    9,10 

266,  235 

ii.  14 

-    42,280 

ii.  19,  20 

273,278 

iii.    5 

51 

iii.    9     - 

-    247 

iii.  10 

-    52,287 

iii.  18     - 

-    265 

iii.  ]9 

252 

iv.    2      - 

-    270 

iv.    6 

274 

iv.  11      - 

91,  95 

iv.  16 

-    90,  275 

iv.  19     - 

-    246 

iv.  25 

306 

V.    6      - 

113,  128 

V.  15 

271 

V.  25,  26 

229, 276 

vi.  21 

183 

PHILIPP 

[ANS. 

Ch.  i.    1 

-      91,92 

i.  15,  18 

-    182 

ii.    3 

270 

ii.    6     - 

235,  251 

ii.  10,  11      - 

294 

ii.  12     - 

-    270 

iii.    5 

58 

iii.    8     - 

-      67 

iii.  12 

264 

iii.  15     - 

-    189 

iv.    6 

122 

iv.  12,  13 

-    107 

COLOSSI 

ANS. 

Ch.  i.  20 

280 

ii.    1     - 

-    106 

42 


330 


INDEX  OF    QUOTATIONS  FROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 


COLOSSIANS— CONTINUED. 


Ch.  ii.  3 
ii.  8 
ii.  11 
ii.  14 
ii.  16 
ii.  18 
iii.  3 
iii.  4 
iii.  5 
iii.  11 
iii.  12 
iv.  1 
iv.  19 
iv.  15 


1  THESSALONIANS. 


2  TIMOTHY— CONTINUED. 


89 

Ch 

iv.  18 

-  185 

iv.  19  - 

236 

246,  258 

99 

TITUS. 

-  187 

-  261,267 

Ch 

ii.  6,  12   -   - 

-  267 

iii.  4 

262 

iii.  5  - 

-  273 

iii.  9 

270 

-  272 

216 

PHILEMON 

-   96 

Ch.i.  3 

-  266,  267 

i.  9, 

10 

-  110 

ii.  9 

111 

ii.  10, 

11 

-  110 

ii.  12 

113 

ii.  18 

-  113 

iii.  1 

118 

iv.  6 

-    113,  128 

iv.  9 

258 

V.12 

-   91 

V.  19 

122 

V.21 

-   89 

•   V.22 

123 

V.  23 

237,  240 

2  THESSALONIANS. 


Ch, 


4 

ii.  2 
iii.  2 
iii.  17 


122,  267 

-  123 
123 

-  124 


1  TIMOTHY. 


Ch.  i 


4 
i.  9 
i.  20 
ii.  12 
ii.  15 


ill.    1     - 
iii.    8 
iv.    1 
iv.    8 
V.    3,16 
vi.  12 


194 
198 

93 
194 

92 

35 
194 
194 

97 
101 


Ch. 


2  TIMOTHY. 

7 

17     - 
19,20      - 
21     - 
23 

7,8 
14 

16     . 
17 


271 

-  191 
274, 279 

-  289 
196 

-  197 
198 

-  191 
196 


Verse  23 


Ch.  ii. 


HEBREWS. 


7 

14  - 
6,14 
12  - 
14 
12  - 

7,8 
12  - 

4 

5- 
19 
19- 
25,26 
12- 

9 

10- 
15 
28- 
22 

23,24 
32 
36 
1,3 
40 

2 
22 
23 
28 

9 
10 
20 
23 


JAMES. 


Ch. 


i.    4,  18,  21, 
i.    5    - 
i.    9,  10 
i.  13,  16 
i.  19 
i.25,  . 
li.    7 
ii.    8   - 
ii.  18,  26 
ii.    1,2 
ii.    2 
V.    7,8 
v.  12, 


295, 


292 
126 


271 
252 
276 
195 


58 


304 

-  202 
207 

-  307 
208 

303,  304 
207 

-  304 
302 

-  207 
304 

-  307 
306 


297, 


296, 


Ch. 


1 

PETER. 

.i.  5 

. 

255 

ii.  9  . 

. 

-   84 

ii.  10 

. 

212 

iii.  21  - 

. 

-  101 

iv.  3,5 

. 

212 

iv.  11  - 

86,  90 

V.  1,2 

. 

92 

v.  13  - 

. 

-  216 

Ch.  i.  14 
iii.  15 


2  PETER. 


1  JOHN. 


Ch 

•  j- 

5 

9 

ii 
ii 
ii. 

19 
22 
23 

ii. 

28 

iii. 

2 

iii. 

9 

iii. 

16 

iii. 

17 

iii. 

24 

iv. 

1 

iv. 

4 

iv. 

10, 

19:  . 

v. 

3 

v. 

4 

V. 

6 

v. 

16 

V. 

18 

Verse  7 
9 


Verse  6 


Verse  1 
17 


2  JOHN. 


3  JOHN. 


JUDE. 


213 
213 


-  311 
316 

-  321 
228 

-  322 
320 

317, 320 
316 

-  315 
318 

-  322 
220 

-  316 
315 

-  315 
315 


317 
316 


230 
322 


320 
230 


200 
221 


REVELATIONS, 


Ch.i.  9 

. 

225 

ii.  2,'^20, 

24  - 

.  220 

vi.  9 

225 

vii.  4  - 

.  224 

xii.  11 

. 

225 

xiii.  3  - 

-  224 

xiv.  4 

. 

224 

xvii.  8  - 

-  224 

xvii.  16 

. 

224 

XX.  4  - 

-  225 

xxi.  14 

- 

230 

INDEX  or  GREEK  WOllDS  AND  nillASES. 


'AydTT^i,  29,  30. 
&yyi\oi,  45, 

a^/a,  103. 

^ytoi,  273. 
diJ/apo^ov,  264. 
a^vfAoi,  100. 


dKCtS-s 


103. 


dKg<.5wc  5rsg/;r£tT67v,  271. 

ai&iv  ouTO!,  297. 

aja'v  fjiiKKmv,  297. 

ajMstgTi*,  148. 

avas-T0/^£;a>3-<C,  118. 

(iv»g  \oyio;,  136. 

avo^K  ToD  Sssu,  253. 

avJ-gsw,  271. 

avJgffsa-S-st/,  271. 

<ivT<x))4"c,  35,  90. 

d^-ia-TOf,  86. 

i^o*=t^t/4/f,  42,  86,  88,  94,  245. 

d3-o»axi/4«ic  Jtugiou,  88. 

*Aga/2<a,  64. 

'Ag/WOO-TCt/,  92. 

&g^ctyyi\o;,  186. 
dg'^^/o-t/i'a.^a'j'Of,  35,  92. 

'Asrwg;t°"'  i^^' 
d<f>e3-K,  74,  254. 

Bo(gV£t/3a;,  36. 
0SL7r'TiTy.at.,  273. 

rA.,^a««  x«Ae7v,  23,  24,  25,  86, 

87. 
ymtri?,  42,  89,  194. 

AllTTVOV  nv^icv,  29. 
Sit^i^ai/AOiV,  115. 
J'it^iSa.tfjioviA,  115. 

JW^XKH,   19. 
JtUKOVOI,  32. 

(TwKove/v  TgATSi^st/c,  33. 
J'tttK^tff^ti  Trvivy-araiv,  88. 
Jta-a-TTopm,  163,  212. 
,  <r/<r=t^Ki«,    (36,86,87,88,89, 
.T/J'asrKit^w,    S      94,96. 

it2'l!234,255,267,271,317 
(fwaMi-  Kctl  i<roy,  272. 
J-tKAtujua,  249. 
Six.ctia,(TK,  250,  255. 
eTol*,  312. 


cTouAM^t,  243. 
(Touxsus/v,  243. 

Ejfigs/oc,  58. 

c3-v«,  1G3. 

k;cA„,r/a,  206,  273,  274,  276,  320. 

JXKXHO-W  It  TM  C/JCM,  95. 

xsa.v,  91. 

£AX«V(3-T)IC,  58. 

kir/f,  267. 
S7r(irxo5ro<,  92,  94, 
i7riea)rriy.A,  101. 
"•^•)/x  vo/xcu,  235. 
•g^a  a(^«S-«,  235. 

■g^fxrivUct,  88. 
■g^>iveiJC,  22. 

-•g|U«V£UTHf,  22. 

\g^i7^aii  ii  alfxdiTo^tSl  CS'U'ro;,  228, 
iliaiyytKia'T^il,  94. 

{Wit^T/fAfCV  TTVft/yUttT/JCOV,  319. 
S<}>8»-/*  ygAf^/AttTO.,   129. 

Zeof,  75. 
f«»,  234. 

'H/x8ga/  T<v«,  64. 
i/ui^cU  UAVat,  64. 

©«!rat/g<fa)V,  99. 

'ltr<aTa/,  86. 
'lX6T«f,  47. 

txa.a-/ji.oc,  313, 

Kevo;  Ao>o«,  105,  113. 
xXJiTo/,  274. 
xo/yajv/a,  29. 
Kocrjuo;,  271,  273. 
xu/2«gv))0-K,  90,  91. 

Aoyoc,  47,  49,  226. 
xaoi,  163. 

MstS-oTa/,  130. 
/utraSiS'cu^t  91. 
fAtru^u,  74. 

NsajTfgo*,  32. 

VSAV/CTKO/,  3«. 

vo//<,c,152,234,258,259,303. 

vouf,  86,  88. 


OtKoS'o/uuy,  273. 
xcu/xtv;),  69. 

Toii  ;t§"'"'"°''i  323. 

ToiJ  laxaySct/,  323. 

OTTTdLKriU,  88. 

nag{cr«,  118,254. 
TragaxxxTOf,  47. 
7r«§s:;T;:t,  292,  293,  320. 
W8iS-ag^ct/»Ttc,  40. 
TTio-T/f,  42,  90,  257. 

TTVfVjUet,  86,  88. 

TToi/jLtni,  95, 
5rg«!r/2uTtg5/,  32. 
5rg!/!rtu^>i,  108, 
^gofTty;^*!  laaxp,  47. 

57-gO?HTe«/,  36,  87. 

Tr^opnTiuuy,  86. 
TTgapTor  TovS'sLitf,  72. 

'P»^a,  49. 

Saee,  261. 
<ragK/»*,  102,  260. 
(T>f/xiti,  85. 
.TGpw,  89,  271. 

roptltl  ^HTilV,  90,  138. 
<rTO<;t«Ta  tou  KOtr/xou,  185,  260. 
(TvfATr'.<rt^  <?>/A/)t»,  147. 
(ruva^aj-x,  206. 
(rufxuTlKM  yv/xycKTlci,  194. 

(TCiX^gOVtiV,  271. 

a-OK^^aa'vvx,  ~71. 
o-a«fgoy<a'^of,  271. 

rioc  TrajatxXxciaiCi  36. 
yioc  ^rgo^DTiiotfi  36. 
uK^tir/ot,  2G6. 
jTigaoy,  20. 
J^ro^oyx,  267,  271. 

^'(/;t)(,  86. 

•totyigair/c,  245. 
<fiM<rcpiA,  184,  194. 


jgoyoir/f, 
\u^t(rfAi 


272. 
85,  263. 


■•ferLi^ 


BW960  .N344 

History  of  the  planting  and  training  of 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00016  0038 


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